The KS3 History course is a turbulent but exciting journey that starts in 1066 and ends in 1918. It focuses on the development of government and politics and covers a myriad of fascinating events that have shaped our political, social and economic development. It has a strong emphasis on the evolution of people power in the face of over mighty rulers and frequent catastrophes. Our KS3 students will be able to identify these significant events, make connections, draw contrasts, and analyse trends within periods and over long arcs of time. They will be able to use historical terms and concepts in increasingly sophisticated ways as well as having a good basis of understanding of chronology and narrative.
In Year 7, we discover how England became increasingly involved in mainland European politics as a result of the ambitions of the French Duke of Normandy, William, as part of our study of the Norman Conquest. We also look at what it was like to live in the middle ages through traumatic events such as the Black Death. We complete Year 7 with an examination of the problems that medieval kings faced once they gained power and their turbulent relationship with Rome, finding answers to questions such as why was an Archbishop murdered, what was the Magna Carta and why did the peasants revolt against a 14 year old King?
In Year 8 we move the narrative on to the C16th & C17th and the development of the early modern world. We discover how the monarchy grew in strength under Henry VII and Henry VIII, survived a period of instability under the ‘mid-Tudors’, and then found secure footing once more under Elizabeth. Along the way, we will encounter religious division, rebellion and savage punishment culminating in an analysis of the Stuart dynasty and the descent of these islands into civil war resulting in the execution of Charles I. Finally, we’ll examine why, after a Republic lasting 11 years, England finally decided to invite monarchs to rule the country again from 1660 (right up until now!). We complete our Year 8 study with even more blood and gore in the Summer Term as we examine the causes that brought down the Bourbon dynasty in the 1789 French Revolution.
The Year 9 course starts relatively sedately with the country having survived the dynastic traumas of earlier centuries the nation is able to develop and modernise through an Agricultural revolution followed by an Industrial revolution; we will look at the the changes that took place in the modern world, where we discover amazing inventions and new ideas transforming Britain into the ‘Workshop of the World’ while at the same time using the Slave Trade as a vehicle to achieve progress. We will study the social impact of change at home and abroad to set the achievements in context and examine the cost. The course turns to tragedy with a detailed focus on the causes and course of WW1 culminating in our annual Year 9 trip to Flanders. We complete our Key Stage 3 study with an analysis of the Civil Rights movement in the USA analysing this pivotal C20th event.