The History curriculum is designed to provide a complex and nuanced chronological narrative of English, British, and international histories. As custodians of what we teach our students, we provide a diverse curriculum with ‘windows’ to take students beyond their immediate experience, and ‘mirrors’ so that our students see themselves reflected in the curriculum. The ambitious knowledge-based curriculum is accessed through overarching key enquiries, supported by lesson enquiries with second-order concepts at their core such as change and continuity, cause and consequence, significance, similarity and difference, sources and interpretations.
While being ambitious, we want History to be inclusive both in what is taught, as well as how. As such we ensure our lessons are accessible and personalised. We aim to provide a diverse experience through historical scholarship woven throughout each year group, with extended writing opportunities provided for students to deliberately practice their writing, coming from explicit teaching of historical writing. Our ambition is to broaden our historians’ wider cultural literacy, while interrogating conflicting and diverse historical interpretations within lessons. Through direct instruction of writing techniques, we aim for students to not only understand the broader narrative in history, but to question, challenge and construct historical arguments rooted in the discipline.
Through the study of History at KS3, students in Years 7, 8 and 9 will be provided with a broad and balanced curriculum that provides insight into the history of the British Isles and its place in the wider world alongside international history. The focus of this curriculum centres on powerful knowledge to develop knowledge and skills relating to the second order concepts as well as aiding in the development of well rounded, balanced and critically thinking individuals. History works in tandem with the other humanities subjects to provide students with sufficient economic, social, political and cultural literacy to ensure that they are more tolerant, confident and empathetic individuals.
At Lees Brook Academy we believe that History helps to provoke and provide answers to questions about how the past has influenced out present. Children are encouraged to develop a greater understanding and knowledge of the world, as well as their place in it. To understand the history of these islands, their country and their own place as global citizens. The History curriculum enables children to develop knowledge and skills that are transferable to other curriculum areas and which can, and are used, to promote their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. History is, by nature, an investigative subject, which develops and understanding of concepts, knowledge and skills. We seek to inspire in children a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people which will remain with them for the rest of their lives; to promote the children’s interest and understanding of diverse time periods, countries and people, together with a deep understanding of British and global histories using in depth and broad studies from the 11th Century to the 20th Century. The curriculum is designed develop knowledge and skills that are progressive, as well as transferable, throughout their time at Lees Brook and also to their further education and beyond.
Domains of knowledge
These are the subject, topics or time periods of a subject. Below are the proposed domains for History. All domains are in the Key Stage 3 National Curriculum for History and therefore should be covering in our Key Stage 3 curriculum. The Holocaust must be taught to all students prior to Options choices.
The only domain below not required in the National Curriculum is African History.
- Medieval History (pre-1066)
- Medieval History (post-1066)
- Early Modern History
- 18th and 19th Century History
- 20th Century History
- The Holocaust
- African History
- Local History
- British History
- European History
- Asian History
- History of Rights
While the domain names above are not used in the National Curriculum, they are developed from the National Curriculum headings below. The National Curriculum states that the following periods must be covered:
- The development of the Church, state and society in Medieval Britain 1066-1509.
- The development of the Church, state and society in Britain 1509-1745.
- Ideas, political power, industry and empire: Britain, 1745-1901.
- Challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world, 1901-present day
- Must include the Holocaust.
- A local history study
- The study of an aspect of theme in British History that consolidates and extends pupils’ chronological knowledge from before 1066.
- At least one study of a significant society or issue in world history and its interconnections with other world developments.
National Curriculum Aims:
- Know and understand the history of these islands as a coherent, chronological narrative, from the earliest times to the present day: how people’s lives have shaped this nation and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world.
- Know and understand significant aspects of the history of the wider world: the nature of ancient civilisations; the expansion and dissolution of empires; characteristic features of past non-European societies; achievements and follies of mankind.
- Gain and deploy a historically grounded understanding of abstract terms such as ‘empire’, ‘civilisation’, ‘parliament’ and ‘peasantry’.
- Understand historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance, and use them to make connections, draw contrasts, analyse trends, frame historically-valid questions and create their own structured accounts, including written narratives and analyses.
- Understand the methods of historical enquiry, including how evidence is used rigorously to make historical claims, and discern how and why contrasting arguments and interpretations of the past have been constructed
