Why do we learn history?
In History lessons at Ark Blake Academy, we believe that through the study of the phenomenon of society over time, and how people and societies behave, pupils acquire personal empowerment which enables them to ‘deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world’ (Shaull, 1970, p.34). For example, through the study of the Malian empire to the Brixton race riots, pupils will learn that racism is not part of human nature, it has been historically constructed, and therefore can be uprooted. Pupils will be empowered to build a substantive and essential body of both British and international history, playing an important role in a pupils’ cultural literacy. Our curriculum ensures pupils are building the disciplinary knowledge of a historian’s trade: studying conflicting interpretations of the past and learning and drawing conclusions from a diverse evidence base. In doing so, pupils develop their writing, debating and questioning skills, and have the confidence to peruse history beyond their time studying at Ark Blake.
We understand the importance of a balanced curriculum in ‘future proofing’ pupils so that they are confident in dealing with situations in the future, which they were not specifically prepared for. From the Malian Empire in the 1200s to the suffrage movement in the 20th century, pupils will build a deep knowledge base and broad range of skills, which is vital for equipping pupils to not only be able to interrogate the information they receive through the media, but to also understand the context of different communities in twenty-first century Great Britain and their own in Croydon.
Our approach
Our History curriculum provides pupils with an extensive narrative of British and international history. It poses important questions for pupils’ understanding of power, governance, religion, war, the rule of law, civil disobedience and the interplay of socio-economic factors that lead to major events in history. These core concepts are frequently revisited so that over time pupils build a broad and deep historical schema. When they enter KS4, pupils can confidently navigate complex vocabulary and themes due to this preparation. They can write with fluency and confidence; interrogate and interpret challenging source materials and reach well-articulated judgements about historical events. History is therefore not only fundamental for understanding the world in which we live but is vital for equipping pupils with the analytical and literacy skills essential for success in modern society.
Although our curriculum has been designed chronologically, we continually reference second-order concepts that help us organise the process of studying history, such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance. We use them to encourage pupils to make connections, draw contrasts, frame historically valid questions and create their own structured accounts. History will enable pupils to understand how evidence is used within a historical enquiry and explore how and why contrasting arguments and interpretations of the past have been constructed. For example, in Year 8, pupils assess the legacy of Oliver Cromwell, assessing whether his reputation is justified.
Year 7
| Autumn | |
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| England pre 1066, the Norman Conquest and Norman England | |
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Who were the invaders and settlers that came to Britain before 1066? Knowledge Content: chronology; immigration; hunter-gatherers; the Celts; Romans; Anglo-Saxons; Vikings and government in Anglo-Saxon period (social history). Threshold Concept: Britain has been shaped and influenced by the wider world, right from the earliest times. |
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How did the Duke of Normandy become King of England? Knowledge Content: contenders to the throne; Norman military and ambition; battle of Stamford Bridge and Hastings; life on the manor; farming; castle building; social structures; church hierarchy; Domesday; Feudal relationships; dynastic succession and its fragility Threshold Concept: throughout the medieval period power was contested, and Kings could come to power through conquest (as well as acclamation, election or inheritance). |
| Spring | |
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| The Emergence of Parliament & The Black Death | |
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Who had power in the medieval period? Knowledge Content: relationship between Henry II and Thomas Becket; King John and barons; agreements between Henry III and barons; origins of Parliament; Peasants revolt including consequences; law and order in Medieval period; trial and punishment. Threshold Concept: there was a power struggle between the church and crown in the medieval period leading to the emergence of Parliament. |
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How did the Black Death lead to change? Knowledge Content: Black Death spread along the silk road, origins in Central Asia/China; Trade; Population; Demographic change (before/after); symptoms and treatments; village culture Threshold Concept: Britain was connected to other parts of the world through trade and the silk road. |
| Summer | |
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| The Islamic Empire & The Crusades | |
