History

Director of Study

Assistant Director of Study

Mr J Sims-j.sims@stockport.stockport.sch.uk

History Teachers

Mrs P Miah

Mr S McDonald

Welcome to the History Department!

History at Stockport School

History is about learning from the past, to evaluate the impact on our present and how might it shape our future. At Stockport school we study history using historical enquiry. We want our students to understand their place in the world, by being able to recognise key concepts such as change, continuity and significance. We want them to be able to challenge the accounts of others and to construct their own judgments which demonstrate their historical knowledge and understanding.

We want the students at Stockport School to think, read and write like historians.

Please find below details on the curriculum over the five years in the history department at Stockport school. For further resources please see the firefly history area.

Key Stage 3 Curriculum

Year 7 - Curriculum Overview

History at Stockport school is a safe; yet risk taking learning environment that the pupils want to be a part of, because stimulating and creative learning takes place. The History team are committed to creating a challenging and supportive environment, so that all pupils can achieve their best. This is demonstrated by our excellent results and popularity at GCSE.

1. Transition from KS2 to KS3

Students all start with the same first unit of ,'What is History', which helps students understand key vocab such as chronology, sources, artefacts, documents and archaeology, for example. Through looking at the changes of sanitation and water pupils are able to look at pre-1066 time periods such as The Roman and Anglo Saxons, through to the Medieval, Renaissance, Industrial and Modern time periods, to develop an overall understanding of chronology, as well as introducing key second order concepts such as change and continuity, similarities and differences.

Students are taught history through enquiry based questions, that ensure that the second order concepts of, change, continuity, significance, causes, sources, interpretations, similarities and differences are explicitly taught. 

Examples of some of our topics that our enquiries include: 

Year 7 topics (pre 1066, 1066-1700)

• What is History?
• Why was 1066 a significant year?
• Was the Medieval period really an age of faith?
• Why do historians disagree about the Crusades?
• Who was the best Medieval monarch?
• Was Medieval life really that bad?
• What led to the Peasants revolt?
• How significant was the Black Death?
• What caused Henry VIII to Reform the Church?
• Did Mary deserve her nickname
• What problems did Elizabeth face in 1558?
• What were the consequences of James's 1st fears?
• What were the causes of the English Civil war?
• How united was the United Kingdom?

Year 8 topics (1789-1981)

• What were the causes of the French Revolution?
• How was Stockport created in the Industrial revolution?
• What were the consequences of the Industrial Revolution?
• Why did Britain go to war over a cup of tea?
• Is John D Clare right about the Indian Mutiny?
• What was Africa like before 1700?
• How has Olaudah Equiano helped our understanding of the slave trade?
• Should William Wilberforce get credited for the abolition of slavery?
• How should we remember the Peterloo massacre?
• How did Gandhi influence the black civil rights movement?
• Why did America have a civil war?
• How far did Martin Luther King achieve equality in America?
• How did the Suffragettes campaign to get women the vote?
• Did the Scarman report improve the lives for black Britons?

Year 9 topics (1914-present day):

• Was World War One inevitable?
• Why did Russia leave WWI?
• How did someone like Adolf Hitler come to power?
• Was the policy of Appeasement the right thing to do?
• Did Britain really defeat the Nazi's on their own?
• Who resisted the Nazi regime?
• Why was Kristallnacht significant?
• How did Jews resist the Holocaust?
• What happened to Hitler and the Nazi's at the end of WWI?
• What would you have decided at the Yalta conference?
• What and when was the Cold war?

Key Stage 4 Curriculum

GCSE History—Pearson's/Edexcel

Paper 1: Thematic study and environment study, 1hour 15mins

Medicine in Britain, c1250–present and The British sector of the Western Front, 1914–18: injuries, treatment and the trenches, 52 marks.

