Curriculum
History helps students to understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups, as well as their own identity and the challenges of their time
This Art and Design course will give you the knowledge, understanding and competency needed when considering entering employment in the Art and Design sector. You will gain grounding in the essential skills and broad fundamentals crucial to Art and Design, giving you the opportunity to build on these by progressing to a Level 3
This is a broad course exploring practical and critical/contextual work through a range of 2D and/or 3D processes and new media and technologies. It is an unendorsed course where candidates can work in appropriate art, craft and design materials and processes. Candidates should produce practical and contextual work associated with two or more of the endorsements below.
Candidates are required to develop knowledge, understanding and skills through integrated practical, critical and theoretical study that encourages direct engagement with original works and practice. Candidates may work with both traditional and new media.
WHAT IS COVERED IN
History in Year 7 is taught as a part of the L4L thematic curriculum:
- Journey to the centre of the Earth – Pompeii
- Days of Old – Norman Conquest, feudal system, Castles and Sieges, Thomas Beckett, Crusades, Black Death, King John, Magna Carta, Peasants’ Revolt
- Journeys – Medieval pilgrimage, religion as a catalyst for historical change, the Holy Land
- Off with your Head – The Tudors: Tudor Kings, Tudor Queens, the Religious Rollercoaster, Life in Tudor England. Stuarts: The Gunpowder Plot, Civil War, Cromwell and the Restoration
- Silent Movies – life in the early 20th century
History in Year 7 is taught as a part of the L4L thematic curriculum:
- Journey to the centre of the Earth – Pompeii
- Days of Old – Norman Conquest, feudal system, Castles and Sieges, Thomas Beckett, Crusades, Black Death, King John, Magna Carta, Peasants’ Revolt
- Journeys – Medieval pilgrimage, religion as a catalyst for historical change, the Holy Land
- Off with your Head – The Tudors: Tudor Kings, Tudor Queens, the Religious Rollercoaster, Life in Tudor England. Stuarts: The Gunpowder Plot, Civil War, Cromwell and the Restoration
- Silent Movies – life in the early 20th century
History in Year 9 is taught as a part of the L4L thematic curriculum:
- Whose Earth is It Anyway? – What is Africa like/Scramble for Africa
- Tragedy – rise of the Nazis, antisemitism through time and the Holocaust
- World Study: America: Land of the Free – the First Americans, Settlements of the West, 9/11 and its legacy
- World Study: Britain: A Living History – politics in Britain since 1945, the Cold War, Britain’s economy
Students who choose to continue studying History in Year 10 will follow the Edexcel History GCSE course. Students will primarily study the Early Elizabethan England 1558-1588 and the American West c.1835-c.1895.
As well as beginning intensive preparation for the summer examinations, students will study Weimar and Nazi Germany 1918-1939 and Warfare and British Society c.1250-present. This latter unit includes a historic environment study on London in the Second World War.
Following the changes to examinations made by Ofqual to the summer 2022 examinations, Year 11 students sitting their examinations summer 2022 will not be studying the Warfare unit.
KS4 COURSE
WHAT IS THE COURSE ABOUT?
Edexcel GCSE History
GCSE History is an academically challenging and rigorous subject that demands commitment on the part of the students who study it.
Unit 1 – Thematic Study and historic environment: Warfare and British society, c1250–present and London and the Second World War, 1939–45.
Unit 2 – British Depth Study: Early Elizabethan England, 1558–88.
Unit 3 – Period Study: The American West, c1835–c1895
Unit 4 – Modern Depth Study: Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918–39
This course is assessed by four examination papers which are held in the summer term at the end of Year 11. There is no coursework. Students will be prepared for this by classwork, homework which is set every week with regular feedback and regular examination question practice. Within the classroom, students will have the opportunity to express their views and debate the significance of the topics studied.
WHAT CAN HISTORY LEAD TO?
All A-levels and different degree courses.
The study of people is at the heart of History- their feelings, attitudes, prejudices and motivation. This understanding is very useful in the ‘people professions’, from receptionists, hairdressers and beauticians to teachers, the health service, social work, lawyers, and civil servants.
History teaches key life skills and helps to prepare students for interviews and university life.
HOW WILL I BE ASSESSED?
Four examination papers across three sessions at the end of Year 11. There is no coursework or controlled assessment.
WHAT SKILLS ARE REQUIRED?
Independent learning, high quality written communication skills, sophisticated vocabulary, analytical and evaluative skills, ability to evaluate primary sources and historical interpretations.
Mr Smith
I studied for an undergraduate degree in Ancient History at Cardiff University and a Masters degree in the History of Christianity at the University of Birmingham before completing a PGCE at the University of Warwick. I started teaching at Shireland Collegiate Academy in 2013 and have been Head of the Humanities Faculty since 2018.
