History Curriculum Overview
Aim
The History Department at Southmoor aims to inspire a keen interest in the past of both Britain and the wider world. We want to develop our students’ understanding of individuals and events of the past, and to help cultivate a thirst for knowledge which goes beyond the classroom.
Achieving this will help to give our students a sense of identity and an understanding of the present by learning about the origins of their families, their community, their country, institutions, values and attitudes, as well as training their mind via the rigour and demands of History as an academic discipline. Ultimately, we want to assist students in the growth of personal qualities such as reliability, honesty, tolerance, and self-discipline, and to help them to mature in their knowledge, understanding, thought process and moral character.
An environment in which students will be able to question and discuss events, ideas and individuals who may be considered controversial openly and respectfully.
For pupils this means:
- A curriculum offering opportunities to experience the history of a range of periods, places and people
- A strong foundation of transferrable skills
- Lessons which are engaging and thought-provoking
- Lessons which allow all students to access history through a range of activities and resources
- Opportunities for students to recognise the relevance of their lessons to the world we live in today
Intent
The History Department at Southmoor intends to give students the opportunity and ability to consider events as part of a bigger picture by looking at history over time and developing an understanding of the wider historical context of the past. Studying themes which have changed over time allows for a deeper understanding of the world around us today and our purpose is to allow students opportunities to discuss, argue and debate their views in a safe, objective, and supportive environment, and to encourage genuine discourse about the past and its relevance today.
The British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect of those with different faiths and beliefs are taught explicitly within the History curriculum and reinforced in the way in which the school operates.
Sequence and structure
Our curriculum is split in to Key Stage 3 (years 7, 8 and 9) and Key Stage 4 (years 10 and 11).
Key Stage 3: Students often struggle with the idea and application of context. They tend to view events in history as a series of one-off occurrences with little understanding of how events are linked by time, geography or motivation. This lack of awareness becomes a particular problem when students reach KS4 and are expected to apply context to their answers, in order to achieve the highest levels of response. Additionally, many students face difficulty in recalling knowledge over a long period of time. The delivery of KS3 History at Southmoor is intended to address these challenges.
KS3 students will begin by completing a thematic study in Term 1. This will allow them to make clearer and more sustainable connections between events, as well as to realise how these events shaped the world today. These thematic topics will be linked to those in previous/ subsequent years to provide students with a broader understanding of the past, from c.1000. KS3 students will also study one aspect of local and world history- this is to provide more depth of knowledge in these particular topics and to facilitate the development of disciplinary skills required at GCSE and beyond.
Students will be assessed using a range of measures, including age and ability-appropriate formal exam questions as well as being assessed for oracy and literacy.
Year 7 KS3 Curriculum
Click here to view the Year 7 History curriculum intent for 2022-2023.
We know that students who read well achieve well. As such all subject areas are committed to providing regular opportunities to read extensively. We provide regular opportunities for students to read for pleasure and to receive small group interventions if their reading skills are lower than we would expect.
Year 8 KS3 Curriculum
Click here to view the Year 8 History curriculum intent for 2022-2023.
We know that students who read well achieve well. As such all subject areas are committed to providing regular opportunities to read extensively. We provide regular opportunities for students to read for pleasure and to receive small group interventions if their reading skills are lower than we would expect.
Year 9 KS3 Curriculum
Click here to view the Year 9 History curriculum intent for 2022-2023.
We know that students who read well achieve well. As such all subject areas are committed to providing regular opportunities to read extensively. We provide regular opportunities for students to read for pleasure and to receive small group interventions if their reading skills are lower than we would expect.
Key Stage 4: Students often find accessing higher levels of GCSE mark schemes challenging because of a lack of awareness of a range of concepts and time periods which build their contextual knowledge and allow them to make links and connections between events in the past.
Y9 bridges this gap between KS3 and KS4 by introducing a series of depth studies in which students can gain a greater insight into the world around us. Students who then choose History for GCSE can apply this knowledge in their KS4 studies.
Sequencing of KS4 studies follows the pattern of each paper and unit. Students will begin by studying the Paper 1 topics in Year 10, then the Paper 2 topics will be covered at the end of Year 10 and through Year 11. This allows students to build upon their skills from Year 9 as well as practising all of the disciplinary skills needed for the GCSE assessment objectives, as agreed by the JCQ, all four of which are examined in each paper.
Year 10 KS4 Curriculum
Our Year 10 Key Stage 4 Curriculum
At Key Stage 4 students follow AQA.
Year HT1 HT2 HT3 HT4 HT5 HT6 10 Paper 1, Section A America: Opportunity and inequality 1920-73: Post war
To include: Impact of WWII, culture, McCarthyism, 1960s social changes, Civil Rights, Women’s rights
Interpretations, cause, consequence and significance
Paper 1, Section B Conflict and tension 1918-39: Treaty of Versailles
To include: Aims of Peacemakers, Terms of Treaty, Reactions
Primary source analysis, cause/consequences, making judgements
Paper 1, Section B Conflict and tension 1918-39: League of Nations
To include: weaknesses in membership, structure, power, successes, diplomacy outside the League, Manchuria and Abyssinia Crisis
Primary source analysis, cause/consequences, making judgements
Paper 1, Section B Conflict and tension 1918-39: Causes of WWII
To include: How Hitler challenges the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, Appeasement, Nazi-Soviet Pact and outbreak of war
Primary source analysis, cause/consequences, making judgements
Paper 2, Section A Health through Time: Middle Ages
To include: Hippocrates and Galen, religious influences, Black Death, surgery, public health
Source evaluation, Significance, change and continuity, synoptic evaluation
Paper 2, Section A Health through Time: Renaissance
To include: key individuals, surgery and hospitals, Plague, vaccination
Source evaluation, Significance, change and continuity, synoptic evaluation
We know that students who read well achieve well. As such all subject areas are committed to providing regular opportunities to read extensively. We provide regular opportunities for students to read for pleasure and to receive small group interventions if their reading skills are lower than we would expect.
