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St John’s Catholic Comprehensive School

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History

The fundamental objectives of the History department are based on a belief in the importance of history both as an academic discipline within the school curriculum and as a basis for living a productive and successful life beyond the confines of compulsory education. There are three fundamental aspects - Students should view history as a fun and interesting subject. All staff love and value the study of the past, and we want students to match this passion, generating an interest in the past that will remain with them for life. Students should have an understanding of how the world we live in has been shaped by the past. To do this they need knowledge and understanding of the past.

Students continuously develop life skills such as thinking, evaluating, analysing, empathizing and communicating. To this end, the most important skills we wish to develop are those of thinking and communicating. As a department, therefore, we want our students to understand the past through empathising and critically assessing events so that they can develop their own views on which explanations they think seem most convincing. In this way they develop their own critical thinking and ability to argue both logically and lucidly. 

Year 7 

Term 1 - 1066 & the Norman Conquest 

Skills and concepts [baseline assessment] 

Who should be king? The events of 1066 

Harold Godwinson 

Harald Hardrada 

William the Conqueror 

Who should be king – rights and wrongs 

Battle of Hastings October 14th, 1066 – the sequence of events 

The opposing armies 

William the Conqueror 

Hastings - assessment 

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Term 2 - The Problems Kings faced in the Middle Ages 

Crown Vs Church Henry II Vs Thomas Becket 

Dispute 

Murder in the Cathedral? 

Crown Vs State, John Vs the Nobles, Dispute, Magna Carta, Crown Vs the People, The Peasants’ Revolt, Wat Tyler, Wielding of power

Thomas Becket – assessment

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Term 3 - The Renaissance

The Renaissance - what? Where? Why? What happened? Art, Architecture, Learning, Medicine, Sciences

Italy-  why Italy? Influence of Rome and Greece, Florence

Significance and Importance of the Renaissance, Influence at the time, Influence today, Museum exercise

Changes in art - assessment

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Term 4 - Slavery in the Americas

Slavery in the Americas - life in West Africa in the 18th Century, Why slaves were needed, The growing of crops and trade

From freedom to slavery - the slave traders & capture, The Triangular Trade Route, On board ship – tight and loose pack, The auction, The plantation

The Plantation - the auction process, life on a plantation, the differing groups on a plantation

Opposition - who opposed slavery, the underground railway, abolition & Civil War

Life on the plantation - assessment

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Term 5 - The Tudor Era 

Tudor Times - Life in 16th Century England The Tudors – who were they?

Henry VIII - background - England Background - Europe 6 wives, Religion, Power struggles

Elizabeth I - succession – Edward and Mary, Religion

Henry VIII & problems – assessment End of year examination

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Term 6 - The Stuart Era

17th Century England - life Religion

James I - becoming king, The Gunpowder Plot

Charles I - problems of ruling, Parliament & puritanism Civil War

Later Stuarts - Charles II & the Restoration, James II & the Glorious Revolution 

Assessment 

Every term and an exam at the end of the academic year 

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Year 8 

Term 1 - The French Revolution 

Life in 18th Century France - the 3 Estates,How France was ruled, Everyday life 

Revolution - Causes, Events, The overthrow of the King, Reign of Terror, Successful? 

Napoleon - good or bad? Successes? At war

Post Revolution - success or failure? Life in France in the 19th Century

Napoleon – assessment

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Term 2 - Conflict in the 20th Century

World War I - Europe in 1914, Causes of War, Sarajevo, June 1914, Results and consequence, Versailles

World War 2 - why was there war again in 1939, Appeasement, Hitler 

War - what was it like? Trenches, Women at War – 1st and 2nd World Wars

Remembrance

Propaganda – assessment

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Term 3 - Persecution

Germany 1930s - persecution, Children & education, Propaganda, The sequence 

The Holocaust - Ghettos, The Final Solution, Death Camps

Aftermath - lessons, Remembrance

Significance – assessment

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Term 4 - 20th Century Europe

The Cold War - aftermath of World War 2, Allies and enemies, Ideologies and occupation 

The Berlin Wall - the tensions, Building the Wall, What the wall looked like, What the wall did, The Wall as a symbol,

The Cuban Missile Crisis -  The Cuban Revolution, Kennedy & Khruschev, The sequence of events, Aftermath

Berlin Wall – assessment

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Term 5 - Protest

Votes for women - women in society, Why were women not equal? Protest movements

Sufragette Movement - gaining momentum, From peaceful protest to violence, Votes for women, Equality immediately?

C.N.D. - the Nucear Bomb, Proliferation, Peaceful protest, Success?

Exam – assessment

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Term 6 - The 20th Century

Technology - changes, Momentum, Good or bad?

Fashion - changes over time, War and change

Music - change over time, Fashion or fad? 

Assessment 

Every term and an exam at the end of the academic year 

What will I gain from studying History? 

The fundamental objectives of the History department are based on a belief in the importance of history both as an academic discipline within the school curriculum and as a basis for living a productive and successful life beyond the confines of compulsory education. Students should view history as a fun and interesting subject. All staff love and value the study of the past, and we want students to match this passion, generating an interest in the past that will remain with them for life. Students should have an understanding of how the world we live in has been shaped by the past. To do this they need knowledge and understanding of the past.

Students should have an appreciation that the past is not just a number of events that happened to other people, but events that would have happened to us had we been born at a different time. To this end, students should not acquire the ability to simply judge people, but to try and empathise with people so that we can understand them. Students continuously develop life skills such as thinking, evaluating, analysing, empathizing and communicating. To this end, the most important skills we wish to develop are those of thinking and communicating. The ability to think imaginatively is the most fundamental skill to develop, but in order to express ideas, students must also be able to communicate effectively; after all, it is no good having a good idea if you can not tell anyone about it. Thus the need to instil the gift of developing written skill.

As a department, therefore, we want our students to understand the past through empathising and critically assessing events so that they can develop their own views on which explanations they think seem most convincing. In this way they develop their own critical thinking and ability to argue both logically and lucidly. The History Department seeks to build its students’ transferable skills, employability and intellectual curiosity, along with raising public awareness about the past and its legacies, through teaching, research and service activities conducted locally, statewide, regionally, nationally, and internationally. To this end the History Society complements the work of the Department. Tours and trips are regularly organized for all year groups. 

Pathways this course can lead to 

This course builds the foundations students need to succeed at GCSE, without repeating content. Develops the skills students will need for KS4 by gradually increasing the level of demand and by incrementally introducing GCSE-style questions. Embeds some of the key background knowledge needed to get to grips with the GCSE topics. 

Extra curricular opportunities 

There are a number of exciting and challenging extra curricular opportunities – 

The School History Society meets twice a week and organisers and arranges a number of activities – from maintaining and putting up displays in the school through organising the Remembrance events at the school and within the local Community and Borough through hosting different events such as book launches. The Society is also undertaking a study on the War Memorials in the Borough; researching the names, creating biographies and producing books – 5 to date. The Society also arranges talks from visiting guest speakers on local history and in particular on World War 1 studies. 

Tours include day and 3 day Battlefield Tours to Belgium and France as well as day events to the Battle of Britain Museum at Capel-le-Ferne, visits to Rochester [Castel and Cathedral] and Chatham Dockyard, day trips into London [London Dungeon and Imperial War Museum] and visits to the Mayoral Offices, Gravesend.