History KS3

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

WHAT STUDENTS LEARN

Year 7

The History department is well resourced and uses a range of active teaching strategies to bring the narrative of the past alive. Starting from the Battle of Hastings 1066, we chronologically follow the developments of the Norman Conquest, Crusades, Tudor Monarchy and the English Civil War in 1642. Students are taught to use evidence to build up a picture of the past, including the ways things have changed and the ways things have stayed the same. They learn to understand how causes of events are linked and the reasons why people in the past may have interpreted events differently.

Year 8

At Langdon Academy we aim to inspire students and create curiosity about the past.

Our Year 8 curriculum is designed to help students develop their historical understanding at local, national and international levels. Students learn how to question source material and interpretations of the past and argue rationally using historical evidence to support their ideas.

To this end we focus on active learning strategies and an enquiry based model for the History curriculum. Year 8 topics include: The Transatlantic Slave Trade and Abolition of Slavery, Industrial Revolution, British Empire and Jack the Ripper.

Year 9

The History department appreciates the need to prepare Year 9 students for the modern world and therefore places priority on learning about topics that have relevance to an understanding of issues that confront everyone. Students are encouraged to ask and answer questions of the present by engaging with the past.

Students develop essential study skills such as the ability to locate and extract relevant information from a wide variety of sources; detect bias; analyse information; and develop their own original theories and ideas. In addition, students develop their understanding of causes and consequences, continuity and change, as well as similarity and difference. Year 9 topics include the Great War, Suffragettes, Civil Rights Movement, Cold War and Vietnam War.

HOW THEY WILL BE ASSESSED

Year 7

Students will be assessed on progress throughout units and tested on the knowledge they have gained at the end of each of the units. There will also be an end of year exam in History. Students will be given targets on how to improve their work and will reflect on their targets in order to progress in History.

Year 8

Year 9

HOME LEARNING

Year 7

Great care is taken to ensure that homework tasks build on the knowledge and skills students have been focusing on in class. Students are given a homework booklet for each topic. Homework is set once a week in Year 7 and students are expected to spend at least half an hour completing it. There is a strong emphasis on communication and literacy and by the time they begin Year 9, students are expected to be able to write reasoned arguments in well-structured essays.

Year 8

Year 9

HOW PARENTS CAN SUPPORT THEIR CHILD

Year 7

Parents can best support their child by helping them with their homework, listening to them read, visiting museums, and encouraging their child to do wider reading and research activities.

Year 8

Parents can best support their child by helping them with their homework, listening to them read, visiting museums, and encouraging their child to do wider reading and research activities.

Year 9

Parents can best support their child by helping them with their homework, listening to them read, visiting museums, and encouraging their child to do wider reading and research activities.

EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

Year 7

Black History Month Competition

Debate Mate

Year 8

Black History Month Competition

Debate Mate

Year 9

Black History Month Competition

Debate Mate