Year 11 KS4 Curriculum
Our Year 11 Key Stage 4 Curriculum
At Key Stage 4 students follow the AQA.
Year HT1 HT2 HT3 HT4 HT5 HT6 11 Paper 2, Section A Health through Time: Revolution in Medicine
To include: key individuals, improvements in surgery,germ theory and impact
Source evaluation, Significance, change and continuity, synoptic evaluation
Paper 2, Section B Elizabethan England, c.1568-1603
To include: Elizabeth and her court; difficulties facing a female ruler; Golden Age, Poverty and Exploration
Interpretation, chronology, cause and consequence, change and continuity, site study
Paper 2, Section B Elizabethan England, c.1568-1603
To include: Problems with religion; Mary Queen of Scots; conflict with Spain; Historic Environment study
Interpretation, chronology, cause and consequence, change and continuity, site study
Revision and practising exam technique Exams We know that students who read well achieve well. As such all subject areas are committed to providing regular opportunities to read extensively. We provide regular opportunities for students to read for pleasure and to receive small group interventions if their reading skills are lower than we would expect.
KS5 Curriculum
Our Key Stage 5 Curriculum:
Click here to view the KS5 curriculum intent for 2022-2023.
We know that students who read well achieve well. As such all subject areas are committed to providing regular opportunities to read extensively. We provide regular opportunities for students to read for pleasure and to receive small group interventions if their reading skills are lower than we would expect.
How does our Curriculum cater for students with SEND?
ϳԹվ is an inclusive academy where every child is valued and respected. We are committed to the inclusion, progress and independence of all our students, including those with SEN. We work to support our students to make progress in their learning, their emotional and social development and their independence. We actively work to support the learning and needs of all members of our community.
A child or young person has SEN if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made that is additional to or different from that made generally for other children or young people of the same age. (CoP 2015, p16)
Teachers are responsible for the progress of ALL students in their class and high-quality teaching is carefully planned; this is the first step in supporting students who may have SEND. All students are challenged to do their very best and all students at the Academy are expected to make at least good progress.
Specific approaches which are used within the curriculum areas include:
- Seating to allow inclusion
- Differentiation activities to stretch and support in all lessons
- Resources are accessible
- Displays and visual learning tools are used where necessary
- Where appropriate support from additional adults is planned to scaffold students learning
- Group work and discussion
- Clear teacher/student communication
- Feedback that allows students to make progress, whether written or verbal
- Independent study/homework.
- Intervention when required
How does our curriculum cater for disadvantaged students and those from minority groups?
As a school serving an area with high levels of deprivation, we work tirelessly to raise the attainment for all students and to close any gaps that exist due to social contexts. The deliberate allocation of funding and resources has ensured that attainment gaps are closing in our drive to ensure that all pupils are equally successful when they leave the Academy. More specifically within the teaching of History, we;
- work to identify barriers, interests and what might help each pupil make the next steps in learning.
- provide targeted support for under-performing pupils during lesson time, in addition to revision lessons and intervention outside school hours.
- use strategies best suited to addressing individual needs
- Ensure there are opportunities for students to make use of resources and gain homework support outside of lesson time
Provide students with revision materials to reduce financial burden on families.
How do we make sure that our curriculum is implemented effectively?
The History curriculum leader is responsible for designing the History curriculum and monitoring implementation.
The subject leader’s monitoring is validated by senior leaders.
Staff have regular access to professional development/training to ensure that curriculum requirements are met.
Effective assessment informs staff about areas in which interventions are required. These interventions are delivered during curriculum time to enhance pupils’ capacity to access the full curriculum.
Curriculum resources are selected carefully and reviewed regularly.
Assessments are designed thoughtfully to assess student progress and also to shape future learning.
Assessments are checked for reliability within departments and across the Trust.
We have staff who mark for exam boards and provide vital CPD to the rest of the department to ensure reliability of data. We also work closely with examination team leaders across trust to valid.
Gap analysis spreadsheets are used to identify areas of development for students at KS4 to identify areas of weakness
Implemented of the History curriculum has links to future careers. Within lessons we aim to build employability skills to enable pupils to transfer these when leaving school and looking for employment and future careers. We teach team work and the importance of clear communication, improving oral and written literacy skills and homework provides effective practice of research skills. As part of the whole school careers program, pupils are expected to implement the skills acquired during lessons to plan their own journey to an interview in London and abroad. Employment opportunities associated with History and higher education opportunities are evident in lessons and we have a display board which promotes History at our trust sixth form.
How do we make sure our curriculum is having the desired impact?
- Examination results analysis and evaluation
- Termly assessments-analysis and evaluation meetings
- Lesson observations
- Learning walks
- Book scrutiny
- Regular feedback from Teaching Staff during department meetings
- Regular feedback from Middle Leaders during curriculum meetings
- Pupil Surveys
- Parental feedback
