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History - Year 7

Mathematics - Year 7

Click here to return to our History curriculum home page

Below you will find more specific information about the curriculum in History for Year 7 students, explaining to you what students will learn, when, why and how. There is also information about how parents/carers are able to support students in their learning, extra-curricular opportunities in this subject and how it links to other subjects and the wider world.

Subject Key Concepts

#1 Cause and Consequence        

#2 Change and Continuity         

#3 Evaluating Evidence/Interpretations 

#4 Making supported judgements       

#5 Historical perspective –
the big picture


Please click here for Subject Key Concepts.

Please click here for PDF History Learning Journey

 Curriculum Overview for the year

Term

Topic / Key Concepts

Specific Knowledge

Specific Skills

Autumn

What is History?

History key skills/concepts:

·         Chronology

·         Cause and consequence

·         Interpretation

·         Using evidence

 

Key concepts: Cause and consequence, chronology, evaluating evidence, interpretation

 

Assessment: Key Skills Knowledge Test

 

·         Understand how centuries work and be able to confidently match dates with centuries and put events in time order.

·         Identify different types of cause and consequence such as long-term and short-term and explain how events are connected.

·         Explain why people interpret (see) things differently.

·         Identify different types of historical evidence (written, oral, visual, physical) and begin to evaluation the utility of sources.

The Medieval Period (part 1)

·         Introduction to the Medieval period – when/what

·         Claimants to the throne

·         The Battle of Hastings

 

Key concepts: Historical perspective, chronology, cause and consequence, interpretation, judgements

 

Key topic concepts: Monarchy, claimants, tactics, peasants, leadership, luck

 

Assessment: Reasons for William’s victory at the Battle of Hastings

 

·         Writing at length using PEEL structure.

·         Identify the claimants to the throne in 1066 and make informed decisions based on information and evidence as to the best ‘option’ for the throne. 

·         Rank and explain the importance/significance of particular events/people in relation to William’s victory at the Battle of Hastings.

Spring

The Medieval Period (part 2)

·         Castles

·         Medieval life including housing, food, punishments and how the county was organised

·         The Black Death

·         The Medieval Islamic World, including Islamic Empire, trade and travel, learning, health and hygiene, The Crusades

 

Key concepts: Change and continuity, historical perspective, judgements

 

Key topic concepts: Defence, attack, military, hierarchy, feudalism, social class, politics, law, justice, disease, scientific understanding, religion, empire, trade, culture, pilgrimage, crusade

 

Assessment: Change and continuity after the Black Death

 

·         Writing at length using PEEL structure.

·         Identify and explain how medieval people lived and evaluate differences within people’s experiences, based on factors such as location, social class or job.

·         Measure the scale of change following the Black Death, taking into account differences such as positive v negative change or whether changes only applied to specific people or groups to reach a reasoned judgement.

·         Compare Medieval England with the Medieval Islamic world to gain a broad understanding of the differences in development/understanding.

Summer

The Tudors

·         Life in Tudor times

·         Henry VIII and the break with Rome

·         The dissolution of the monasteries

·         The religious rollercoaster under Henry and his children

·         Life under Elizabeth I including culture, exploration and poverty

·         Black Tudors

 

Key concepts: change and continuity, cause and consequence, interpretations, making supported judgements

 

Key topic concepts: Monarchy, religious change, role of the Pope, monasteries, Catholic/Protestant, poverty, culture, exploration, trade, wealth, empire, race, identity

 

Assessment: Judgement on Henry VIII as King

 

·         Writing at length using PEEL structure.

·         Identify and explain the role of religion within people’s lives and evaluate the impact of changes to religion under successive monarchs Henry VIII to Elizabeth I.

·         Identify, explain and rank the importance of the causes of both Henry’s break with Rome as well as the dissolution of the monasteries.

·         Infer from a range of sources/interpretations to reach a judgement about Henry VIII as a monarch.

·         Identify the changes that took place in Elizabeth’s reign across different themes (politics, religion, culture, power, the economy) and evaluate how these developments changed England.

·         Examine the role of black Tudors and explain what this tells us about life, identity and freedom.

·         Use a range of interpretations to assess how black Tudors have been presented in History. Engage with historiographical debate using the work of Miranda Kauffman.

 

Useful documents:

Please click here for a PDF of curriculum overview.

While this information covers a broad range of areas, please do get in touch with the Subject Leader Mrs Robertson if you have any questions.

Please click on the questions below to find out more. 

How are groups organised?

We organise the classes by mixed ability. All classes have three hours of History per fortnight.

What characteristics does a successful student have in this subject?

The most successful students in this subject will have an interest in how society, politics and the economy has changed over time and will be comfortable with analysing different interpretations of the past. Successful students will also have the ability to form rational arguments, supported with evidence, whilst they will also be able to write at length.

