History
Member of Staff
Miss A. Sibley: Curriculum Lead History
Mr L. Stewart: Teacher of History
Mrs L. Armitage: Teacher of Humanities
About
History is the study of the past. It is a series of compelling stories with key individuals and events that have shaped the world and the society that we now live. History allows students to understand the ‘how’ and ‘why’ and encourages them to ask questions. It also teaches students valuable lessons from the past in the hope that in some circumstances, they won’t be repeated. It provides inspirational figures that may encourage positive change to society. It is an academic subject that demands and develops students' comprehension and analytic skills for them to understand what they have read or heard.
Intent
The intent of History at South Wigston High School is to provide students with a broad and well sequenced curriculum that builds and embeds knowledge and skills to help students make sense of the world they are living in. The curriculum is planned to inspire intrigue and promote a culture of curiosity for History and a life long love of learning. Our intent is for all students to acquire transferrable skills that can be optimised across multiple disciplines.
Implementation
The History curriculum is implemented through a wide range of visual, active and kinaesthetic learning activities. The lessons are deliberately planned to facilitate regular retrieval, modelling, practice and re-teach opportunities to build on prior learning and support the embedding of knowledge for long term memory. Assessment is used both informally in lessons to improve student confidence and in formal mock examinations to build resilience and prepare students for the examination process. The outcomes are used to incisively inform planning and personalised learning to support the needs of all students and ensure they consistent progress in their learning.
Impact
The impact of the curriculum is to instil a lifelong appreciation and love of history that many students will pursue beyond their time at South Wigston School, both in their educational career and personal life. Students will be able to utilise their knowledge and understanding of the past and the lessons learnt in the next stage of their lives to become well informed member of their community.
Learning Journey
KS3
Topics covered in Year 7 are:
- Romans and Early Invaders
- Medieval Life and Strife
- Tudor Dynasty
- Stuarts and Civil War
Topics covered in Year 8 are:
- Slavery
- Civil Rights Movement
- Industrial Power and Public Health
- Origins of World War I
Topics covered in year 9 are:
- World War I
- World War II
- Holocaust
- The Cold War
KS4
GCSE History allows students to cover a wide range of features from the past to help understand what shaped the world we live in today.
Some of the topics covered are:
- The power of the Medieval Church
- The Renaissance
- Industrial Revolution
- Saxon England
- World War One
- Weimar Germany
- The Cold War.
GCSE History covers a range of historical eras and is made up of four units:
- Medicine in Britain, c1250–present and The British sector of the Western Front, 1914–18: injuries, treatment and the trenches.
- Anglo-Saxon and Norman England, c1060–88: an in-depth look at how William I conquered England.
- The American West 1835-1895. A focussed study on how America was first settled and the conflict that led to the demise of the Indigenous Peoples.
- Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918–39: the study of Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany and how he came to power.
Additional support is offered through intervention sessions which are held in the lead up to exams in Year 11.