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History

Aims of the subject

To learn about Britain and the wider world, exploring ways in which the past has shaped identities, cultures and values today. To inspire a passion for our subject and a deep understanding of how the past is essential for an understanding of the present and future. This will be achieved through an enjoyment of enquiry and through students developing an historical perspective and a contextual framework to help make sense of the past.

GCSE Examination Board: Edexcel (Pearson)

Assessment Overview:

Paper 1 – Crime and Punishment through time, c1000–present. This comprises a thematic study (Crime and punishment in Britain, c1000–present) and a study of an historic environment (Whitechapel, c1870–c1900: crime and policing). This examination is 1 hour and 15 minutes and is worth 30% of the qualification – 52 marks in total (16 for the historic environment, 36 for the thematic study).

 

Paper 2 – Is BOTH a Period Study (Superpower relations and the Cold War, 1941–91) AND a British Depth Study (Early Elizabethan England, 1558–88). This examination is 1 hour and 45 minutes and is worth 40%* of the qualification – 64 marks in total (32 for the period study and 32 for the British depth study).

 

Paper 3 – A Modern Depth Study of Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918–39. This examination is 1 hour and 15 minutes and is worth 30%* of the qualification – 52 marks in total.

 

Year What will I learn? Assessment
9  

Term 3:

·         Crime, Law Enforcement & Punishment in the Middle Ages, c1000-c1500.

 

There are three types of exam question which students will be expected to complete as the Crime and Punishment course progresses, both in lessons and as homework assignments. Bi-weekly knowledge tests. There will be two mock exam papers before the end of Year 9 focussing on the thematic element of Paper 1.

 

10 Term 1:

·         Crime, Law Enforcement & Punishment in the Early Modern Era, c1500-c1700.

·         Crime, Law Enforcement & Punishment in the Industrial Era, c1700-c1900.

·         Modern Crime, Law Enforcement & Punishment c1900-present.

·         Study of an historic environment – Crime & Policing in Whitechapel c1870-c1900.

 

Term 2:

·         Elizabethan government and society in 1558 and the early problems for Elizabeth I.

·         The issue of religion in Early Elizabethan England including the Religious Settlement, winning support for the Settlement and challenges from Puritans and Catholics.

·         Challenges for Elizabeth at home and abroad, including revolts and plots against her and the role of Mary Queen of Scots.

 

Term 3:

·         Tension and outbreak of war with Spain and English victory over the Spanish Armada.

·         Elizabethan society, education, leisure and the poor.

·         A rise in exploration including the voyages of Drake and Raleigh.

·        Beginnings of the Weimar Republic – Germany after WW1, the Weimar Constitution, Treaty of Versailles, Spartacists vs Freikorps & the Kapp Putsch, the 1923 Hyperinflation.

 

A full mock exam paper will be completed, including section on the historic environment AND thematic element, upon completion of Paper 1 teaching.

 

There are three types of exam question which students will be expected to complete as the Early Elizabethan England course progresses, both in lessons and as homework assignments. Bi-weekly knowledge tests. There will be two full mock exam papers completed, one at the beginning of term 2 and one at the end of term 2, focussing only on the Early Elizabethan element of Paper 2.

 

 

There are six types of exam question which students will be expected to complete as the Weimar & Nazi Germany course progresses, both in lessons and as homework assignments. Two of which are similar to those taught earlier in KS4. The additional questions require engagement with historical sources and interpretations. Bi-weekly knowledge tests. There will be one full mock exam paper completed at the end of term 3 in Year 10, and an additional full mock exam paper upon completion of the teaching of Paper 3 during Term 1 of Year 11.

11 Term 1:

·         The “Golden Twenties” – Stresemann & his solutions, the Rentenmark, Dawes Plan & Young Plan, Improved Foreign Relations – Locarno Pact, League of Nations & Kellogg-Briand Pact, Standard of Living, changing role of women, Weimar Culture.

·         Nazi Early Years, the Munich Putsch, the role of the Wall St Crash and Hitler’s rise to Chancellor.

·         Creation of a Nazi Dictatorship – the Reichstag Fire, the Enabling Act, the Removal of all Opposition and the Night of the Long Knives.

·         Nazi Control – Terror and the Police State, Propaganda, the Church and Opposition to the Nazis.

·         Life in Nazi Germany – the Role of Women, Youth and Education, the Economy & Standard of Living and Persecution of Minorities.

 

·         Beginnings of the Cold War – The “Grand Alliance”, post-war Conferences, Soviet Expansion, Truman Doctrine and Marshall Aid, Cominform and Comecon, the Berlin Blockade and Airlift, the Hungarian Uprising.

 

Term 2:

·         The Building of the Berlin Wall, the Bay of Pigs Invasion and Cuban Missile Crisis, Czechoslovakia and the Prague Springs.

·         Détente during the Cold War, the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan, Carter Doctrine, Reagan and the “Second Cold War”, Gorbachev’s “New Thinking”, the Fall of the Berlin Wall and the subsequent Soviet Collapse.

 

Term 3:

·         Focus on revision and completion of past papers for all modules.

There are six types of exam question which students will be expected to complete as the Weimar & Nazi Germany course progresses, both in lessons and as homework assignments. Two of which are similar to those taught earlier in KS4. The additional questions require engagement with historical sources and interpretations. Bi-weekly knowledge tests. There will be one full mock exam paper upon completion of the teaching of Paper 3 during Term 1 of Year 11.

 

There are three types of exam question which students will be expected to complete as the Superpower Relations course progresses, both in lessons and as homework assignments. Bi-weekly knowledge tests. There will be two full mock exam papers completed, one at the beginning of term 2 and one at the end of term 2, focussing only on the Superpower Relations element of Paper 2.

 

Extra-curricular opportunities

International Trip to Berlin to support studies of Weimar and Nazi Germany (Paper 3) and International Relations in the Cold War Era (Paper 2). National Trip to Whitechapel to support study of Historic Environment (Paper 1). History Revision sessions are held weekly, beginning 12 months before exams.

How you can support your child’s progress?

Each student is provided with specially made course booklets to support their learning and revision. There is a booklet for each GCSE topic – Crime and Punishment (Paper 10, Early Elizabethan England (Paper 2), Superpower Relations in the Cold War Era (also Paper 2) and Weimar and Nazi Germany (Paper 3). Please use these, alongside exercise books, as a point of reference to discuss your child’s work. You may also wish to invest in Pearson textbooks and revision books. We urge our students to complete past papers in their own time, which class teachers are happy to mark.

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