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How did the Islamic Empire shape Britain? Knowledge Content: political geography of Islam from AD1000; House of Wisdom; contributions to science and maths; Arabia origins- cultural and geographical. Spread to Spain, North Africa, Syria etc. Depth study on Baghdad. Threshold Concept: during the height of Islam’s culture and learning from c750-1050, significant contributions were made to fields of science and medicine. |
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How did Crusades in the Middle East affect European life? Knowledge Content: preaching First Crusade: Pope Urban II etc, reasons for preaching the Crusade. Byzantine empire; Seljuk Turks; Levant; ‘Holy Land’; knightly orders; Papacy; Richard III; Saladin Nur ad din Threshold Concept: Pope Urban II preaching of a holy war drew on the established Christian tradition of the pilgrimage (as covered earlier on in the academic year) but also added the philosophy of a ‘holy war’ to justify the killing of other humans. |
Year 8
| Autumn | |
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| Tudors & West African Kingdoms | |
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How did the reformation change England’s relationship with the world? Knowledge Content: Henry VIII’s break with Rome; Edward VI and Mary (top down reformation); counter reformation; Elizabeth’s problems in context of wider world with a chief focus on later part of her reign. Threshold Concept: England break with Rome in 1534 (Act of Supremacy) made her vulnerable to foreign and domestic threats. |
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How was there so much learning at the ‘end of the earth’? Knowledge Content: Timbuktu; Silk Roads; Towns in Africa; Kings of Malian Empire; University of Sankore; Pilgrimage to Mecca and the devaluing of currency Threshold Concept: West African kingdoms flourished in the centuries prior to the onset of European colonisation. |
| Spring | |
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| British Empire & The Slave Trade | |
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Was the British Empire a good or a bad thing? Knowledge Content: the beginning of the British empire; the ‘Scramble for Africa’; British America; India; Africa; empire’s contributions to Britain; experiences of colonies in World Wars; interpretations of the empire; legacy of the empire. Threshold Concept: from small beginnings in the early 1600S, Britain’s Empire grew and grew to be-quite simply- the largest empire the world had ever known. |
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Why are ‘some islands in the Caribbean’ important to understanding British history? Knowledge Content: Spanish exploration; the triangular trade; Britain and the Caribbean; experiences of captives; slave resistance; abolitionist campaigns; legacies of the slave trade. Threshold Concept: from the 15th century, innovative ship building, navigational improvements and the gradual development of modern cartography all stimulated by a commercial and political stimulation to explore even further south along the African coast, enabling the slave trade. |
| Summer | |
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| Civil Rights & Migrants | |
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What does it mean to be British in 1901? American Civil Rights: Why has Robert F. Williams been forgotten? Knowledge Content: USA case study: Robert F. Williams; Jim Crow Laws; New Deal and race relations; I have a dream; after 1960s. Britain: Mangrove Nine 1970 and Notting hill; Black People’s March 1981 Threshold Concept: British black power movement helped to create social change, including cultural shifts that enabled equality bills of the 2000s. |
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How should we summarise British response to migrants? Knowledge Content: role migrants played in English life, 1250-1500; diversity of migrant communities e.g. Dutch and Flemish; who was accepted in early modern Britain? Early African and Indian migrants; experience of migrants 1750-1900; Brick Lane; experiences of migrants in Croydon. Threshold Concept: Ethic diversity in Britain is older than we think. Between 43 AD and about 410 AD Roman who settled in Britain included those born in the Middle East and Africa. |
Year 9
| Autumn | |
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| Female Suffrage & The First World War | |
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How could historians use cartoons to understand Peterloo? Knowledge Content: Britain and the world in 1901; key personal; The Petition; Suffrage societies; WSPU; WFL; hunger strikes; fundraising and propaganda; processions; census; FWW; The Vote Threshold Concept: it was not until the Equal Franchise Act of 1928 that women over 21 were able to vote and women achieved the same voting rights as men. |
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Why is it so hard to tell the story of the First World War? Knowledge Content: short term and long term causes; nature of warfare; varied experiences of soldiers; Western and Eastern Fronts; Treaty of Versailles |
| Spring | |
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| Early 20th Century Power & The Second World War | |
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Who had power in the twentieth century? Knowledge Content: democracy and dictatorship; Germany in the 1920’s; Weimar government; Stalin’s dictatorship in the USSR; USA in the 1920’s; persecution of minorities; Nazi party and other fascists around the world Threshold Concept: no two countries in the world are run in exactly the same way. |
