History
Department Aims
Students at St Alban’s Catholic High School will develop a passion and enthusiasm for studying History right from the start of Year 7. Every year group has the curriculum and lesson planning designed to make them want to aspire to take History at the next level, be that into GCSE, A Level or Higher Education. Students are provided with lessons that ensure they understand not simply the chronology of History, but the essential skills needed to succeed in the subject. Our aim fundamentally is that History is an enjoyable subject for all students, which will equip them with the necessary concepts and skills needed to succeed at every level.
As a department we intend to:
- Inspire curiosity to learn and understand Britain's past and that of the wider world.
- Equip students with the historical skills to assess second order concepts, such as continuity, change, cause, consequence, significance, similarity and difference.
- Equip students with the historical skills to assess and develop interpretations of the past supported by the historical terminology to coherently express historical viewpoints.
- Implement their knowledge of the past to understand the wider world today.
Order of Teaching
Order of Teaching
Our GCSE and A Level courses use the Edexcel (Pearson) exam board
|
Autumn Y7 |
Lesson Topic Key Question |
|
Week 1 |
What do Historians do? |
|
Week 2 |
What was life like in a Medieval village compared to a town? |
|
Week 3 |
Why was there tension between the King and the Church? |
|
Week 4 |
Why was the Magna Carta a significant document? |
|
Week 5 |
How much of a disaster was the Black Death? |
|
Week 6 |
Why did the Peasants Revolt? |
|
Week 7 |
Who killed the Princes in the Tower? |
|
Half-term |
|
|
Week 8 |
What was the impact of the Break with Rome? |
|
Week 9 |
How did Edward and Mary make religious change in England? |
|
Week 10 |
How did Elizabeth use her image? |
|
Week 11 |
How significant was Elizabeth winning the Spanish Armada? |
|
Week 12 |
How did the reign of the Stuarts begin? |
|
Week 13 |
Why was there an English Civil War? |
|
Week 14 |
What happened to Charles I? |
|
Spring Y7 |
Lesson Topic Key Question |
|
Week 1 |
How did the slave trade work? |
|
Week 2 |
How were slaves treated? |
|
Week 3 |
How was slavery abolished? |
|
Week 4 |
Why did Britain have an Industrial Revolution? |
|
Week 5 |
How did transport change because of the Industrial Revolution? |
|
Week 6 |
How did society become divided because of the Industrial Revolution? |
|
Half-term |
|
|
Week 7 |
How did Social Reformers make a difference? |
|
Week 8 |
How did Political Reformers make a difference? |
|
Week 9 |
How did economic reformers make a difference? |
|
Week 10 |
How did Britain take over India? |
|
Week 11 |
How did Britain take over Africa? |
|
Week 12 |
Is the British Empire something to be proud of or ashamed of? |
|
Summer Y7 |
Lesson Topic Key Question |
|
Week 1 |
How much had Britain changed by 1901? |
|
Week 2 |
Why did the Titanic sink? |
|
Week 3 |
What was the role of women in 1900? |
|
Week 4 |
How successful were the suffragettes? |
|
Week 5 |
What was the role of women during World War One? |
|
Week 6 |
How did women get the vote? |
|
Half-term |
|
|
Week 7 |
How did assassination lead to war? |
|
Week 8 |
How were men recruited to war? |
|
Week 9 |
What was it like to fight in the trenches? |
|
Week 10 |
How useful are different types of evidence? |
|
Week 11 |
How useful is the Somme Documentary to teach about the Battle of the Somme? |
|
Week 12 |
How were deserters treated in World War One? |
|
Week 13 |
How did the First World War end? |
|
Autumn Y8 |
Lesson Topic Key Question |
|
Week 1 |
What is the difference between and democracy and a dictatorship? |
|
Week 2 |
Why was there a Russian Revolution? |
|
Week 3 |
What was the impact of the Treaty of Versailles? |
|
Week 4 |
How did Hitler get into power? |
|
Week 5 |
How did propaganda control the view of Nazi Germany? |
|
Week 6 |
What was life like for different groups in Nazi Germany? |
|
Week 7 |
What Stalin’s dictatorship was like compared to Hitler’s? |
|
Half-term |
|
|
Week 8 |
What was appeasement and how was it a cause of World War Two? |
|
Week 9 |
Was there really a ‘spirit of the Blitz’? |
|
Week 10 |
How significant was Dunkirk? |
|
Week 11 |
How significant was the Battle of Britain? |
|
Week 12 |
How significant was Pearl Harbor? |
|
Week 13 |
How significant was Stalingrad? |
|
Week 14 |
How significant was D-Day? |
|
Spring Y8 |
Lesson Topic Key Question |
|
Week 1 |
What was the Holocaust? |
|
Week 2 |
Why did people participate in the mass killings of Jews? |
|
Week 3 |
How has the Holocaust been commemorated? |
|
Week 4 |
Why were nuclear weapons used to end World War Two? |
|
Week 5 |
How can you teach others about the Second World War? |
|
Week 6 |
How well have others taught you about the Second World War? |
|
Half-term |
|
|
Week 7 |
What was the Cold War? |
|
Week 8 |
Why was the Berlin Wall built? |
|
Week 9 |
What was the Cuban Missile Crisis? |
|
Week 10 |
Why did America get involved in the Vietnam War? |
|
Week 11 |
Did America really land a man on the moon? |
|
Week 12 |
Who won the Cold War? |
|
Summer Y8 |
Lesson Topic Key Question |
|
Week 1 |
Why did people migrate to Britain? |
|
Week 2 |
How has Britain become a multicultural society? |
|
Week 3 |
How has Britain changed in modern History? |
|
Week 4 |
What happened in America on 11th September 2001? |
|
Week 5 |
How has terrorism had an impact on the modern world? |
|
Week 6 |
Is it possible to prevent terrorism and make it a thing of history? |
|
Half-term |
|
|
Week 7 |
What is the history of Suffolk? |
|
Week 8 |
Who are the famous people connected to Suffolk? |
|
Week 9 |
What can time capsules from history teach us? |
|
Week 10 |
What time period would you choose to focus on? |
|
Week 11 |
Can you complete your time capsule to a high standard? |
|
Week 12 |
How well have you and others done in your time capsule project? |
|
Week 13 |
Can you reflect on your learning in History, what can you remember? |
|
Autumn Y9 |
Lesson Topic Key Question |
|
An introduction to pathways and medicine through time.
