History

Curriculum Intent

The History department at Sunbury Manor School aims to offer a curriculum that engages all learners and makes them curious about their locality and the wider world around them. We also intend to make links to contemporary situations to highlight the relevance of history to the future generation. We also endeavour to develop their own opinions based on a respect for evidence, and to build a deeper understanding of the present by engaging with and questioning the past.

History is an important subject to broaden a students’ skill set. By studying the past, students further their empathy, communication and literacy skills. They learn to critically judge a wide range of written and visual interpretations through the evaluation of sources. It also fosters a sense of local and national identity.

KS3 students study a wide-ranging curriculum that incorporates British, European and World history. We focus on topics commonly found on the National Curriculum. Year 7 follow the medieval time period from the Norman Invasion ending with the War of the Roses. Our Year 8s look at the Tudor and Stuart time period followed by the development of the British Empire and its effect on the wider world. Year 9s look at the 20th century as an era of conflict, not just wars but also political conflict with ‘votes for women’ being one of our key topics.

At KS4, our students follow the Edexcel GCSE History course. We have selected topics that students have some prior knowledge of as the foundations to explore and build upon. Topics include a study of how medicine has developed in Britain from c.1250 to the present day, Superpower Relations and the Cold War 1941–91, Anglo Saxon and Norman England c.1060-1088 and Weimar and Nazi Germany 1918-39.

In History, we also implement our curriculum make use of visual sources as well as the more traditional written evidence. We like to engage our students by making history relevant to their lives and bringing topical situations into our teaching. For example, we have a local history project that focuses on the individuals listed on the local WWI war memorial. We also work in conjunction with other departments to develop common strategies to improve literacy skills that are transferable throughout the whole school. Discussion and debate are a regular feature of lessons, as well as empathy tasks to tackle social, spiritual and moral aspects in history.

We offer extra-curricular activities that enrich our curriculum. An annual WWI Battlefields trip helps develop understanding of WWI at KS3 but also aids our study of the British Sector of the Western Front as part of the GCSE Medicine in Britain course. We have also invited Holocaust survivors in, to talk to our students, which is incredibly powerful. We also encourage our students to look for the signs of local history in the world around them.

A Sunbury Manor History student will leave the school as a well-rounded individual with lifelong skills that are transferable to many career paths. History is a well-respected, academic subject and students that study the subject are confident to challenge interpretations and can form strong arguments, supported by the necessary evidence. History is also a subject that helps improve literacy and communications skills which are valued aspects of many vocations in life.

As a department we are extremely blessed to have three subject specialists, with over forty years of teaching amongst them, whose degrees draw upon Archaeology, Classical Civilisations, modern world History and historical literature. We are situated in the Humanities building that has three designated, well-resourced History classrooms to facilitate our varied approach to learning.

Curriculum Overview

 


Autumn 1

Autumn 2

Spring 1

Spring 2

Summer 1

Summer 2

 

Y7

 

Chronology

Life in 1066

Claimants to the Throne

Battle of Hastings

How William established control in England

Power of the Church

Henry II and Thomas Becket

Aspects of Medieval Life

King John

Magna Carta

The foundation of Parliament

Medieval Mali

 

England’s relationships with:

  • Scotland
  • Wales
  • Ireland
  • France

The Crusades

The Black Death

Peasants’ Revolt

Wars of the Roses

 

 

Y8

 

Henry VIII and his Break from Rome

Edward VI

Mary I

Elizabeth I’s problems

Spanish Armada

Portraits of Elizabeth

Tudor London case study

James VI and the Gunpowder Plot

The English Civil War

Execution of Charles I

Cromwellian England

The British Empire

The Transatlantic Slave Trade

The Industrial Revolution

The growth of towns and cities

Employment opportunities

 

 

Y9

 

Causes of WWI

  • Militarism
  • Alliances
  • Imperialism
  • Nationalism

WWI Recruitment

Sunbury Soldiers

Trench Life

Leadership during the war

The Battle of the Somme

End of WWI

Treaty of Versailles

League of Nations

Women’s Suffrage

Appeasement

 

Blitzkrieg & Dunkirk

The Home Front

The Battle of Britain

Pearl Harbour

Eastern Invasion

The Holocaust

D-Day

Atomic Weapons

Conspiracy Theories

  • The moon landings
  • Who shot JFK?

 

 

Y10

 

Weimar & Nazi Germany 1919-39

The Weimar Republic and Hitler’s rise to power

Weimar & Nazi Germany 1919-39

Nazi control and dictatorship

Weimar & Nazi Germany 1919-39

Life in Nazi Germany

Medicine in Britain c1250-present

Medieval Medicine

Renaissance Medicine

Medicine in Britain c1250-present

18th & 19th century developments

20th century medicine

Medicine in Britain c1250-present

British sector of the Western Front

 

 

Y11

 

Anglo-Saxon & Norman England 1060-1088

Anglo-Saxon England

Battle of Hastings

The Normanisation of England

Anglo-Saxon & Norman England 1060-1088

The Role of the Church

Bishop Odo

Robert’s Rebellion

Superpower Relations 1941-1991

The Origins of the Cold War

Superpower Relations 1941-1991

Cold War Crises 1958-70

 

Superpower Relations 1941-1991

The End of the Cold War

 

Revision

 

 

Key Stage 4 Specification

Subject Leader:

Mr Shutt

Contact:

mshutt@sunburymanor.surrey.sch.uk

Exam Specification:

Edexcel GCSE (9-1) History F6

QN Code:

601/8092/4

Summary of course content

Paper 1

Medicine in Britain c1250 to present – 20%

The British Sector of the Western Front: injuries, treatment and the trenches – 10%

Paper 2

Superpower relations and the Cold War 1941-91 – 20%

Anglo-Saxon and Norman England c1060-88 – 20%

Paper 3

Weimar & Nazi Germany, 1918-39 – 30%

Assessment

Paper 1 – 1h15 exam worth 30% (52 marks)

Paper 2 – 1h45 exam worth 40% (64 marks)

Paper 3 – 1h20 exam worth 30% (52 marks)

What type of activities take place in lessons?

Source analysis

Essay writing

Researching

Mind Mapping

Problem solving

Report writing skills

Critical analysis - of events, people, documents etc

Peer assessment

What type of homework tasks will be set?

Research tasks to further understanding

Source analysis tasks

Forming opinions/making judgements

Essay writing

Exam skills

How will it help me in the future?

History is very useful for many subjects where making a decision and reading between the lines is a necessary skill. E.g. Law, Journalism, Civil Service jobs, Teaching etc

Gives you the following skills:

  • Understanding people
  • Problem solving
  • Report writing skills
  • Critical analysis - of events, people, documents etc
  • Your ability to communicate: both spoken and written
  • Logical thought processes

How will this course build on what I have studied in Year 9?

You have just started learning the basic skills of source analysis. In Years 10 & 11 these will be developed so you get a full and rounded sense of the messages trying to be conveyed in the sources.

You will continue to develop your decision making and essay writing skills.

Year 9 gives you an insight into what happened during WWII, during the course you will be looking at the political side to the Nazi regime and focusing on how they maintained control over Germany. 

The Anglo-Saxon course will build on work undertaken in Year 7.

Year 9 work will also help understand trench conditions during the Medicine through time paper.

What skills will I develop?

  • Understanding people
  • Problem solving
  • Report writing skills
  • Critical analysis - of events, people, documents etc.
  • Your ability to communicate: both spoken and written
  • Logical thought processes
  • Essay Writing
  • Source Analysis