History at Key Stage 3
In Year 7 students will study the origins of history as a discipline and core concepts that underpin the historian's methodology; anachronisms, bias, sources, evidence, themes and empathy.
Students will further study the characteristics and nature of medieval European monarchy and church and the balance of power between them. They will analyse the causes of the Battle of Hastings and William’s victory in 1066. Before leaving the reign of William I behind, students will examine the consequences of the Norman Conquest on England.
Student's will then move onto the Angevin reigns of Henry II and King John and the causes and nature of medieval pilgrimage. The penultimate enquiry of the academic year is highly resonant. Students will examine the Black Death in fourteenth century Europe and its impact on England. The culmination of students' first year of History as a discrete subject will be to examine what sources tell us about the fourteenth century Peasants Revolt.
In Year 8, students will continue to develop their understanding of the concepts of monarchy, the church, campaigns for rights and freedoms and everyday life as well as encountering the concept of revolution and imperialism for the first time. The academic year begins with study of the trade of ideas, goods, disease and warfare along the Silk Roads. This is followed by the study of the wealthiest man to have ever lived and a contemporary of the Silk Roads. The Malian empire of Mansa Musa. Students will then analyse the causes of the First Crusade, reasons for its success and the reputation of Richard I. The labelling of 1350-1650 as an 'age of discovery' will then come under scrutiny as students build upon learning in Year 7 to critique how this period has been labelled by historians.
The centre of gravity of the Year 8 curriculum will shift to the New World alongside its 'discovery' and settlement by Europeans. Students will examine the changing perception of the Revolution to Americans since 1789, before studying the trans-Atlantic triangular slave trade and the campaigns for rights and freedoms of the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 60s.
In Year 9, students begin by examining the causes and nature of the Industrial Revolution, including a tournament to identify the period's most significant invention! They will then examine the causes of the Scramble for Africa before 1900, leading into the causes of the First World War of which the 'Scramble' contributed. Students will then examine both events from the conflict and the nature of trench warfare. Students will study the post-war world that gave rise to Hitler’s Germany in 1933 and life in his dictatorship. Students will then gain an overview of key events from the Second World War before diving deep into a study of the Holocaust. The final studies of Key Stage 3 will examine the use of ghettos and the symbolism of Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration-death camp.
Key Stage 3 will emphasise the importance of factual knowledge to students as the bedrock upon which they can deploy their growing procedural understanding of the subject. Students are coached in the habits of effective revision throughout Key Stage through the use of Organisers that contain 'fingertip knowledge' for each enquiry, known to the students as 'Golden Nuggets.' (See below)
Key Stage 3 will also stress the importance of clear communication, both in writing and in speech, and students will be trained to write essays, letters and obituaries and deliver formal speech through debates, speeches and significance tournaments.
Finally, students' interest in History will be given full room to flourish as they are presented with multiple opportunities to pursue their interests in enquiries beyond the classroom. Students receive lists of Additional Materials (see below) that will guide them to relevant books, articles, films, documentaries and podcasts that will both deepen and broaden their historical understanding and knowledge. Moreover, the importance of taking students to visit historical sites to engage with the past more directly is planned for with several trips, within and outside of Georgia, across Years 7-9.