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How is the Second World War remembered? How should it be remembered? Knowledge Content: causes; main events; British contributions (were they solely responsible for victorywider perspective); reasons for Germany’s lost; antiSemitism over time; Holocaust (narrated throughout the module); experiences of soldiers of the Empire; United Nations Threshold Concept: technological improvements made the Second World War very different from the first. Developments of aircraft and motorised transport meant attacks could be quicker. |
| Summer | |
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| The Commonwealth & The British Caribbean | |
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How/why did the Windrush become such a big part of our island story? Knowledge Content: decline of British Empire; independence for India; independence in Africa; reasons for migration to Britain after the war; Windrush; multicultural Britain Threshold Concept: from 1957 colonies of the British empire were granted independence. Nature of independence varies with some colonies such as Kenya, experiencing a lengthy period of violence in which hundreds of Africans were killed. |
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Why did people from the Caribbean finally decide to unpack their suitcases in Britain? Knowledge Content: context of South London (and Croydon); reasons for Caribbean migration to the area. The problems of housing; overcrowding and slum landlords. The influence of Caribbean culture in the area and development of shops, cafes, markets; racism and policing; Brixton riots; Black activism; Britain after the Second World War and the demand for labour. Threshold Concept: there has been a diverse pattern of migration to the UK from the Caribbean as part of the connection to the British Empire and Commonwealth. |
Year 10
Crime and punishment will be used to help students understand the process of change and the nature of the process, including patterns; trends and turning points and the influence of factors inhibiting or encouraging change. Students will re-examine Norman England (covered in Y7) looking in depth at Anglo-Saxon England and changes brought about following William’s victory at Hastings and lasting legacy surrounding the disputed succession following his death. Lastly students are given the opportunity to explore long term consequences of content covered at KS3 such as the Crusades and Holocaust in the Conflict in the Middle East Paper. Pupils will explore Britain’s involvement in the establishment of Israel, on going negotiations for peace and the question of Palestinian nationhood.
| Autumn | |
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| Thematic and Historic environment; Crime and punishment in Britain | |
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Knowledge Content: criminal activity; methods used to enforce the law and methods used to punish criminals in England during: a) Medieval England c.1000-c.1500 |
| Spring | |
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| British Depth Study: Anglo-Saxon & Norman England | |
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Knowledge Content: Anglo-Saxon society; death, succession and claims to the throne in 1066; invasions and battles, including the battles of Gate Fulford, Stamford Bridge and Hastings; William I am establishing control; Anglo-Saxon resistance; Revolts of the earls; Feudalism, the Church and government; William I, his sons and the Norman aristocracy |
| Summer | |
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| Period Study: Super Power relations and the Cold War, 1941-91 | |
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Knowledge Content: Early tensions between east and west; the developments of the Cold War; the significance of the Arms Race; Cold war crises, 195870; construction of the Berlin Wall, 1961; Cuban Missile Crisis; the reaction to the crisis; attempts to reduce tension between East and West; flashpoints e.g., the Strategic Defence Initiative; the collapse of Soviet control of Eastern Europe. |
Year 11
Students focus in depth on Weimar and Nazi Germany to understand the complexity of German society and the interplay of different aspects within it. These include: social, economic, political, cultural and military aspects. Assessment will focus on student’s abilities to analyse and evaluate contemporary source and later interpretations. They will study examples of evidence and consider ways in which it could give rise to and support different interpretations
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| Modern Depth Study: Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918-29 | |
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Knowledge Content: The Weimar Republic including origins, challenges and recovery; Hitler’s rise to power including developments of the Nazi Party and growth in support; Nazi control and dictatorship including influencing attitudes, opposition, resistance and conformity; like in Nazi Germany, including policies towards women, the young, employment and the persecution of minorities. |
| Spring | |
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| Revision | |
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| Summer | |
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| Revision |