History

At EBC we aim to give the students a history curriculum that: 

  • Is rooted in academic research and recent historians’ thinking. 
  • Gives them opportunities to learn a range of histories, representative of cultures, ethnicities and genders. 
  • Debunks common misconceptions about the past to give them a richer and ‘truer’ understanding of history. 
  • Challenges them to think deeply and critically about the past and their identity is rooted in it. 
  • Provides them with the tools to become sophisticated speakers and writers 
  • Is rich in knowledge to provide them with a solid foundation of the history of the world  
  • Exposes them to historical ways of writing, speaking and exploring the past. 

 Through this education we hope that the students will: 

  • Become thoughtful learners, who are curious and want to learn more about the world that they live in. 
  • Want to be active participants in society through the knowledge of how people can make a difference. 
  • Be able to ask great questions and challenge the history that they are taught. 

KS3 History

 The aims of the KS3 curriculum are: 

  • To understand that historians create contrasting interpretations of the past based on sources of evidence, and that these interpretations have changed over time 
  • Be able to infer from evidence about events and people  
  • Be confident support their view on the significance of events, their causes and consequences, similarities and differences using historical knowledge 

 

Topics studied:

Year 7

Autumn  

Topic  Enquiry question   Second order concept  
Iron Age Britain  Why is it difficult to know what life was like in Iron Age Britain?  Evidence 
Ancient Civilisation   How similar were Ancient Civilisations around the world from 800BC to 43AD?  Similarities and differences  
Roman Britain  How can historians use sources to learn about changes to life in Roman Britain from 43AD to 410AD?  Evidence and Change and Continuity 

  Spring  

Topic  Enquiry question   Second order concept  
Early Islamic World  Why were the ‘silk roads’ significant in developing the Islamic Golden Age?  Significant 
Impact of the Norman Conquest  To what extent did life change under the Normans?  Change and Continuity 
Medieval monarchs  Why did the barons feel the need to challenge King John in 1215?  Causation/Change and Continuity 

Summer 

Topic  Enquiry question   Second order concept  
Medieval life  What was life really like for a Medieval English peasant?  Evidence 
Medieval west Africa  What can the Catalan atlas tell us about Medieval Mali?  Evidence  
Late Medieval period  How does the Paston family’s experience challenge historians’ interpretations of the Wars of the Roses?  Interpretations/Evidence  

Assessment 

Each unit will include a focus task which will receive feedback from their teacher, based on the specific second order concept they have been studying in the enquiry.  

Students will also receive 3 summative assessments, which will include a combination of topics and skills. 

Year 8

Autumn   

Topic  Enquiry question   Second order concept  
Religion in Europe in the 16th Century  How did an average monk cause the Reformation?  Causation 
Tudor England  How far did the Reformation transform Tudor England?  Change and Continuity 
Early Modern Africa, Europe and the Americas  Why were Europe, Africa and the Americas becoming more connected between 1450-1700?  Causation 

Spring   

Topic  Enquiry question   Second order concept  
The English Civil War and Restoration  Why did the English want their king back in 1660?  Causation 
African History  How far did Atlantic trade affect West African Kingdoms between 1450-1700?  Similarities and differences 
Resistance to slavery  What was the most significant form of resistance to slavery?  Significance 

Summer  

Topic  Enquiry question   Second order concept  
Age of Revolution  What did ‘revolution’ mean in the Age of Revolution?  Similarities and differences/Using evidence 
Industrial Revolution in Britain  How far did the slave trade accelerate the Industrial Revolution in Britain between 1750-1900?  Causation 
British Empire   To what extent were the experiences of Australia and India similar under British rule?  Similarities and Differences 
In what way should the British Empire be remembered  Interpretations 
How can sources challenge Hegel’s interpretation of the ‘Dark Continent’?  Interpretations/evidence  

Assessment 

Each unit will include a focus task which will receive feedback from their teacher, based on the specific second order concept they have been studying in the enquiry.  

Students will also receive 3 summative assessments, which will include a combination of topics and skills. 

