History

Subject Leader: Miss C Kilby – ckilby@knoleacademy.org

Subject Teachers: Mr L Farrelly-Jones and Mr M Knill

Exam Board: Edexcel

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Intent

We endeavour to provide all students with the opportunity to gain a meaningful understanding of the past, which is relevant to their experiences.  We also encourage a mature appreciation of the present world in light of the successes and mistakes of the past, allowing students to become lifelong learners. We want students to understand that there is no linear version of the past but instead that events are multi-causal and have wider significance to the world.

Implementation

The History department at Knole Academy provides education on local, national, and international issues. It encourages students to look at their own views and understand the views of others. We also encourage students to explore a diverse, inclusive interpretation of the past, highlighting that history is an interpretation

Many trips are linked with our study programmes, allowing the students to explore the issues discussed in class further. We actively promote historical discussions outside of the classroom so that students are knowledgeable about the significance of their own local history and it’s impact on the wider story.

Impact

We want our Historians at Knole Academy to become citizens in a global society with a well-rounded education of the past. Through the exploration of historical skills, students will be able to debate and formulate successful arguments, alongside the ability to ask questions of the past and grow into well-informed citizens, allowing them to excel in future careers. We encourage our historians to not be afraid to ask questions of the past and evaluate their own interpretation through the evaluation of sources and wider evidence.

History in Each Stage

History at Key Stage 3 (KS3)

Students study topics that span from Medieval England to the Twentieth-century world, allowing them to appreciate the influence that the past has had on the world that they are living in. Lesson activities vary but could include video clips, role-play, group and individual projects, debates and essays.

Year 7

  • The Anglo-Saxons
  • The Norman Conquest
  • The Medieval World
  • The Black Death
  • The Peasant’s Revolt
  • Life in Tudor England

Year 8

  • Witchcraft
  • The English Civil War
  • The British Empire
  • The Transatlantic Slave Trade
  • The Age of Revolutions
  • Industrial Britain
  • Suffragettes
  • Crime and Punishment through Time

Year 9

  • The Causes and Events of World War One
  • The USA in the 1920s
  • The Causes and Events of World War Two
  • The Impact of the War on Britain
  • Civil Rights in the Americas

History at Key Stage 4 (KS4)

The aims and objectives of this qualification are to enable students to:

  • develop and extend their knowledge and understanding of specified key events, periods and societies in local, British, and wider world history; and of the wide diversity of human experience
  • engage in historical enquiry to develop as independent learners and as critical and reflective thinkers
  • develop the ability to ask relevant questions about the past, to investigate issues critically and to make valid historical claims by using a range of sources in their historical context
  • develop an awareness of why people, events and developments have been accorded historical significance and how and why different interpretations have been constructed about them
  • organise and communicate their historical knowledge and understanding in different ways and reach substantiated conclusions.

Examination Information

Exam Board: Edexcel

Qualification: History (9-1) GCSE

History is a very popular choice at GCSE. We follow the Edexcel 2016 specification. This subject is assessed through a 100% examination of the three units (see below).

Paper 1: Thematic study and historic environment (30%)

1 hour 20 minutes. 52 marks.

11: Medicine in Britain, c1250–present and The British sector of the Western Front, 1914–18: injuries, treatment and the trenches.

  • Section A: historic environment Students answer two questions that assess knowledge, plus a two-part question based on two provided sources.
  • Section B: thematic study Students answer three questions that assess their knowledge and understanding. The first two questions are compulsory. For the third question, students answer one from a choice of two.

Paper 2: Period study and British depth study (40%)

1 hour 50 minutes. 64 marks.

B3: Henry VIII and his ministers, 1509–40 AND P4: Superpower relations and the Cold War, 1941–91

  • Booklet P Period study Students answer four questions that assess their knowledge and understanding. The first three questions are compulsory. For the fourth question, students select two out of three parts.
  • Booklet B British depth study Students answer four questions that assess their knowledge and understanding. The first three questions are compulsory. For the fourth question, students select one from a choice of two.

Paper 3: Modern depth study (30%)

1 hour 30 minutes. 52 marks.

31: Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918–39

  • Section A Students answer a question based on a provided source and one question from a choice of two that assesses their knowledge and understanding.
  • Section B Students answer a single four-part question, based on two provided sources and two provided interpretations.

Enrichment and Extra-curricular Activities 

Key stage 3

  • Canterbury Cathedral
  • Bletchley Park (joint with ICT dept.)
  • Imperial War Museum
  • KS3 History Film Club

Key stage 4

  • Battlefields trip: Ypres and the Somme
  • Hampton Court
  • Berlin, Germany

History Future Paths

Students can progress further to IB History

Museums, galleries, libraries and other historical archives all offer opportunities to pursue typical History careers. Some roles will be administrative and curatorial, and others will be research or education-based, adding to or imparting the body of knowledge about cultural heritage and history.

Adaptable skills: Law/legal, business consultancy firms and communications teams within larger organisations, national and local government, not-for-profit organisations, political parties, print and electronic media organisations, professional associations and peak bodies, public/private schools and universities, radio and television corporations, unions, Business Development Assistant/Manager, Contracts Advisor, Procurement Officer and Business Support Manager, accountancy and finance.

History Extra Resources

Extra Resources

Revision Materials