History
Subject Leader: Mrs T Shillito
Subject Leader Email Address: tanith.shillito@swale.at
The more you know about the past, the better prepared you are for the future.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT
Subject overview
History encourages students to become critical thinkers, informed citizens and analytical problem-solvers. The curriculum is designed to explore both British history and worldwide perspectives. Students learn to gather evidence, evaluate conflicting perspectives and construct logical, persuasive arguments. History teaches students to look beneath the surface. They learn that major global events rarely have one single cause. Instead, they analyse the complex web of short-term and long-term causes that lead to change or continuity over time. The curriculum encourages students to step into the shoes of people from different eras, cultures and socio-economic backgrounds so that they develop empathy. Students learn to understand why people made certain choices based on the values and constraints of their own time, rather than judging these actions solely by modern day standards.
Year 7
Term 1
Topic: Roman Britain
Enquiry Question: What did the Romans do for us?
Term 2
Topic: Raiders and invaders.
Enquiry Question: Was England ever truly at peace between 410 AD-1066 AD?
Term 3
Topic: The Norman Conquest.
Enquiry Question: How did the Normans Conquer England?
Term 4
Topic: Medieval Life.
Enquiry Question: What might you expect to see in Medieval England?
Term 5
Topic: Power struggles between the Church and King.
Enquiry Question: Was a medieval King ‘God on Earth’ or ‘just a man with a crown?’
Term 6
Topic: English Reformation.
Enquiry Question: Why was the Tudor period a religious rollercoaster?
Year 8
Term 1
Topic: Elizabeth I.
Enquiry Question: How did a female monarch survive in a man’s world?
Term 2
Topic: Significant events in the early modern period - the English Civil Wars.
Enquiry Question: Why did England go to war with itself?
Term 3
Topic: The Transatlantic slave trade.
Enquiry Question: How far does the Transatlantic slave trade explain the global inequalities we see today?
Term 4
Topic: The Industrial Revolution.
Enquiry Question: How did the Industrial Revolution affect people's lives?
Term 5
Topic: Empire and Indigenous peoples.
Enquiry Question: How were indigenous peoples impacted by empires?
Term 6
Topic: The fight for civil rights.
Enquiry Question: How have different groups fought for their civil rights?
Year 9
Term 1
Topic: World War One and the changing nature of warfare.
Enquiry Question: Why was World War One a catalyst for change?
Term 2
Topic: The causes of World War Two.
Enquiry Question: Was Hitler the main cause of World War Two?
Term 3
Topic: The turning points of World War Two.
Enquiry Question: What was the most significant turning point of World War Two?
Term 4
Topic: Persecution and genocide.
Enquiry Question: How did centuries of persecution become a ‘Final Solution’?
Term 5
Topic: Post war Britain and social change.
Enquiry Question: Why was post war Britain a time of great change?
Term 6
Topic: The Cold War.
Enquiry Question: Was the Cold War an era of permanent crisis?
Year 10
Term 1
Topic: Medicine in Britain 1200-present day.
Enquiry Question: How far did beliefs about disease, treatment and prevention change between 1250-1700?
Term 2
Topic: Medicine in Britain 1200-present day.
Enquiry Question: How far did beliefs about disease, treatment and prevention change between 1250-present day?
Term 3
Topic: The British Sector of the Western Front 1914-1918.
Enquiry Question: How and why did medicine develop on the British sector of the Western Front?
Term 4
Topic: Anglo-Saxon and Norman England, c1060–88.
Enquiry Questions:
What were the key features of Anglo-Saxon England?
What challenges to power occurred between 1060-1066 and why?
Why was there a succession crisis and what were the consequences of this?
Why did William win the Battle of Hastings?
Term 5
Topic: Anglo-Saxon and Norman England, c1060–88.
Enquiry Questions:
How did William establish control and power between 1066-1088?
What challenges did William face to his power between 1066-1075?
Term 6
Topic: Anglo-Saxon and Norman England, c1060–88.
Enquiry Questions:
What challenges did William face to his power between 1066-1075?
How and why was England Normanised between 1066-1088?
Year 11
Term 1
Topic: Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918–39.
Enquiry Questions:
What challenges did the Weimar Republic face?
Why were the years 1923-1929 known as the Golden Years?
Term 2
Topic: Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918–39.
Enquiry Questions:
How and why did the Nazi Party develop between 1920-1929?
Why did support for the Nazi Party increase between 1929-1932?
Why did Hiter become Chancellor in 1933?
How was the Nazi dictatorship created between 1933-1934?
Term 3: weeks 1-4.
Topic: Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918–39.
Enquiry Questions:
How and why did the Nazi Party control and influence attitudes?
What was the extent of opposition and resistance between 1933-1939?
What was life like for different groups of people within Nazi Germany?
Term 3: weeks 5-6.
Topic: The American West, c1835–c1895.
Enquiry Questions:
What were the key features of the Indigenous Peoples of the Plains beliefs and ways of life?
Why did migration from East to West take place and what challenges did migrants face?
Term 4
Topic: The American West, c1835–c1895.
Enquiry Questions:
What US government policies and factors affected the development of the West between 1862-1876?
What problems were faced by homesteaders and how were these overcome?
Why and how did the cattle industry grow?
Why and how did the cattle industry change after 1887?
Term 5
Topic: The American West, c1835–c1895.
Enquiry Questions:
Why did conflict and tension continue between 1876-1895?
