“What’s past is prologue” William Shakespeare, The Tempest
The intention for history at Key Stage 3 at Cedars is for students to access content (outline below) which is broadly in line with what is covered in mainstream schools. We aim to encourage students to understand the key role that history plays in shaping our understanding of the world today and to develop their use of key skills, such as inference, evidence analysis and written communication. We teach discrete lessons, which form part of a wider scheme of learning; we use a combination of formal and informal assessment and use a variety of media to deepen students’ understanding of past events. When students leave Cedars, we want them to have a good understanding of historical topics and an emerging knowledge of subject-specific terminology which is used at Key Stage 4, such as significance, analysis and interpretation. Above all else, we want students to engage and enjoy their history lessons.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” George Santayana.
Topics covered at KS3:
- Medieval England (Hastings, Castles and Medicine)
- The Tudors (including Elizabeth and the Spanish Armada)
- The long-term causes of the English Civil War
- Cromwell-Hero or Villain?
- The Voyages of Discovery and the growth of Empire
- Slavery- from capture to emancipation
- Industry- how did Staffordshire change from 1750 to 1900?
- Victorian Britain- poverty, crime and punishment
- The causes of the First World War
- Trench warfare
- How did life change for people in the First World War?
- Votes for Women
- The end of the First World War- did it cause World War Two?
- The League of Nations
- The rise of the dictators and the start of World War Two
- Turning points in World War Two
- The Holocaust
- Was the USA right to drop the atom bomb on Japan?
- The Cold War (including Berlin, Cuba and Vietnam)
- Who killed JFK?
- Britain and Ireland
- Modern Global Terrorism and the impact of September 11th2001