History
Back"History is the witness that testifies to the passing of time. It illuminates reality, vitalises memory, provides guidance in daily life and brings us tidings of antiquity.”
Marcus Tulius Cicero
Staff members
Mr M Sharratt (Head of Department)
Miss I Connor
Mr A MacKinnon
Mr N Milner
Miss E Stimpson
Subject Definition
History is the study of people, actions, decisions, interactions and behaviours. It is so compelling a subject because it encapsulates themes which expose the human condition in all of its guises and that resonate throughout time: power, weakness, corruption, tragedy, triumph…History’s primary purpose is to stand at the centre of diverse, tolerant, intellectually rigorous debate about our existence: our political systems, leadership, society, economy and culture.
The past exerts an endless fascination. We are interested in the past because we are interested in our roots, or because we are interested in the way the world around us has been shaped, or because we are intrigued by the ‘otherness’ of different people who lived at different times (diversity).
Through its remains, and through books and films which represent it, the past is immediate and accessible. However, our knowledge and understanding of the past will always be partial and incomplete.
History is ever evolving. As more is uncovered over time, our understanding of History changes.
Subject Purpose
Help[ing] [us] gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world…Inspiring [our] curiosity to know more about the past.
It equips us to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments, and develop perspective and judgement. History helps [us] to understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups, as well as their own identity and the challenges of their time.
It teaches the life skills of tolerance and empathy. It also develops students understanding of what it means to be human.
Substantive concepts such as ‘empire’, ‘the Church’, ‘revolution’ or ‘kingship’. See the full list here:
-Some concepts and terms (such as Calvinism) are highly specific to a particular period or place – and it is easy to recognise that their meaning needs to be explicitly taught.
-Other concepts (such as Puritanism or Bolshevism) that originated in specific contexts may come to be applied more widely, so that students’ more general awareness of their meaning can obscure a lack of precision in their historical knowledge.
-Others (such as ‘the Church’ or ‘revolution’) have a much wider application and are applied in many contexts other than history. In dealing with this category, we need not only to ensure that students understand their meaning, rather than simply assuming that they do because they are works in common usage; we also need to plan for learning about how that meaning changes over time and in different contexts.
Second order concepts of change and continuity, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance, connections, interpretation, diversity, drawing contrasts, analysing trends, frame historically valid questions.
KS3 Overview
Children naturally ask the questions, “Why?”, “How?”, “When?” and “Who?” In part, history can answer these questions. As well as unravelling the past for these answers, students should learn to ask, “How do we know what we know?” They need to be trained to question the evidence and its validity, so that they grow up questioning and testing all accepted premises.
The end product of History, however, should not be a negative cynic, but a seeker of the truth who endeavours to make informed judgements.
The KS3 curriculum must reflect the needs of society and the child in that society. A glib statement, but flexibility, tolerance, numeracy, literacy, an appreciation of the impact of technology and rapid changes, an understanding of democracy and the interdependence of the world, all seem relevant needs for a citizen in the 21st Century.
Our aim is not just to give the student a mind full of knowledge, but to give them a mind tuned to the pitfalls of ignorance, prejudice, bias, intolerance and apathy; to give them a mind capable of thinking for itself and conscious of its world.
We want to deliver a History curriculum in an exciting and stimulating way, which develops our students to their optimum.
The choice of History syllabus and the teaching approach have been determined by the following considerations:
The special nature of history as an academic discipline.
History is an enquiry into the past through the study of surviving sources.
It is concerned with:
-Change and continuity.
-Past events, individuals and social economic relations in the past.
-Causation and motivation.
The development of the following attitudes and abilities:
-An ability to understand the world in which they live through contrast with past events and some knowledge of causes of development and continuity.
-An ability to make critical judgements in preparation for life as citizens in a democracy.
-An ability to co-operate with others irrespective of race, class, gender, religion or intelligence.
-An interest in history as a leisure pursuit, which is accessible and rewarding.
-An ability to understand other people through the study of past individuals and mass movements, their motivation, actions and achievements.
-To understand the nature of change and continuity, cause and consequence in our society.
-Self-confidence: by producing a variety of approaches to history so that all achieve some measure of success.
National Curriculum requirements:
At the end of KS3, and in theory the end of compulsory History education, students should:
-Have acquired a firm and clear chronological framework within which to place and relate new information.
-Ask a broad range of historical questions
-Be aware of varied and often conflicting interpretations of past events
-Understand the broad fundamental concepts common to all historical explanations and also a range of more specific ones
-Relate events to a broad approach to history which involves not only local, national, European and world issues but also covers major political, cultural, scientific and technological developments
-Gain insight into processes of social and economic change, particularly with relation to British History and of the influence of individual men and women on these changes
-Develop an awareness of the special and also the common qualities, aspirations and achievements of societies through time
-Be aware of the problems dealing with a range of sources of evidence.
KS4 Overview
Qualification Information
Course title: History (9-1)
Exam board: Edexcel
Course code: 8261
Students will study the following periods during years 10 and 11:
-Medicine in Britain, c1250–present.
-Early Elizabethan England, 1558–88.
-Superpower relations and the Cold War, 1941–91.
-The USA, 1954–75: conflict at home and abroad.
Assessment
The Edexcel GCSE (9–1) in History consists of three externally examined papers. Students must complete all assessments in May/June in any single year.
| Subject Documents |
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| KS3 History Curriculum Plan |
