History

Teacher contact details

Ms B Atley	bonnie.atley@southfieldsacademy.com
Ms S Gray	sarah.gray@southfieldsacademy.com
Mr J Hillman	jamie.hillman@southfieldsacademy.com
Mr F Saysell	finlay.saysell@southfieldsacademy.com
Mr C Robertson	callum.robertson@southfieldsacademy.com

Welcome

The history department at Southfields Academy is a forward-thinking and proactive department, constantly looking to improve our practice, self-critical and reflective, providing a solid foundation of historical knowledge and skills for all of our students. We see history as crucial to a child's development and endeavour to ensure that our love and passion for the subject is visible, and that our students see history as a worthwhile and relevant subject. Above all else we aim to stay abreast of current thinking in the field of history teaching and improve our own subject expertise. This high level of academic engagement from staff provides our students with teachers who are often genuine experts in the field of history they are studying.

We teach exclusively through enquiry across all key stages and constantly encourage students to ask their own questions. Enquiry questions allow students to arrive at a judgement after a sequence of lessons; applying their knowledge and understanding to the question. The chosen topics across the KS3-5 curriculum develop students' subject and conceptual knowledge, for instance; learning about the Magna Carta and Peasants Revolt (Year 7), English Civil War and the development of Parliament (Year 8), 19th and 20th century extension of franchise and civil rights in the U.K. (Year 9), then go onto support understanding of developments in Medicine in the 19th and 20th century (GCSE) and finally changes taking place in the Russian Revolution (A Level). Our curriculum also reflects modern multicultural Britain to help students understand the world around them. We want to develop well-rounded individuals with enquiring minds who do not take what the world presents to them at face value and enable students to gain a deeper and richer understanding through re-visited themes and concepts.

What knowledge and skills will students develop at KS3?

Grouping/organisation/setting/teaching time:

Students are taught in mixed ability Tutor Groups for one hour per week in Year 7 and two hours per week in Years 8 & 9.

Course Content/Skills Learnt:

Key Stage 3 History at Southfields Academy aims to ensure that all students understand the changing history of Britain, and how Britain has interacted with the rest of the world, as a coherent, chronological narrative, from the Middle Ages to the present day. Through a range of learning techniques and activities we also want to teach the history of the wider world, including the experiences of different countries and groups of people around the world, reflecting Southfields' multicultural community. Students will understand historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance, and use them to make connections, draw contrasts, analyse trends and create their own structured accounts and displays, including written narratives and explanations.

Programme of study:

In Year 7: What is history? Immigration to the U.K. over 2,000 years, the Norman Conquest, Life in the Middle Ages, Was the King always in charge? Islamic Empire and the Crusades.

In Year 8: The Tudors and the Reformation, the English Civil War, the Mughal Empire, the impact of the Industrial Revolution on Southfields, the British Empire, the Russian Revolution and Civil Rights in America.

In Year 9: Civil Rights in the 19^th and 20^th centuries, The First World War, The Second World War, The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and Abolition and the impact of 9-11.

Assessment:

Assessment is carried out 1/2 termly using the Southfields flightpaths through a variety of assessment methods - project work, extended writing tasks and display work. Effort grades will take into account class contributions and homework.

Books/other materials/useful websites to visit/field trips etc:

BBC Bitesize is a brilliant resource with clips and information on most of the topics we cover. Further resources for each unit can be found on Google Classroom. Trips include: Black History Month (Museum of London), Theatre Performances, the Imperial War Museum, Tower of London and Hampton Court Palace. We aim to arrange a trip out of school for each year group every year.

Homework:

History homework is set every other week on Google Classroom. Homework consists of a variety of different activities to support and extend in class learning and build students' independence in preparation for GCSE.

What knowledge and skills will students develop at KS4?

History GCSE

Level	2
Qualification type	GCSE Edexcel specification
For more information speak to	Any member of the history department

The course is arranged into four units of study:

Medicine Through Time How could a soiled nappy wipe our half of Soho? How did a flea wipe out half the known world? How did Britain come to lead the world in modern medicine? These are the questions and many more will be answered in a study of the history and development of medicine through the following periods of history: Medieval, Renaissance, 19^th and 20^th Centuries, with an in-depth focus on surgery in the First World War.
Early Elizabethan England 1558-88 Was Elizabethan England a "golden age"? What problems did Elizabeth face? How did she deal with plots and rebellions against her rule? How was the Spanish Armada defeated? What did Elizabethan people do for fun? How did exploration of the world change England? An in-depth study of perhaps the most famous period of British history.
The American West, c1835-c1895 How did Native American Indians live on the plains, and how was this way of life destroyed by white migration? What was it like for the early settlers in the West? Who were Wyatt Earp and Sitting Bull? Do the cowboy and Indian films reflect the real history? A period of study of a fascinating time in American history which still resonates today.
Weimar and Nazi Germany 1918-1939 How did a failed art student become the world's most notorious dictator? What led this man to attempt to wipe out the Jewish population of Europe? Why would Hitler award a gold medal to women who have eight babies? An in-depth study of how Hitler came to power and took control of Germany, and whit it was like to live in Nazi Germany.