Year 9

Autumn  

Topic  Enquiry question   Second order concept  
World War I  Were the actions of Gavrilo Princip the main reason for the outbreak of WWI?  Causation 
Women’s suffrage  How far did the Suffragettes help women break from the past?  Causation/Change and Continuity 
World War II  How did the experience of soldiers vary in the Second World War?  Similarities and Differences/Using evidence 

Spring  

Topic  Enquiry question   Second order concept  
The Holocaust  Why do we remember the Holocaust?  Significance 
Decolonisation  How far was decolonisation a violent process?  Similarities and Differences 
US/British Civil Rights Movement  Was 1955 the turning point in the Civil Rights Movement?  Change and Continuity/Significance 
Cold War  When was tension at its peak during the Cold War?  Change and Continuity/Significance 

Summer  

Topic  Enquiry question   Second order concept  
Troubles in Northern Ireland  What are the legacies of Northern Ireland’s troubles?  Causation 
British social history since 1980  Did the push for great LGBTQ+ rights in Britain come from the people or the government?  Interpretations 
Genocide in the 20th Century   What does the genocide in the Balkans reveal about the dangers of nationalism?  Significance 
Migration to Tooting  How is Tooting’s story, our story?  Change and Continuity/Similarities and Differences  

 

Key Stage 4 GCSE 

The aims of the KS4 curriculum are: 

  • To understand that history is a construct made up of different peoples’ interpretations of the past informed by their identity and experience  
  • Be able to critically analyse evidence to understand past events, linking this to their own knowledge and evaluating the source’s provenance 
  • Be confident in explaining their view on the significance of events, their causes and consequences, similarities and differences using detailed historical knowledge and explicit reasoning. 

What you will study: 

Y11 cohort 2021-23 

Paper 1: Thematic study and historic environment 

Medicine in Britain, c1250–present and The British sector of the Western Front, 1914–18: injuries, treatment and the trenches. 

Please note that Y10 and future year groups will study the following module instead: 

Migrants in Britain, c800-present and Notting Hill case study c1948-c1970 

Paper 2: Period study and British depth study 

Early Elizabethan England, 1558-1588 and Superpower relations and the Cold War, 1941–91 

Paper 3: Modern depth study 

Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918–39 

Assessment 

Paper 1: Written examination: 1 hour and 15 minutes. 30% of the qualification. 

Paper 2: Written examination: 1 hour and 45 minutes. 40% of the qualification. 

Paper 3: Written examination: 1 hour and 20 minutes. 30% of the qualification. 

Key Stage 5  

The aims of the KS5 curriculum are: 

  • To understand that history is a construct made up of different peoples’ interpretations of the past informed by their identity and experience, and the context and method of the historian’s research 
  • Be able to critically analyse multiple sources of evidence together to understand past events, linking this to their own knowledge and evaluating the sources’ provenance 
  • Be confident in explaining their view on the significance of events, their causes and consequences, similarities and differences using detailed historical knowledge and explicit criteria for judgement.  

Year 12 

Paper 1: In search of the American Dream: the USA, c1917–96 

Breadth Study 

Focus on the dramatic political, economic and social transformation of the USA in the twentieth century 

Paper 2: 

South Africa, 1948–94: from apartheid state to ‘rainbow nation’ 

Depth Study 

Explore how South Africa changed from an apartheid state into a multi-racial democracy 

Year 13  

Paper 3: 

Rebellion and disorder under the Tudors, 

1485–1603 

Breadth & Depth Study 

Focus on the ways in which Tudor monarchs kept order over a divided country for over a century, with key rebellions and plots explored in detail.  

Coursework: 

Independent Research 

Develop skills in the analysis and evaluation of interpretations of history focusing on a chosen question, problem or issue  

Assessment  

Paper 1 Breadth study: The examination lasts 2 hours 15 minutes and is marked out of 60.  

Paper 2: Depth study: The examination lasts 1 hour 30 minutes and is marked out of 40.  

Paper 3: Themes in breadth with aspects in depth: The examination lasts 2 hours 15 minutes and is marked out of 60. 

Coursework

  • Students carry out an independently-researched enquiry requiring them to analyse and evaluate historical interpretations and to organise and communicate the findings (AO3, AO1) 
  • The assignment is set by the centre on a question, problem or issue that has generated disagreement among historians
  • The assignment is marked out of 40 

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