Key Stage Three

All pupils receive one hour of History each week in year 7 and two hours each week in years 8 and 9.

Topics Covered:

In year 7, we focus on how Britain changed between 1066 and 1500:

Topics include:

• The Battle of Hastings
• Medieval castle-building
• Life in medieval towns and villages
• The Black Death
• The Peasants’ Revolt
• The Wars of the Roses
• The mystery of Richard III and the princes in the tower.

In year 8, we focus on the period between 1500 and 1900:

• What sort of king was Henry VIII?
• Does Mary I deserve her terrible reputation?
• How did Elizabeth I solve her problems?
• The Gunpowder Plot: why did Guy Fawkes and the other plotters try to blow up the king?
• Why was there a Civil War in Britain and was Oliver Cromwell a better leader?
• Why did Britain want an empire and what was it like to live there?
• The Trans-Atlantic slave trade.
• What was life like for child workers in industrial Britain?

In year 9, we focus on the twentieth century:

• Why was the case of Jack the Ripper never solved?
• The First World War: why did it begin and what was it like to live and fight in the war?
• How did Hitler come to power and how did this change the lives of people in Germany?
• What was the Holocaust?
• The Second World War: what was it like to live and fight in the Second World War?
• The Russian Revolution and the Soviet Union.

Key Stage Four:

All pupils who opt to study History receive three hours of teaching per week and follow the Pearson Edexcel GCSE course.