Curriculum

History at Knole Academy.

History is a subject that everyone can enjoy because it is the story of your own family, your town and country and the world that you live in.  When you start your studies in Year 7 you begin an investigation that can lead to a life long enjoyment and appreciation of the past.

Throughout your time at Knole Academy you will be encouraged to seek out evidence, interview people and form your own opinions.  Working alone, in pairs and in groups you will be expected to achieve high standards of individual and team work.  You won’t just be asked to write essays or answer questions.  Instead we want you to find interesting ways to share your ideas.  Sharing thoughts can be fun through the use of drama or verbal presentations.  Information can be very colourful and attractively presented with hand drawn or ICT produced pictures and graphs.

What will you be studying at Key Stage 3?

You will be studying a curriculum that will help you become very familiar with the national history of Britain and of other countries and cultures around the world and from the past.

You will study a number of units each year.  Work in each unit will be focussed on a particular topic with an emphasis on gaining skills you need in later life.  Assessments given each term will inform you of your progress and help you and your teacher set targets for your future work.

Currently students study the following units:

Year	UNIT
	1	2	3
7	‘The Detectives’ (historical skills)	‘The Empire Strikes Back’ (The Roman Empire)	‘Medieval Control Freaks’ (Britain 1066-1500 : kingship, castles, peasants, church)
8	‘Off with their Heads’ (Britain 1500-1750)	‘Restless Natives – Pocahontas and Friends’ (Native Americans)	‘M ‘n Ms – Money and Machinery’ (Britain 1750-1900)
9	‘20th Century Barbie’ (the role of women through a study of fashion)	‘Oh What a Lovely War’ (Conflict in the 20th Century)	‘The Greatest Personality Ever!’ (the importance of individuals in history)

 

Teaching Methods

The majority of lessons involve paired and group work, individual study and development of extended written answers, class discussion and staff led presentations.  Lessons are very interactive and students are invited to role-play, hot seat and act out historical enquiries.  The department also runs field trips to aid understanding of the topics covered.  In Year 7 pupils visit a ‘working’ medieval village and castle.  Year 8 pupils visit Hampton Court and Year 9 experiences the First World War through a trip to the Belgian battlefields.  The department is also keen to encourage the use of numeracy, literacy and ICT within the study of History.

 Assessment

The History Department assesses progress using a variety of methods.  In addition to Assessment for Learning using questioning techniques, teacher comments and appraisal, each student will undertake at least two formally assessed pieces of work each year.  After each assessment students will review their performance with their teacher and together they will set individual targets to help them improve in the future.  There is also an end of year written exam which enables staff to record achievement in relation to the National Curriculum.  Students also have the opportunity to regularly reflect and evaluate their own work to help them progress through the national curriculum levels.

 

Homework

Written work is set on a regular basis and students will be expected to undertake research in the school library at lunch times and in local libraries outside of academy hours.  Students are also expected to learn the spellings and definitions of ten key words in each topic they study.  This is a literacy target.

 

Equipment

Students will need a variety of pens, ruler, pencil, coloured pencils, calculator and dictionary.

 

How Parents Can Help

As the Key Stage 3 curriculum is the study of people and world affairs, discussion of items in the news is a useful aid to understanding history.  Parents are also encouraged to discuss the historical topics under study with their child.  Many historical sites are available locally and consideration should be paid to visiting them.  A positive encouragement should be given to students to undertake research and make active use of all resource materials from library books, to films, to documentaries and CD ROM programmes.  Students should feel able to submit “word processed” work at any time.

 

What will you be studying at Key Stage 4?

Students are offered a course based on the proven and highly successful Schools History Project syllabus,  History is a popular option at GCSE and the units studied are extremely interesting and engaging.

 

Currently students study the following units:

Year	UNIT
	1	2
10	‘Germany 1918-1945’ An in-depth study of the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich.  Why did Hitler come to power?  What were his policies and what was life like in Germany during this period? (Exam)	‘The Holocaust’ A study of the shocking results of the Nazi regime as examined in Germany 1919-1945. (Coursework)
11	‘Jack the Ripper’ A study of the gruesome exploits of one of the most famous murderers in history and an examination of why he was never caught. (Coursework)	‘The History of Medicine’ An examination of the causes and cures of diseases from pre-history until the present day.  An opportunity to understand what has changed and what has remained the same over a long period of time. (Exam)

 

What you will be studying at Key Stage 5

AS and A2 History are increasingly popular options at Post 16 level.  Topics include the Cold War and Civil Rights in the USA.  Students also have the opportunity to complete a self-study unit on a topic of their choice.