The thematic studies require students to understand change and continuity across a long sweep of history, including the most significant characteristics of different ages from the medieval to modern periods. They include people, events and developments and reveal wider changes in aspects of society over the centuries and allow comparisons to be made between different periods of history. Each thematic study explains the focus and identifies the relevant concepts and factors that need to be understood. This content is then divided into four further sections, which run sequentially from medieval to the present day. 

Assessment: Students will be assessed on their knowledge and understanding, with questions focusing on similarity and difference, and change and continuity. This may include turning points (significance), extent of, and causes or consequences of change. 

Historic environments: Each historic environment is linked to a thematic study and focuses on that site in its historical context. It examines the relationship between a place and historical events and developments. Much of the content is linked to the thematic study, but additionally some of the content focuses on the place itself. 

Assessment The content is assessed through a question on features of the period and also through a historical enquiry. For the historical enquiry, students will need to develop the skills necessary to analyse, evaluate and use contemporary sources to make substantiated judgements, in the context of the historical events studied. 

Paper 2: Period study and British Depth study, 1hour 55mins.

Early Elizabethan England, 1558–88. 32 marks

Superpower relations and the Cold War, 1941–91

The depth studies focus on a substantial and coherent short time span and require students to understand the complexity of a society or historical situation and the interplay of different aspects within it. Depending on the depth study chosen, these may include social, economic, political, religious and military aspects. For each depth study, there is some chronological overlap between key topics – this structure helps highlight the complexity and interplay of different aspects within society. 

 Assessment Students will be assessed on their knowledge and understanding. Questions will target key features and causation, and may also target other second order concepts (change, continuity, consequence, similarity, difference, significance)

The period studies focus on a substantial and coherent medium time span of at least 50 years and require students to understand the unfolding narrative of substantial developments and issues associated with the period. 

Assessment: Students will be assessed on their knowledge and understanding. Questions will target: consequence; significance (of specified events in relation to situations and unfolding developments); and analytical narrative (requiring students not only to describe what happened, but also to analyse events to find connections that explain the way in which events unfolded)

Paper 3: Modern Depth study, 1 hour 20mins

Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918–39, 54 marks

The depth studies focus on a substantial and coherent short time span and require students to understand the complexity of a society or historical situation and the interplay of different aspects within it this may include social, economic, political, cultural and military aspects. 

Assessment Students will be assessed on all four Assessment Objectives. All questions may relate to any content specified in the four key topics. Questions focusing solely on knowledge and understanding will target causation. Other questions will target the ability to analyse and evaluate contemporary sources and later interpretations. Students should be aware that interpretations are based on evidence from their period of study. They should be aware of a range of evidence that can be used to reach conclusions. They should study examples of such evidence and consider ways in which it could give rise to and support different interpretations. Students should understand a range of reasons why interpretations may differ. They should be aware that differences based on conclusions drawn from evidence are legitimate and can be explained. They should be able to evaluate given interpretations using their own knowledge of the period

Enrichment

Students are offered revision sessions and homework support. Several trips are offered, including to Leeds medical museum and a battlefields tour in northern France. Students have the opportunity to join History club to explore other areas of history outside of the classroom.

How can you help?

Spend spare time together, finding out about places you would like to visit or looking at Heritage sites. Encourage discussion about areas of historical interest, we can recommend a lot of historical films!

Encourage reading, such as historical fiction. We have reading lists for each year group.

Ensure they are in school and on time for school. Check firefly for homework tasks and deadlines to ensure they are prepared to achieve their best.

Homework and Independent Study

At KS3 student have compulsory homework set every fortnight. At KS4 students have compulsory homework set each week. Homework is accessible to everyone and will often involve watching videos and doing multiple choice quizzes, and literacy work. In addition to this students are encouraged to get more rewards by doing extra credit homework, that is often project based.

Possible resources:

bbc.co.uk/bitesize

Free Homework & Revision for A Level, GCSE, KS3 & KS2 (senecalearning.com)

Edexcel GCSE History (2016) | Pearson qualifications

Revision Guides (available from the school office)

Useful Contacts

Director of History: j.lytham@stockport.stockport.sch.uk