Outline Plan Key Stage 3

KS3 History is taught in enquiries of approximately 7 weeks to 8 weeks’ duration, with an aim to complete 5 enquiries in each academic year. 

The curriculum is designed to ensure progress in understanding of key historical knowledge & concepts but most importantly to fire an interest and passion for History from local, national and international perspectives.  The enquiries are selected and written by the History team to develop wide & deep knowledge & to work with our GCSE and A Level specifications to ensure that History at Huish Episcopi is a cohesive story from Year 7 to Year 13.

	Year 7	Year 8	Year 9
Autumn Term	Poos & Loos:  When did toilets in Britain really change? Key features, change and continuity Analytical narrative	As a woman, was Elizabeth too weak to rule a country like England well? Interpretations, key features, judgement   Analytical essay	How ‘Golden’ was the Edwardian Age? Key features, evidence, evaluation & judgement   Judgement Essay
	How did the Normans gain control of England? Causation Illustrated essay	How should we remember the Battle of Langport? Significance, causation, evidence   Interpretations panel	What can one person’s story tell us about the First World War? Key features, evidence   Historical Fiction
Spring Term	What’s the real story behind the Crusades? Characteristic features   Challenge statements	What did the Akan Drum say? Characteristic features, evidence   Historical Fiction	How did Hitler gain control of Germany? Causation, key features, evidence   Analytical Essay
	Was John really a bad king? Interpretations, evidence, key features judgement   Essay	1750-1900: an age of progress in Britain? Causation, change and continuity, judgement   Essay	How should we remember the Holocaust? Interpretations, evidence, key features   Exhibition plan & guide
Summer Term	What makes a good story about the Black Death? Key features, evidence       Historical Fiction	Has Britain always been a happy home for migrants? (working question – enquiry under development) Key features, diversity, cause & consequence   Outcome tbc	Does anyone really believe a woman’s place is in the home? (working question – enquiry under development) Key features, change and continuity, diversity, cause & consequence   Outcome tbc

History GCSE

At key stage 4, we choose to follow the OCR SHP specification as it allows a seamless transition from Key stage 3.The SHP specification allows us to make history meaningful – encouraging learners to become curious, to develop their own opinions based on a respect for evidence, and to build a deeper understanding of the present by engaging with and questioning the past. Alongside this it continues to allow us to focus on enquiries built on local, national & world history.  Students are encouraged to develop transferable soft skills demanded in any path they choose to follow after completing this stage of their education.

 The course includes 5 units of learning:

• ‘The People’s Health, c1250 to present’ includes topics such as: What does the Black Death tell us about medieval public health? Was there a ‘Gin Lane’ in every town and city during the Renaissance? Why did the Spanish Flu kill more people than the Great War?
• ‘The Elizabethans, 1580-1603’ includes topics such as: Was Elizabeth I the best ‘Spin Doctor’ in History? Why was Mary Queen of Scots executed? Were the poor treated harshly in the Elizabethan age? Was it really ‘Merry England
• History Around Us – Glastonbury Abbey- a study of a local site including a field visit. Students consider: What are the strengths and weaknesses of physical remains as evidence of its past? How do artefacts, images, documents and oral testimony provide further evidence about the site? How does the site fit in the wider historical story of the area?
• ‘The Making of America, 1789-1900’ includes topics such as: Why did America want slaves? How did the Indians survive on the Plains? What really caused the Civil War? Who was Jim Crow? Did the lives of African American lives improve by the end of the 19th century?
• ‘Living under Nazi Rule, 1933–1945’ includes topics such as: How did Hitler achieve total power in 1934? What was the machinery of ‘Terror’ in Nazi Germany? Was living in Nazi Germany always terrifying? What was life like in Nazi occupied Europe?

The course is assessed in 3 terminal exam papers:

British History Exam (paper 1)

• The People’s Health C.1250-present day
• The Elizabethans C.1580-1603

History Around Us (paper 2)

• Glastonbury Abbey

World History Exam Topics (paper 3)

• ‘The Making of America, 1789-1900’
• ’ Living under Nazi Rule, 1933–1945’