History
Our curriculum intent
At Robertsbridge, we seek to understand the past by offering a curriculum rich in knowledge and skills which immerses students in a range of cultures and engenders an enquiring and critical outlook on the world, with skills that can be applied in other subjects and in their future endeavours.
Being critical, conscientious and curious are skills that are developed in students over their school career; our curriculum seeks to answer big enquiry questions which form the golden threads of the curriculum, enabling students to progress on to further study. In History, these skills are nurtured through an ambitious, rigorous and diverse curriculum, grounded in enquiry.
Our enquiry-led curriculum prepares students for life in a multicultural society, equipping them with transferrable skills such as critical thinking and communication, while tempering them with tolerance and a broad worldview. History’s unique concepts help students to construct arguments and support them to become global citizens who can question human motivation with confidence, so that the study of the past is orientated to the needs of the present.
Students should be encouraged to develop a chronological framework of world history that will enable them to make sense of the new knowledge they acquire. The past is constructed and contested across topics, the heart of which is framed around historical evidence and interpretations of the past. The skills intrinsic to Historians are embedded throughout the scheme so that, by the end of their journey students will think like Historians.
The skills which are practised at KS3 are built upon in GCSE and encourage students to think independently, question everything and write brilliantly. Students will leave Robertsbridge with a profound sense of their past and the past of other nations, allowing for further study and a life of critical understanding of how we got here.
What this looks like in practice
History is continuously changing the world around us and historic events have helped to shape our society. It is the philosophy of our department to ensure that students enjoy History and we use a variety of teaching methods and resources to bring History to life in our classrooms.
GCSE History is a great basis for many A level subjects and it is highly regarded by colleges, universities and employers. Students who have studied history often study A Level qualifications in subjects such as English, politics, economics and sociology. Many people working in law and accountancy have studied history because of the skills that can be developed in reasoning and arguing your point. There are also many areas more directly related to history, such as travel and tourism, museums and libraries, the media industry, government research and, of course, history teaching.
Our staff are passionate about History and always aim to sure the curriculum reflects the exciting nature of our subject, with engaging lessons and extra- curricular opportunities.
In Key Stage 3, students cover a broad range of topics, answering questions such as:
- How do we become good historians?
- Why was England a battlefield in 1066?
- Are people right to be so negative about the Middle Ages?
- How great was Ming China?
- How was the Tudor period a rollercoaster?
- Who are the British?
- Why did England kill their King?
- What can sources tell us about slavery?
- Should we be proud of the British Empire?
- How democratic was Britain by 1928?
- Why did the First World War become a global conflict?
- How did new ideas cause conflict?
- How could the Holocaust have happened?
- Did the American Civil Rights Movement achieve its aims?
- How do you fight a 'Cold War'?
- What helped the struggle for equal rights in Britain after 1960?
- What is terrorism?
In Key Stage 4, students can select History as an option subject where they will follow the Edexcel GCSE Specification. This GCSE is split into three papers. The specification can be found here at the following link:
Edexcel GCSE History Specification
Curriculum overview
Detailed information about the curriculum for each year group can be found in the document below. Curriculum Map - History 2022.pdf
Subject Leader Self-Reflection - History.pdf
Useful links
Students should make use of these links to help them with any homework and revision for History.
PiXL History App (GCSE students can download the PiXL App and log in)Seneca Learning