Strategic Intent for History Department
To develop a curriculum which:
Curriculum Principles
Course Content
Key Stage 3 Pathways:
Year 7 Term 1 Historical Skills including: chronology and timelines, sources and interpretations, second order concepts and propaganda. Ancient Civilizations and Empires: The Byzantine Empire, Church State and Society: The Norman Conquest, how William controlled England.
Year 7 Term 2 Church, State and Society: the medieval church, religion and life in medieval times and the Tudors including the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and Mary I.
Year 7 Term 3 Church State and Society: Elizabethan England and The Stuarts including the English Civil War.
Year 8 Term 1 Historical Skills recap including: chronology and timelines, sources and interpretations, second order concepts and propaganda. Political Ideas, Industry and Empire: The Industrial Revolution and the extension of the Franchise.
Year 8 Term 2 Political Ideas, Industry and Empire: Africa, India and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Including case studies on Africa and India under colonial rule and the consequences of political ideas and empire.
Year 8 Term 3 Challenges for Britain, Europe and the Wider World: Women and the Vote, the causes and consequences of the First World War.
Year 9 Term 1 Historical Skills recap including: chronology and timelines, sources and interpretations, second order concepts and propaganda. Challenges for Britain, Europe and the Wider World: Depth Study: The American West cultural differences and changes. European politics: Democracy and Dictatorship; Communism and Fascism. Challenges for Britain, Europe and the Wider World: Depth Study: Germany
Year 9 Term 2 Challenges for Britain, Europe and the Wider World: Case study on the Holocaust including the ghettos, concentration and death camps. Challenges for Britain, Europe and the Wider World.
Year 9 Term 3Challenges for Britain, Europe and the Wider World: Case Study: The Cold War including the Korean War, Cuban Missile Crisis and the Vietnam War. Thematic Study: campaigns for change including: Civil Rights Movement, Women’s Liberation, Stonewall, Black Lives Matter and disability rights acts.
Key Stage 4 Pathways:
Year 10 Term 1AQA GCSE Paper 1 America 1920- 1973 – American people and the ‘Boom’, and Bust- American’s experience of the depression and the New Deal.
Year 10 Term 2AQA GCSE Paper 1 America 1920-1973- Post War America. AQA GCSE Paper 1 – Conflict and
Tension the First World War 1894-1918. Causes of World War One.
Year 10 Term 3 Paper 2 – Elizabethan England 1568-1603
Year 11 Paper 1 Paper 1 Conflict and Tension: The First World War. The end of the war.
AQA GCSE Paper 1 America 1920-1973. Opportunity and inequality. American people and the ‘Boom’, and Bust- American’s experience of the depression and the New Deal.
Year 11 Paper 2 AQA GCSE Paper 1 America 1920-1973. Opportunity and inequality. Post War America. AQA GCSE paper 2 British Depth Study: Elizabethan England.
Year 11 Paper 3 AQA GCSE paper 2 British Depth Study: Elizabethan England. Historical Site study (Sheffield House)
Enrichment
The history department provide a range of enrichment opportunities for pupils including opportunities to travel abroad (New York and Battlefields in previous academic years) to enable pupils to put their studies into a real-world context and will be able to understand the cultural sensitivities of past events. Pupils are given the opportunity to build cultural capital by taking part in visits to sites of local historical interest. Within lessons enrichment opportunities are provided in terms of the study of art history, literature and film in a historical context. Teaching staff discuss career opportunities and what qualification in history can lead to. Pupils are also given an understanding of the rigours of A Level and undergraduate study by reading the work of leading historians to support their learning. This is done through ‘reading for meaning’ strategies.
Personal Development, Behaviour and Welfare
In the history department pupil’s social, moral, spiritual and cultural wellbeing is actively supported. All lessons have a Personal Development focus that links to the core content. The nature of the study of history lends itself well to Personal Development and pupils will consider how people work together to bring about change, how society has changed over time and how government decisions effect people. The moral implications of government decisions are considered along with an understanding of law and order, and how the government is run today. Pupil’s spiritual wellbeing is considered as religious changes and the impact of world religions form the basis of large sections of the curriculum. An understanding of changes in British and world culture are also studied in history lessons with case studies on world history, Africa, India, Russia, Germany Vietnam and Cuba and teachers will make comparisons with the present day to deepen understanding. Personal Development is a core component of the history curriculum as it underpins the values of the history department and enables teachers to deepen understanding.
The history department promotes a positive learning environment where pupils feel safe to express their opinions without judgement. Pupils are encouraged to explain their reasoning both verbally and in written form. Mutual respect between pupils and teachers allow pupils to share their ideas in all history lessons. History lessons are structured to promote positive routines that foster an atmosphere of learning. Positive behaviour for learning is praised and phone calls home are made regularly. Pupils respond well to this positive feedback and this further develops a learning environment based on respect and learning. Teachers have high expectations of pupils in terms of behaviour and attitude that are maintained consistently.
The history department communicates the whole school ethos of “excellence in the heart of the community” in all interactions with pupils. The department’s focus is one of excellence in learning so that pupils make the best progress that they are able to.
You can find more granular detail of each of our three whole school curriculum intent strands, Knowledge Led, Reading is Power and Diverse Opportunities here:
Knowledge Led
You can find out more information on the sequencing of our curriculum and what is being studied in each term here:
Parents and pupils will find the following Journey of Knowledge overviews useful as they outline the core content to be learnt in each KS3 unit:
Year 7
unit_1_journey_of_knowledge_byzantine_empire.docx
unit_2_church_state_and_society_the_noman_conquest.docx
unit_3-_life_in_medieval_england.docx
unit_4_journey_of_knowledge_the_tudors.docx
unit_5_knowledge_journey_the_stuarts.docx
Year 8
year_8_journey_of_knowledge_the_industrial_revolution.docx
y8_journey_of_knowledge_empire_and_the_slave_trade.docx
y8_journey_of_knowledge_empire_and_india.docx
Year 9
Hillside High
Breeze Hill
Bootle
Merseyside
L20 9NU
Tel: 0151 525 2630
Email: admin@hillsidehigh.co.uk
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