Key Stage Three History Curriculum Outline
Year 7 Curriculum
Pupils will start with a short “Introduction to secondary History” course, before studying a chronological overview of British history, beginning with the Norman conquest and ending with the Tudors. All pupils are in mixed ability classes and study the same curriculum. A key assessment will take place at the end of each unit. Pupils will undertake extended homework projects which will relate to what they are studying in class.
Timeline Content and assessments Skills/ Keywords
Term 1 ● What is History and how do we study it? ● Using evidence ● Who were the claimants to the English throne in 1066? ● Cause and consequence ● The Battle of Stamford Bridge ● Communication ● The Battle of Hastings and why William won William of Normandy, Harald Haardrada, Assessment: “William’s actions were the main reason for his victory Harold Godwinson, Hastings, Arrow, Vikings, at the Battle of Hastings.” Norway, Wessex, How far do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer. (16 Cavalry, Shield, Monarch, King, Tactics, marks + 4 Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar) Stamford Bridge, Normans, Cause, Consequence
Term 2 ● How did William the Conqueror gain and keep control of ● Change and continuity England ● Communication ● English uprisings and the use of Norman force to crush them ● The feudal system William Duke of Normandy, William the ● The Domesday Book Conqueror, Castle, Harrying of the North, ● Castles Taxes, The Domesday Assessment: Write an account of how William gained and kept Book, the Feudal System, Castle, Stone Keep, control of England after 1066. (8 marks) Motte and Bailey
Terms 3 ● Medieval life ● Using evidence and 4 ● Role of the Church ● Communication ● The Peasants’ Revolt ● The Black Death Feudal system, Poll tax, Rebellion, Peasant, ● The Crusades Black Death, Buboe, Pandemic, Epidemic, Flagellants, Miasma, Crusade, Pilgrimage, Assessment: Source C supports the Christians. How do you know? Pilgrim, Holy Land, Relic, Shrine, Christian, (4 marks) Muslim, Jew
Term 5 ● The Renaissance Renaissance, Printing press, Symmetry, ● Art, architecture, religion, science, literature, key figures Progress, Architecture, Medicine, Literature, ● The printing press Anatomy, Donatello, Michaelangelo, Vesalius ● Comparing the Renaissance period to the Medieval period
Assessment: Was Leonardo da Vinci the greatest genius of the Renaissance?
Term 6 ● The Wars of the Roses ● Historical interpretations ● Who were the Tudors? ● Communication ● Henry VII ● Henry VIII Civil War, House of York, House of Lancaster, ● The Reformation Richard III, Tyrant, Catholic, Protestant, Reformation, Relic, Shrine Assessment: How convincing is Interpretation A about Henry VIII’s motivation to reform the Church of England?
How to support your son: ● Encourage your son to watch the news (we recommend News Round) and to be interested in current affairs ● Encourage your son to do his own research on the middle ages and what life was like in England ● Help your son to come up with a list of questions he would like to answer from his research ● Use the internet to look at different sections of the Bayeaux tapestry (Battle of Hastings) ● Visit some local Castles like Farleigh Hungerford or Nunney Castle ● Encourage your son to read some historical fiction, such as Kevin Crossley-Holland’s The Seeing Stone ● Encourage your son to read about the different personalities of the Tudor Monarchs
Year 8 Curriculum
Pupils will start with a short overview of the momentous changes in Britain between Henry VIII’s “Break From Rome” and the start of WW1, as well as the challenging issues involved in the history of slavery and civil rights in America. All pupils are in mixed ability classes and study the same curriculum. A key assessment will take place at the end of each unit. Pupils will undertake extended homework projects which will relate to what they are studying in class.
Timeline Content and assessments Skills/ Keywords
Term 1 ● The Tudor Religious Roller-Coaster Divorce, Schism, Reformation, Catholic, Protestant, Dissolution, Regent, Martyr, ● The King’s Great Matter & Break from Rome Indulgences, Gloriana, Armada, Virgin, Monarch, Recusant, Religious Settlement, ● Boy King Edward VI Martyr, Poor Law, Vagabonds
● Bloody Mary
● Elizabeth as ‘The Lion’s Cub
● Elizabeth’s ‘Middle Way’ & Religious Settlement ● What did Elizabeth actually look like? Portraiture & Propaganda
● The Mary Queen of Scots saga
● The Armada
Assessment: “The Spanish Armada was defeated because of the experience of the English commanders”. How far do you agree with this statement? Term 2 ● The Stuarts, The Civil War & The Protectorate ● Plot, Execution, Assasination, Coup ● James I & religious extremism d’etat, Spymaster, Conspiracy ● Cavalry, Infantry, Divine Right of Kings, ● The Gunpowder Plot Civil War, Musketeer, Parliamentarian,
Pikeman, Royalist, Propaganda, ● The Pilgrim Fathers Regicide, Death Warrant, Republic, ● Portraiture & Propaganda Roundhead, Cavalier, Ship tax, Tyrant, Puritan, New Model Army ● Eleven Years of Tyranny? Causing the Civil War ● Interregnum, Lord Protector, Major-General, Republic, ● Who fought who? Cavaliers vs Roundheads Commonwealth Prince Rupert vs ‘Black Tom’ Fairfax ● Witchcraft, Witchfinder General, Superstition, Witch trial, Witch hunt, How? Tactics, weaponry, New Model Army Familiar