During Key Stage 3, students learn to identify important terms and develop historical skills. During the first year, study areas include the skills of a historian, the Norman Conquest, as well as key themes and events from the Middle Ages.

This includes medieval warfare, knights, and castles. At the end of Year 7 students will be introduced to the Tudors preparing them for the transition into Year 8 and the study of the Stuarts.

In Year 8, students will investigate topics such as slavery and civil rights issues in the USA. We finish the year the studying Jack the Ripper and the industrial revolution in Britain laying the foundations to the making of modern Britain. Students explore the development of Britain from World War One to the present day.

Topics include world wars, the role of the government, social attitudes and diversity. 

The GCSE examining board is Edexcel.  

There are three papers:  

Paper 1: Medicine Through Time and the Western Front environmental study 30% 1 hour 15 minutes

·         Western Front Environment

·         Medieval1250-1500

·         Renaissance 1500-1700

·         Industrial 1700-1900

·         Modern 1900-present day

Paper 2: 40% (1 hour 50 minutes)

Superpower Relations and the Cold War 1941-91 (20%)

·         Origins of the Cold War 1941-58

·         Crises of the Cold War 1958-70

·         The end of the Cold War 1970-91

Early Elizabethan England 20%

·         Queen Government and Religion 1558-69

·         Challenges to Elizabeth home and abroad 1569-88

·         Elizabethan society in the age of exploration 1558-88

Paper 3: Weimar and Nazi Germany 30%. 1 hour 20 minutes

·         Weimar and Nazi Germany 1918-29

·         Hitler’s rise to power 1919-33

·         Nazi control and dictatorship 1933-39 

·         Life in Nazi Germany 1933-39

Social 

Students will explore the similarities and contrasts between past and present societies. They will examine how other cultures have had a major impact on the development of ’British’ culture. Students will also be encouraged to build up their own social development through collaborative and team working activities. The study of social issues is a common theme in History lessons. 

Moral 

Students are asked to consider and comment on moral questions and dilemmas. Events and beliefs in the past will often be at odds with what we would consider unacceptable today (and were to some people in the past also). Students will be encouraged to show compassion for people facing dilemmas and to empathise with decisions which people in the past made and the reasoning behind these decisions. Notions of right and wrong are explored in connection with events from the past, linking with the value of justice. 

Spiritual 

The study of History involves a sense of curiosity and the mystery of how and why events in the past happened and raises questions as to what could have happened with a different outcome. Artefacts are used to give Students a sense of the past and aid pupils in understanding the people who produced and used these objects. Students are encouraged to explore the role played by important individuals, for good or ill, in the shaping of the world we live in. Students also reflect upon different interpretations of the past and how these interpretations have been arrived at. 

Cultural 

Students will study and be encouraged to gain an understanding of and empathise with, people from different cultural backgrounds. Students develop a better understanding of our multicultural society through studying links between local, British, European and world history.

As a department we are passionate about taking learning beyond the classroom. Students are encouraged to explore their past through local and personal narratives.

We also have the opportunity for a residential trip to Ypres and Somme to gain a first-hand experience of the Western Front and trench structures.

Another residential opportunity for GCSE History students is to Berlin with a three-day walking tour mapping the fall of Weimar Government and Hitlers rise to power.