Key Stage 3

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Year 7

Intent

Students will develop an understanding of how England developed from the Anglo-Saxon period through to the beginning of the 16th century. This will include learning how England became a monarchy, and how the power of the monarch was challenged across the period. Students will also see the importance of religion in people’s lives and the complexities of the relationship between Church and the State. Students begin to see the emergence of Britain today and begin to make comparisons to the modern world we live in.

Learning Journey

Skill Development

Students will develop the following skills:

1. Causation – learning that the reason events happened and outcome of events were multi-causal. Students will begin to consider causes as short term, long term and the trigger cause of an event happening.
2. Significance – understanding the impact events/people had on society at the time but also starting to consider the long term impact on modern society, e.g. impact of Norman Conquest and Magna Carta.
3. Evidence – appreciate how our understanding of the past has been come from primary and secondary sources. Students begin to make inferences from evidence presented to them and link sources together to reach a judgment.
4. Interpretations – starting to access historical interpretations and interpret what these interpretations suggest. They begin to explain if they agree with the interpretation or not.

Year 8

Intent

Students will learn how England underwent radical changes from the 17th century and progressed towards the modern state in which we live. They will understand politically how England developed into a constitutional monarchy and a democratic country. They will also look at the social and economic changes brought by the Industrial Revolution and how this intertwined with the growth of the empire and Atlantic Slave Trade. Our students will also develop an appreciation of the ongoing struggle for civil rights in the western world.

Learning Journey

Skill Development

Students will develop the following skills, building on from Y7:

1. Causation – Students will link causes together to explain why events happened, e.g. political, economic, social, religious.
2. Significance – Students will start to question what makes something significant and be able to articulate this, e.g. causing change, having an effect on future generations, having a wide-ranging impact.
3. Evidence – students will link own knowledge of a topic to a source to support what it infers about a topic. Students will start to consider why some sources are more useful than others through considering the background of a source such as who produced the source and when it was produced.
4. Interpretations – Students will compare historical interpretations and be able to describe how these are different. They will start to consider why historical interpretations can be different through considering the background of the interpretation.

Year 9

Intent

Students will know about the international conflicts of the 20th century and how these have shaped the modern world in terms of the political landscape. Students will acquire an understanding of what political ideologies exist in the world and how these have created conflict. They will develop an appreciation for the freedoms brought by democracy in contrast to a dictatorship and develop empathy for what people went through as a result of 20th century conflict.

Learning Journey

Skill Development

Students will develop the following skills, building on from Y8:

1. Causation – Students will be able to link causes together but also confidently evaluate causes to consider which was most important and create counter-arguments to diminish the argument of other reasons.
2. Significance – Students will be able to explain how events/people were significant by affecting future generations and not just explaining the impact on the time.
3. Evidence – Students will develop source analysis skills further by considering why one source is more useful than others through considering the purpose of sources, i.e. why they have been produced. Students will consider the motive of the author and the audience to explain why a source could be considered more useful.
4. Interpretations – Students will explain why people have particular interpretations – background of the historian giving their view, how their view might be influenced by the motive of their work. Students will be able to explain using their knowledge, why an interpretation is convincing and begin to explain why one interpretation might be more convincing than another.