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History

Our ambitious and inclusive curriculum is designed to empower our students to become life-long learners and successful global citizens.

Through a well-sequenced curriculum, we intend to embed knowledge and skills that challenge all learners. The curriculum includes a wide selection of historical topics and periods which are delivered chronologically; allowing students to effectively develop a sense of time and space. These range from Tudor England to the Slave Trade and WW1 in Key Stage 3, and the American West and Nazi Germany at Key Stage 4. Students refine and practice the key skills of analysis and evaluation, throughout the curriculum, developing a sense of enquiry by exploring how significant historical events were, analysing factors leading to and surrounding these events and evaluating the reliability of accounts and sources. Students will develop an understanding of the transferability of historical techniques such as primary source and historical interpretations analysis.

Development of a rich historical vocabulary, enables our students to think and write like a Historian and students are taught disciplinary literacy in an explicit and direct manner.

We enrich our students learning, beyond the National Curriculum, and as part of our Society - centred curriculum, by exposing students to key historical and societal themes, such as Democracy, Conflict and Monarchy.  We support students in developing an approach to studying history that requires them to reach their own interpretations about the past so that they are able to eloquently defend their ideas, through both the spoken and written word. Students are encouraged to debate, to understand that there is not always one correct version of events and the need to respect different points of view. The theme of Democracy, in particular, helps students to understand the cost that past societies have gone through for their rights and consequently the importance of students taking an active part within our society and community. 

To raise aspirations and allow our students to make informed decisions about their future, we provide subject specific careers education. Students learn how the knowledge and skills they are developing in their History lessons can be applied to careers such as Law, Journalism or Politics. 

Our Curriculum Maps outline our curriculum design and the development of knowledge and skills from Years 7-11. The curriculum is adapted to support and challenge students with different starting points, whilst remaining ambitious for all. Students are examined on the Edexcel Specification in GCSE History.