History

Department Ethos

Pupils are empowered to find their voice, their identity and their views, through learning about the past and the lives of those who lived before us. They are given opportunities to develop their oracy, argument, teamwork and written skills while gaining a vast and broad knowledge of history across both time and place, with different experiences of the past (as well as different views of these experiences) being studied.

Pupils will engage with the views of historians and look at why these might have varied views of the past. They will build both their substantive and disciplinary knowledge (including second order skills) and become critical historians able to not only retell stories of the past, but to critically analyse them.

History is HIS story, History is HER story, History is OUR Story

Curriculum (KS3+KS4)


Year 7	Did the Normans bring a ‘truckload of trouble’ as Simon Scharma claims?	What was the most significant event of the Medieval period?	How did the Renaissance change Europe between 1400-1700?	Do the Aztecs deserve their brutal reputation?	What mattered most to the Mughals?	Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded survived-Was there more to the Tudor Queens than being ‘just one word in a stupid rhyme’	To what extent was the Elizabethan era a ‘Golden Age’?	Was James I the ‘wisest fool in Christendom’?
Year 8	To what extent was the world turned upside down between 1649 and 1793?	Was the British Empire a ‘Good thing’ as Niall Ferguson claims?	Who was to blame for the sinking of the Titanic?	Who put up the biggest fight against slavery?	From Civil War to Civil rights, to what extend did ‘Black Lives Matter’ in America 1865-Present	Was the Industrial Revolution a ‘disastrous and terrible period’ as Toynbee claims?	Where do we come from? Are we all immigrants as Robert Winder claims?	How has our relationship with food changed over time?
Year 9	Was the First World War the ‘war to end all wars’?	Parliament, protest or Pop culture. Which did the most in the campaign towards equality?	How did Hitler become the most powerful man in the world?	How was the holocaust allowed to happen?	How were people in Britain affected by the Second World War?	How close did the world come to Nuclear war in the Cold War?	Why did George Bush declare a ‘war on terror’ in 2001?
Year 10	Germany 1890-1945	Britain, Health and the People, Medicine through time
Year 11	Elizabethan England 1558-1603	The war in Asia (Korea and Vietnam)

Learn more about History at Key Stage 3

The History curriculum at Key Stage 3 aims to provide pupils with a rounded education of British, European, world and local history. Pupils will develop their core knowledge of history by identifying key events, individuals and changes, while also recognising the experiences of ordinary people through time. They will build a chronological understanding of events to build a ‘big picture’ of the past.

Pupils will develop their historical thinking using a range of key concepts including cause and consequence; change and continuity; social diversity; interpretations and historical significance. They will investigate these concepts through enquiry based learning and the use of evidence. Pupils are taught to see history as an interpretation that can be challenged, and pupils will be encouraged to make their own judgements on the past.

Pupils study Key Stage 3 History in mixed ability groups, and will have summative assessments at 5 points throughout the year, along with regular formative assessment in lessons. Homework’s are set fortnightly.

Learn more about History at Key Stage 4

History is the most popular option subject in both Year 10 and 11. Pupils are taught in groups of between 20-30, mixed ability classes. The Cams Hill School History Department offers the AQA GCSE History course. All History specifications require pupils to study a mix of history across different time periods. The content will consist of: a thematic study, a British depth study, a study of an historic environment, a period study and a modern depth study. Pupils will study the following topics:

Thematic study: Britain: health and the people, c1000 to present day
British depth study: Elizabethan England, c1568-1603
Historic environment: location to be confirmed by AQA but will be linked to the British depth study (for example, a Tudor stately home)
Period study: Germany, 1890-1945: Democracy and dictatorship
Modern depth study: Conflict and tension in Asia, 1950-1975

There are two exams, both of which will be in the summer of Year 11.

Paper 1: Understanding the modern world, 2 hours, 50% of final grade.
Paper 2: Shaping the nation, 1 hour and 45 minutes, 50% of final grade.

Extra-curricular opportunities

Year 11 Revision
Optional Year 10 trip to Munich
Optional Year 9 Trip to Normandy (Summer term)
Optional Year 9 trip to Belgium (Spring term)
Year 7 trip to the Mary Rose Museum
History Club