History curriculum intent and implementation September 2022. The intent of History at Sir William Robertson Academy is an attempt to follow Christine Counsell’s aims for ‘Big Picture History’ as advocated at The Historical Association Conference 2018. The curriculum is also based on the Historical Association ‘Parachutists vs truffle hunters’ article. We are aiming for students be able to see the ‘overview’ of ‘Big Picture History’ whilst also ‘zooming in’ to look at individual stories.
History is delivered in two lessons per week at KS3, two-three per week (Y10) and two-three per week (Y11) at KS4* and five per week at KS5. History is an opportunity for pupils gain “a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world. It should inspire pupils’ curiosity to know more about the past. Teaching should equip pupils to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments, and develop perspective and judgement. History helps pupils 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.” (Department for Education, History Programmes of Study Key Stage 3, September 2013, DFE-00194-2013)
At KS3 each unit of work will be based around a key topic and enquiry question which fits into a ‘Big Question’ for the whole year. Y7-8 will be formally assessed twice per year and Y9 will be formally assessed three times per year. Both formal and informal assessments will test knowledge and skills and will be structured to allow pupils of all attainment levels to show progress by building up a chronological ‘big picture’ of History whilst allowing higher attaining students to analyse and ask perceptive questions. The idea is that students will be assessed on skills using conceptual questions around the historical key skills and these will be revisited throughout KS3-5 both formally and informally:
1. Chronology, change and continuity
2. Causation
3. Historical evidence
4. Historical evidence
5. Significance
6. Diversity, similarity and difference
Incorporated into the scheme of learning are topics which allow pupils to know and understand the history of these islands as a coherent, chronological narrative, from the earliest times to the present day: how people’s lives have shaped this nation and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world. The curriculum also aims to build up students’ concepts of terms such as democracy, dictatorship, slavery, empire, control etc. Incorporated into the schemes of learning at KS3 are topics which should allow students to know and understand the history of these islands as a coherent, chronological narrative, from c1000 to the present day: how people’s lives have shaped this nation and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world. This ‘big picture’ approach to History and assessment is in line with The Historical Association’s current curriculum and assessment approach as advocated by Christine Counsell at The Historical Association Annual Conference 2018. As students progress, they should be building on their previous knowledge and drawing links between their learning. Some examples of these links between topics that help to build up a big picture are in the following paragraph.
Y8 students should hopefully be able to draw upon their knowledge of Elizabethan explorers and Mughal Emperors as they begin to study The British Empire and The British Transatlantic Slave Trade. Y9 students studying The Cold War should be able to build on their knowledge of global revolutions from Y8. Y9 students studying Civil Rights should be able to build on their knowledge of The British Transatlantic Slave Trade and African Americans post abolition. Students studying the far right in Y9 should be able to draw upon their knowledge on the rise of fascism in Y8. Students studying Health and the people in Y10 should hopefully be able to draw upon their knowledge of The Reformation from Y7 when looking at the influence of The Church. Students studying First World War conflict and tension in Y10 should hopefully be able to further develop their First World War understanding from Y8. Y10 students studying democracy and dictatorship in Germany should hopefully be able to further develop their understanding of Fascist Germany from Y9. Y11 students studying The Norman Conquest should be able to further develop their knowledge from studying it in Y7. Sixth Form students studying The Russian Revolution should be able to further develop their knowledge from studying it in Y8. While each assessment focusses on what students have recently studied; each formal assessment also including knowledge recall questions from relevant areas they have studied up to that point to try and keep bringing students back to the ‘big picture’ narrative they should be forming.
Topics studied include; invasions and The British Transatlantic Slave Trade in Year 7, women’s suffrage and world wars in Y8 and The Holocaust and civil rights in Y9.
At KS4; students study AQA GCSE History as selected by the previous HoD. This is currently under review and we will make a decision by Easter 2024 as to whether we switch to Edexcel selected as it is believed to have the most accessible question styles and the topics and assessment styles fit best with our current KS3 and KS5 curriculum. Students study:
1. Health and the people c1000-present.
2. The First World War Conflict and Tension.
3. Germany Democracy and Dictatorship.
4. Norman Conquest.
The topics have been sequenced in this order at KS4 by the previous HoD. By Easter 2024 when a decision is made about whether or not to switch to Edexcel; we will also make a decision about whether to sequence the KS4 units chronologically to try and continue to build on that ‘big picture’ narrative that students should have been building up from KS3.
At KS5; students study AQA History as selected by the previous HoD. This is currently under review and we will make a decision by Easter 2024 as to whether we switch to Edexcel selected as it is believed to have the most accessible question styles and the topics and assessment styles fit best with our current KS3 and KS4 curriculum. Students study:
1. Coursework (students select a historical enquiry that interests them and spans 100 years. NHR leads)
2. Making of Modern Britain c1951-2007
3. Tsarist and Communist Russia c1885-c1960
At KS5; we continue to build up ‘Big picture History’ by building on students’ knowledge from KS3-4. Students study Russia c1855-1960 and Making of Modern Britain 1951-2007 as well as their NEA coursework. The units at KS5 are split depending on timetabling between two specialists per year group which allows for minimum ‘split class’ problems if each teacher is responsible for a different unit.
*There is a discrepancy in timetabling for Y10. 10b/Hi1 are students who do both History and Geography and have three lessons per week. 10d/Hi1 and 10d/Hi2 only have History and therefore have two lessons per week. It is assumed that 10b/Hi1 will have two lessons of History per week in Y11 and 10d/Hi1 and 10d/Hi2 will have three lessons per week in Y11. EJS has written two year lesson-by-lesson schedules for both classes to account for this discrepancy.
Legacy:
The aim is that students develop a deep and broad knowledge of the history of the country, continent and world in which they live and can make connections and think critically about that knowledge. The intention is that students will develop rich schemata of substantive knowledge and develop their conceptual understanding of History as a discipline by considering change over time; diversity of experiences; historical significance and the causes and consequences of historical phenomena. Students will also develop their procedural understanding in relation to evidential thinking and the analysis of historical interpretations. In this way students will be prepared for the next stage of education and life as they possess the knowledge and critical thinking to engage with society. The intention is that staff are supported in terms of workload, collaborative working environments and ownership and responsibility for their classes and their practice. It is also the intention that staff have access to the latest training and educational research as well as opportunities to contribute to that research themselves.