How will students learn at this level?

  • Collaborative learning where you work with your peers
  • Close reading and note-taking
  • Using the internet to support your learning
  • Using quizlet to support and test your learning
  • Independent learning where you are responsible for your own progress
  • Regularly self-assessing work and improving on it

How will students’ learning be assessed at this level?

There is one formal, summative assessment per carousel, as well as a factual knowledge test in term 1 as follows:

Factual knowledge test on History Key Skills

Written assessments on:

  1. Why did William win the Battle of Hastings (cause and consequence)
  2. How much life change following the Black Death (change and continuity)
  3. Was Henry VIII a good or bad King (interpretations/judgement)

In day to day lessons, there will opportunities for self and peer assessment and your teacher will complete a ‘book look’ every half term to monitor your exercise book.

When do key assessments take place?

Key skills assessment will be just before October half term. Assessments1 will be at the end of the Autumn term. Assessment 2 will be just after February half term. Assessment 3 will be just after Easter. 

How can parents/carers support students’ learning?

  • Encourage your child to re-visit their classwork at home and help them test their understanding of that information – e.g through quizzing them on key names/dates/events
  • Encourage your child to watch relevant programmes about our topics on TV/online – there are lots of programmes on BBC iPlayer as well as Youtube.
  • Encourage your child to access information on the internet as a way of enriching and consolidating their knowledge – e.g through using the BBC Bitesize website.
  • Encourage your child to spend quality time on their homework and provide a suitable space for them to complete it.
  • Check the quality of the work in your child’s exercise book and encourage them to make improvements where possible. 

What equipment do students need for this subject?

  • Essential basic equipment – pen, pencil, ruler, exercise book etc.
  • Access to SMHW
  • Access to Quizlet

How does this subject link to other subjects?

  • English and other Humanities subjects: Literacy, communication, evaluation, analysis and argument
  • Philosophy: Religious changes in the Tudor period

What websites or resources may be helpful to support students’ learning?

BBC Bitesize - https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zk26n39

Quizlet - https://quizlet.com/join/98D93fadN

What extra-curricular or enrichment opportunities are available for students in this subject at this level?

The whole year group will go on a curriculum trip to Warwick Castle in the Summer term.

What sort of careers can this subject lead to?

History can lead to a hugely wide range of careers:

  • Law
  • Teaching
  • Museums and art gallery curatorship
  • Research
  • Finance
  • Politics
  • Media and marketing
  • Public relations
  • International relations
  • Journalism

The most traditional route into many of these careers is to undertake a History degree at university, before doing a conversion or post-graduate qualification in a slightly different discipline (a law conversion or a PGCE for example). Having completed a History degree also opens opportunities for accessing internships in areas such as marketing, public relations or journalism

What does student work look like in this subject at this level?

Please see our History Department Twitter page for some examples of student work https://twitter.com/ktshistory

How does this subject support a broad and balanced curriculum, meeting the needs of all students, and developing traditional core skills?

 As a subject, History provides students with regular opportunities to make links between their learning across different subjects. History allows students to connect their learning about the past with developments and events in the present day, whilst the range of topics covered allows students to take in economic, social, political and religious history across a vast time period, going from the ancient Romans and Greeks up to the present day. Students study a combination of British and wider world History, ensuring that a range of experiences are covered. In terms of developing core skills, History students will regularly utilise and hone their analytical and evaluative skills, through exploring different interpretations of the past and building their contextual knowledge to reach their own judgements and conclusions. Students also regularly complete longer pieces of writing, giving them opportunities to develop essay-writing skills and develop their use of subject specific key terms, whilst also practicing their general spelling, grammar and punctuation. 

How does this subject promote creativity, critical thinking, practice, perseverance and resilience, and making links?

 History at KTS includes a range of activities aimed at getting students to utilise their creativity to help them to learn a vast amount of contextual knowledge; students are regularly given a choice of how to complete tasks and record notes, allowing them to create their own resources, whilst students are regularly given opportunities to work collaboratively and create responses as a group. Critical thinking is integral to History and analytical and evaluative skills are central to completing tasks and assessments. In terms of resilience, students are routinely expected to complete difficult tasks and all students are encouraged to be aspirational and ambitious. As we cover such a huge range of history and students are regularly required to make links between different developments and time periods.

How does this subject encourage enrichment and the development of cultural capital, deep learning, and inclusivity?

Students cover a range of topics, allowing them to dip into the social, religious, political, cultural and economic changes over time in Britain but also elsewhere.

The students also have the opportunity to visit Warwick Castle, which is an opportunity for them to bring what they’ve been studying to life (all Year 7 students attend and support is available with payment etc).