How will you be assessed?

Exam 1 - Source and knowledge exam on Medicine and Surgery in the First World War (30%)
Exam 2 - Knowledge based exam on Conflict in the Middle East and Early Elizabethan England (40%)
Exam 3 - Source, interpretations and knowledge exam on Weimar and Nazi Germany (30%)

What knowledge and skills will students develop in KS5?

History A Level

The Academy follows the OCR History A specification for A Level History.

Students select a total of three topics in British and non-British history to study in three units, creating a qualification that is both broad and coherent.

Unit Group 1 Anglo-Saxon England and the Norman Conquest 1035-1107

Study is source based and develops different historical approaches.

Unit Group 2 Russia 1894-1941

The group focus is on non-British history, emphasising the application of historical knowledge, understanding and judgement.

Unit Group 3 English government and the Church 1066-1216

The topics in this group allow study of change and continuity over a substantial period of time, with in-depth studies focusing on interpretations of significant individuals, events, developments etc.

Topic based essay

This is an opportunity for students to bring together many of the skills developed through their work on the topics to an independently researched enquiry of their own choosing.

Please visit the examination board's website to view the complete specification:

https://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/170128-specification-accredited-a-level-gce-history-a-h505.pdf

Politics A Level

Politics, more than any other subject, explains the society in which we live. Politics is not an abstract academic discipline, remote from everyday life. It is relevant to almost every aspect of the world around us. Politicians are responsible for the public services we use and how they are organised and funded. The decisions that affect our schools and colleges, our health service, transport network and armed forces are all political decisions. Our rights and responsibilities as citizens - the power of the state over us, our ability to choose and influence those in authority - also form part of politics. How fair and representative is our voting system? How do people organise themselves to put pressure on government? How powerful is parliament? If you are interested in these and similar questions, then this is the subject for you.

To begin with, you will be learning about the processes and institutions at the heart of politics and government in the U.K. The A Level specification also gives you an opportunity to examine the key ideas that have influenced modern politics, and then look beyond the U.K. at major issues in global politics.

Exam Board: Edexcel

Visit the examination board's website to view the complete specification:

https://qualifications.pearson.com/content/dam/pdf/A%20Level/Politics/2017/Specification%20and%20sample%20assessments/A-level-Politics-Specification.pdf

What might a qualification in politics lead to?

After the A Level course is over, a number of possibilities are open to you. It may be that you decide to extend your knowledge of politics by taking a university degree in the subject, or in a related area such as international relations. This might lead you to become involved in politics in a practical way - by working for a political research organisation or as an assistant to an MP, or possibly even by seeking election to local government or Parliament. Who knows where A Level Politics may lead you?

Whether or not you decide to take politics further, you will have learned valuable skills that can be applied to a wide range of situations and disciplines. At A Level you will have learned how to select and analyse information, how to discriminate between different viewpoints and to make a case. All of these are essential skills in a great variety of career paths, including law, journalism, the media and the civil service. And of course you will never look at the news in the same way. You will have a deeper understanding of the stories behind the headlines, and be much better equipped to play your part as an active citizen in the world you are about to enter.*

Enrichment and extra-curricular activities

KS3

Trips include: Black History Month (Museum of London), Theatre Performances, the Imperial War Museum, Tower of London and Hampton Court Palace. We aim to arrange a trip out of school for each year group every year.

Warhammer Club = run by Mr Hillman

KS4

Trips to the Imperial War Museum to see the WWI and Holocaust exhibition.

KS5

A Level Politics: trip to Downing Street and Parliament

A Level History: trip to Canterbury Cathedral

Open to all students

WWI Battlefields Trip

How can students extend their thinking and challenge themselves in this subject?

Reading books and newspapers - this will improve literacy and students' understanding of the world. The department and library have a brilliant selection of history and politics books students can borrow.

Watch out for teachers' recommendations on Google Classroom of articles and documentaries to watch which relate to the curriculum.

What are the career opportunities for students that study this subject?

Careers

Choosing history at GCSE will provide you with plenty of opportunities for further progression. Colleges and universities consider history a crucial subject and a good GCSE in history will help you to obtain the Sixth Form and university places you hope for. Many professions such as medicine and law feel that history opens the minds of students, and will look to employ people with a background in historical research. Therefore, history can gain you entry into a wide range of careers including television, radio, journalism, the police force, social work and the civil service. History improves your written and analytical skills and whether you stay with history into A Level or move onto different subjects, history will give you the grounding to be successful in your further education and chosen career.