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Our curriculum is community driven, by being inclusive in our coverage of the past. We believe students deserve an ambitious curriculum, by aiming to equip students with a deep understanding of the past while fostering relationships through their intellectual growth and development. Our curriculum strives for students to show excellence in both their written and oral depiction of the past.
We intend to achieve this by;
Igniting Ambition: The History curriculum aims to inspire students to develop ambitious goals for their personal and academic lives. By exploring the accomplishments, struggles, and innovations of historical figures and societies, students will be motivated to think beyond their own circumstances and envision a future filled with possibility. They will learn from the achievements and setbacks of the past, drawing inspiration from historical role models and their journeys towards greatness.
Acquiring Core Knowledge: The History curriculum emphasises the acquisition of core knowledge as the foundation for historical understanding. Students will explore key periods, events, and themes, developing a comprehensive understanding of the chronology and connections between historical developments. They will delve into topics that are both globally significant and relevant to their own national or regional context, fostering a sense of historical identity and cultural awareness.
Developing Disciplinary Knowledge: Disciplinary knowledge is interwoven throughout the History curriculum to cultivate critical thinking and historical analysis. Students will explore the provenance of historical sources, evaluating their reliability and biases. They will engage in source analysis, interpreting and evaluating evidence to construct well-reasoned arguments. Through a rigorous evaluation of different perspectives and narratives, students will develop an understanding of historical interpretation and the importance of questioning historical narratives.
Cultivating Interpretive Skills: The curriculum aims to develop students' interpretive skills, enabling them to analyse complex historical events. Students will engage in detailed examination of primary and secondary sources, considering the context and motives of the authors. They will develop the ability to extract meaning, identify patterns, and draw conclusions from historical evidence. Through rigorous analysis and interpretation, students will develop a nuanced understanding of historical events and their significance.
Emphasising Key Concepts: Key concepts in history serve as organising principles to deepen students' understanding of historical developments. Students will explore concepts such as causation, continuity, change, significance, through time. By engaging with these concepts, students will develop a holistic understanding of history and its relevance to the present. They will recognise the interplay of different factors shaping historical events and their far-reaching implications.
By intertwining core knowledge with disciplinary knowledge, such as source provenance, analysis, interpretation, evaluation, and key historical concepts, the History curriculum aims to foster ambitious and critically thinking individuals. Through the exploration of the past, students will develop a deep appreciation for the complexity of historical events, enabling them to navigate the present and shape the future with informed perspectives and a sense of purpose.
Implementation: We plan to implement these foci into our curriculum by focusing on the following:
Pedagogy | Enrichment | Sequencing |
Our pedagogy is underpinned by establishing ways to commit new knowledge to long term memory, the teacher is the expert and leads the learning, developing analytical writing, giving opportunities to relearn and improve work, teaching skills to be constantly improving, foster a love of learning and enjoyment in rich and deep subject knowledge. | The curriculum will be enriched by, establishing and emphasising cross curricular links, introducing on and off-site memorable experiences to embed new knowledge, the department taking an active role in key events in history such as Remembrance Day and Holocaust memorial. To make students aware of the British Values they encompass at every learning opportunity such as democracy, the rule of law and individual liberty and to improve their spiritual, social, moral and cultural understanding, building cultural capital through exposure to politics, art, religion, films. | The curriculum is sequenced within a chronological framework so that it can build upon prior learning, key concepts such as society, religion, government, monarchy, and crime and punishment are interwoven through the thread of power. Students will be able to make relevant links between episodes such as medieval and Tudor periods for the power of the crown and religion. There is progression between Key Stages 3 and 4, with students being exposed to underpinning knowledge and content that gives a good base of knowledge. There is an appropriate division of time between time periods and national or world-wide focus. |