History
Curriculum Overview
Intent: why do we teach what we teach?
To provide our students with an understanding of how the world which they inhabit has been shaped. The rationale is that our students require an understanding of how modern society has developed, throughout the world, which enables our students to critically approach human development. Our ultimate intent is that all students, even those who do not progress with their study of history beyond Key Stage Three, understand the powerful messages of human history in terms of political development, the structuring of power and the progression of individual civil rights. Students should build secure substantive knowledge in a clear framework of second order concepts which enables them to understand and communicate this knowledge clearly.
Implementation: how do we teach what we teach?
Our curriculum is strategically planned to provide a chronological understanding of how human history has progressed from the medieval period to the modern day, with a balance between providing rich, diverse historical knowledge and developing key skills around historical second order concepts which enable students to apply and communicate that knowledge with understanding.
Impact: how do we know what pupils have learnt and how well they have learnt it?
At carefully planned points in the academic year, students will complete formative and summative assessments which enable them to display their substantive knowledge and communicate it clearly to meet defined assessment criteria. Knowledge and understanding is assessed formatively through knowledge-based tasks which require clear explanation of content. Summative assessment is conducted at the end of individual units and in the final term in the form of extended writing of varying lengths, demanding that students present and communicate their knowledge using the second order conceptual skills developed throughout the unit(s) and the year.