Why and how had the Indigenous Peoples of the Plains ways of life been destroyed by 1895?
Term 6: formal GCSE exams.
How is this course assessed?
100% examination.
Four exam papers.
Year 12
A Level History is a four unit course split over Year 12 and 13. Below are the four units covered:
Unit Y113 - Britain 1930-1997
Unit Y221 - Democracy and Dictatorships 1919-1963
Unit Y100 - Non-examined assessment - Written research piece.
Unit Y315 - Changing Nature of Warfare 1792-1945
Term 1
Topic: Unit Y113- Churchill’s points of view and Churchill as a Wartime Prime Minister
Enquiry questions:
To what extent did Churchill's stances on the Abdication Crisis and Indian independence prove that his political judgment was fundamentally flawed?
How far were Churchill’s actions regarding the Abdication and India driven by a romantic, outdated vision of the British Crown and Empire?
Churchill was the architect of his own political isolation in the 1930s. How far do his policies on India and the Abdication support this view?
Topic: Unit Y221 - The establishment and development of the Weimar Republic: 1919–Jan 1933.
Enquiry Question: To what extent was the collapse of the Weimar Republic caused by the constitution?
Term 2
Topic: Unit Y113 - Churchill International Diplomacy and domestic Conservative dominance 1951-1964
Enquiry Questions:
To what extent was Churchill’s post-war vision for Europe and the Empire a realistic response to the emerging Cold War, rather than an outdated attempt to maintain British prestige?
How far was Churchill personally responsible for the fracturing of the Grand Alliance and the onset of the Cold War between 1943 and 1946?
A leader left behind by world events. How accurately does this describe Churchill’s influence at the Tehran, Yalta, and Potsdam conferences?
Topic: Unit Y221 - The establishment of the Nazi Dictatorship.
Enquiry Question:
To what extent was the rapid transformation of Germany from a democracy into a dictatorship a triumph of state terror and violence?
Term 3
Topic: Unit Y113 - Labour and Conservative Governments 1964-1979.
Enquiry Questions:
How far were the economic failures of successive governments between 1964 and 1979 responsible for the apparent decline of the post-war consensus?
The masters of the state. To what extent did industrial relations and trade union power dictate the fortunes of both Labour and Conservative governments between 1964 and 1979?
Topic: Unit Y221 - Nazi domestic policies Feb 1933–1939.
Enquiry Question:
To what extent did the Nazi regime succeed in engineering a popular, unified Volksgemeinschaft (people's community)?
Term 4
Topic: Unit Y113 - Thatcher and the end of consensus 1979-1997.
Enquiry Question:
To what extent did the Conservative governments of 1979–1997 fundamentally transform Britain's political and economic landscape?
Topic: Unit Y221 - The impact of war and defeat on Germany: 1939–1949.
Enquiry Question:
How far did Allied bombing have a greater impact on Germany’s civilian population than on its war economy?"
Term 5
Topic: Unit Y113 - Britain’s position in the world 1951-1997.
Enquiry Questions:
How far did Britain's foreign policy between 1979 and 1997 mark a definitive shift away from imperial priorities toward European and transatlantic alignments?
How successfully did Britain navigate domestic division and its changing international status during the Thatcher and Major eras?
Topic: Unit Y221 - Divided Germany: The Federal Republic and the DDR 1949–1963
Enquiry Questions:
To what extent was Konrad Adenauer’s political dominance in the FRG between 1949 and 1963 depend on his policy of Western integration)?
To what extent did social and economic policies in the DDR between 1949 and 1958 successfully create a distinct ‘socialist identity’ among its citizens?
Term 6
Topic: Unit Y113 and Y100 consolidation of learning, closing gaps, revision and non-examined assessment unit research.
Topic: Unit Y221 and Y100 consolidation of learning, closing gaps and revision
Year 13
Unit Y315 - The changing nature of Warfare 1792-1945
Unit Y100 - Non-examined assessment - Written research piece.
Term 1
Topic: Unit Y315 - The impact of factors directly related to the conduct of war.
Enquiry Questions:
How far did the quality of leadership bring about a change in the nature of warfare between 1792-1802?
How important was the quality of leadership in the American Civil War?
How far was poor leadership the reason for indecisive military strategies and heavy casualties?
Term 2
Topic: Unit Y315 - The impact of technological change.
Enquiry Questions:
How important were developments in weaponry?
How significant were developments in transport during the American civil war?
• The Western Front and the First World War 1914-1918
◦ How important were developments in weaponry on the Western Front during the First World War 1914-1918?
Term 3
Topic: Unit Y315 - Planning and preparation.
Enquiry Questions:
How far was French success due to the weakness of coalitions during the French Revolutionary Wars 1792-1802?
How significant was the defeat of the South, during the American Civil War 1861-1865?
Was the defeat of the South due to failure to secure alliances?
How far did alliances determine the outcome of the First World War?
Term 4
Topic: Unit Y315 - The relationship between domestic factors and warfare.
Enquiry Questions:
Did the organisation of the state bring about a turning point in the history of warfare during the French Revolutionary Wars?
Did organisation and economic factors determine victory during the American Civil war?
Did Germany lose the war because of the Home Front?
Term 5
Consolidation of learning, closing gaps and exam preparation.
Term 6
N/A
How is this course assessed?
100 % written examinations.
Three examinations and a non examined assessment.