History

AIMS

We want pupils to develop an understanding of English, British and world history, from classical civilisation to twentieth-century international relations.

The curriculum is largely chronological and begins in Year 7 with Athenian democracy and the Greco-Persian Wars, and then the classical world’s most renowned republic: Rome.  We go on to study the formation of an English nation under the Anglo-Saxons, and then follow the nation’s political development from the eleventh to the fifteenth centuries.

In Year 8 our pupils study the Reformation, with a particular focus on Tudor England, before moving on to England’s tumultuous seventeenth century.  The second half of the year broadens out to examine the early stages of the British Empire – in both India and America – and the American and French Revolutions.

Year 9 focusses on the global twentieth century: starting with the origins of the First World War, we then move on to the Russian Revolution and its calamitous aftermath.  Next, we trace Europe’s path into its second continental conflict of the century, before studying the Second World War itself, including a focus on the Holocaust.  Year 9 ends with a sweeping study of the Cold War.

This curriculum aspires to equip pupils to become discerning members of the electorate, able to engage in discussion about the past and current affairs in an informed way. 

Key Stage 3

Year 7

• The Greco-Persian Wars
• The Roman Republic
• The Early Church
• Anglo Saxon England
• The Norman Conquest
• King John, Henry III and the origins of Parliament
• The Wars of the Roses

Year 8

• Tudor England and the Reformation
• James, Charles and the English Civil War
• Republic, Restoration and the Glorious Revolution
• The origins of Britain’s Indian Empire
• Britain in America and the American Revolution

Year 9

• The First World War
• The Russian Revolution
• Steps to the Second World War
• The Second World War
• The Holocaust
• The Cold War 

Key Stage 4

We study OCR History:

• Paper 1: Period Study and non-British depth study: International Relations: The Changing International Order 1918-c.2001 & The USA 1945 – 1974: The People and the State
• Paper 2: British Thematic Study: Power: Monarchy and Democracy in Britain c.1000 to 2014
• Paper 3: British Depth Study and Study of the Historic Environment: The English Reformation c.1520-c.1550 & Castles: Form and Function c.1000 – 1750

Advice for Parents

We encourage parents to take an interest in their child’s learning in History and help to quiz them on their knowledge at home as much as possible. It would also be beneficial if pupils are reading around their areas of study in any way possible to enhance their sense of period and deepen their love of History.  We have a History library at school in 1CR – pupils need only ask to borrow a book.

We recommend that all Y10 pupils have purchased the following textbooks:

• OCR GCSE History Explaining the Modern World: Modern World History Period and Depth Studies (Ben Walsh)
• OCR GCSE History Explaining the Modern World: Power, Reformation and the Historic Environment (Ben Walsh, Paul Shuter and Hannah Dalton)