Students will cover the development of medicine from the ancient period to recent developments such as penicillin and x-rays. This course introduces GCSE skills to the students but does not cover GCSE content. |
|
|
Half-term |
|
|
Surgery depth topic.
Students will look at the development of surgery including the discovery of aesthetics, antiseptic and plastic surgery. This course introduces GCSE skills to the students but does not cover GCSE content. |
|
|
Spring Y9 |
Lesson Topic Key Question |
|
America and the 1960s protest movement Students develop their source analysis and interpretation skills in the second half term. Students will look at the civil rights, female rights and anti war protests. This also provides a bit of a taster of A Level content in order to encourage high aspirations from an early age. This course introduces GCSE skills to the students but does not cover GCSE content. |
|
|
Half-term |
|
|
Whitechapel and Jack the Ripper
Students start their official GCSE history course. This topic looks at the environment of Whitechapel in 1880s London and reasons for the failure of the police. |
|
|
Summer Y9 |
Lesson Topic Key Question |
|
Crime and Punishment in Britain 1000-Present
Understanding how the crime and punishment system has developed and changed since the Anglo-Saxons, through to the modern day.
Lessons are taught in a variety of approaches in order to engage all students. Teaching styles like guided discovery, group work, role play and independent learning are all used and adapted to suit the various topics covered and needs of the students in the class. |
|
|
GCSE Y10/11 |
Lesson Topic Key Question |
|
Anglo-Saxon and Norman England 1060-1088
Analysing what Anglo-Saxon society was like and how this changed with the Norman invasion. Considering the impact William the Conqueror had on England. |
|
|
The American West 1835-1895
Understanding how and why Americans settled in the west, and considering the problems faced on the journey including the treatment of Native Americans. |
|
|
Weimar and Nazi Germany 1918-1939
Analysing the reasons for the fall of the Weimar government and how Hitler managed to get the Nazi Party into power. This course is particularly focused on the historical interpretations of what happened. |
|
|
Exam Preparation and Revision
As GCSE History is linear examined course, every unit is tested with 3 separate exam papers at the end of Year 11. Therefore Year 11 also has a significant focus on revision and the exam skills needed to succeed.
Lessons are taught in a variety of approaches in order to engage all students. Teaching styles like guided discovery, group work, role play and independent learning are all used and adapted to suit the various topics covered and needs of the students in the class. |
|
Pupil Premium Students
All educational trips are offered for free to pupil premium students. Students are also given free copies of the GCSE revision guide for each topic. If needed, access to a laptop can be arranged to ensure students can access our digital resources.
Microsoft Teams Revision Page
All GCSE students have access to our Microsoft Teams revision page which offers multiple resources to help aid independent revision. These include podcasts introducing key topics, content overviews, revision activities, exam question exemplars and checklists for each course.
Equipment
It is vital every student attends their history lessons with the correct equipment. All students should bring to class:
- Pen
- Pencil
- Ruler
- Rubber
Stationary packs can be purchased through parent mail.
GCSE revision guides are also available on parent mail to be purchased (Y10 and Y11 only).
A Level History
A-level students will continue to study from the Edexcel (Pearson) exam board which compliments the skills they have been developing during GCSEs. A summary of what we cover at A level follows:
|
In Search of the American Dream 1917-1996
Students will learn about the dramatic political, economic and social transformation of the USA in the twentieth century, an era that saw the USA challenged by the consequences of political, economic and social inequalities at home and of its involvement in international conflict.
|
|
South Africa, 1948-1994: From apartheid state to ‘rainbow nation’
Students will learn about South Africa during its transition from white minority rule to the free elections of 1994, a long, and at times, dramatic process in which South Africa changed from an apartheid state into a multi-racial democracy. Students will gain an in-depth understanding of the creation and consolidation of the apartheid regime by the National Party and the response and methods used by their political opponents in the struggle to overthrow apartheid, as well social, economic and cultural changes that accompanied this process. |
|
Lancastrians, Yorkists and Henry VII, 1399-1509
Students will explore the long term causes of the Wars of the Roses by starting at Richard II’s reign. They will then develop an understanding of the conflict and politics of the battles, analysing the challenges of over-mighty subjects and under-mighty monarchs. Students will finish with how Henry VII brought the conflict to an end and set up the Tudor dynasty. With an analysis of themes and source work this unit combines and develops a lot of key historical skills. |
|
Guided coursework
The purpose of the coursework is to enable students to develop skills in the analysis and evaluation of interpretations of history in a chosen question, problem or issue as part of an independently researched assignment. The focus is on understanding the nature and purpose of the work of the historian. Students will be required to form a critical view based on relevant reading on the question, problem or issue. They will also be specifically required to analyse, explain and evaluate the interpretations of three historians.
|
Lessons are taught in a seminar like fashion to prepare students for University level study. Students are required to read widely around the topics and develop their learning beyond the classroom. With three of the four units being examined at the end of Year 13, there is also a strong emphasis on revision and the higher level exam skills required to succeed at A-Level.