History
“History is a driving motivation to understand the facts of the world, and to comprehend the forces and purpose of human behaviour. History is a robust, rational framework in which to explore events – but also to uncover our irrational, unreasonable or seemingly inexplicable motivations for action; our sentient understanding of, and engagement with, the world.” – Bettany Hughes, What is History, Now?
Our curriculum is designed to provide students with a coherent, chronological narrative of significant events in Britain and the wider world from 1066 to the present day. The chronological nature of the curriculum allows students to understand how the past has influenced the present, and will the future. Students will gain an overview of History which will demonstrate how different themes are interwoven throughout time and they will make links between the units throughout all 5 years. The curriculum content aims to represent all students and their heritage, so that they are able to see how their past has contributed to our collective present.
Our curriculum seeks to enable our students to understand how to speak, analyse and write like an historian. They will be able to carry out historical enquiries using second order concepts of change and continuity, significance, cause and consequence and inference. This understanding of how our world has been shaped by the past will allow our students to go forward with appreciation and empathy, and the ability to form their own opinions and conclusions about the modern world.
History lessons engage students in enquiries about important individuals and significant events. Students are taught to use primary and secondary sources, and engage with current historical scholarship to use the work of historians to support their own conclusions. They will be able to use primary sources to identify not only what they tell us about the past, but also how they identify which histories remain unwritten and why. Students are provided with the opportunity to engage in historical debate and reflect on their own historical thinking in the classroom.