Aston Manor 
Curriculum Rationale in: History
KS3 Curriculum:
The first half term in Year 7 is a time of transition where we deliver a broad period of content, with basic terminology and skills that should have been covered at KS2, so that students all start from an equal point. Then we deliver a two-year Key Stage 3 scheme of work following the national curriculum in England. The content allows students to gain knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world. We teach the chronological period from Medieval England (1066) to the present day. We take into account the different backgrounds and cultures of the children we teach at AMA and devise a curriculum that covers areas that are relevant to their context or where we feel there will be large gaps in greater depth, so that their curriculum is personal and purposeful. A study of the Industrial Revolution and of Kenilworth Castle helps students to make connections between their local history and national and international history, whilst a study of Mughul India and other former colonies within the British Empire, as well as Black History, allow students to make complex connections with their own heritage. Through the history curriculum, learners can see how we are “All Different; All Equal; All Achieving.”
Our curriculum aims to inspire students to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence and develop judgement. Consequently, we teach the skills to allow students to create their own structured narratives and explanations of continuity, change, cause and consequence. They start to analyse and evaluate the significance of people and events. In addition, students learn how to critically analyse and evaluate historical source evidence and interpretations of past events.
KS4 Curriculum:
The assessment and exam questions from Key Stage 3 use the same question stems as the GCSE, as we like to prepare learners at an early stage for the rigours of GCSE and we know that this model of teaching leads to excellent levels of achievement. Through Key Stage 4, students develop their skills further and learn how to access higher levels of response. Their explanations become more sophisticated and complex; they start to make substantiated judgements about interpretations.
We have chosen the AQA History GCSE as we believe that it offers our students the best opportunity to achieve their potential. The content and assessment objectives are very clear, and we have been able to deliver lessons that have led to outstanding exam results and cover a diverse range of historical content that helps to shape our learners personally, as well as academically.
The new GCSE has led to a doubling in the amount of content to be delivered and our students have benefitted from starting to develop GCSE skills in Year 9 (again, a transition year to ensure that all learners are coming from equal starting points) and having three years to prepare. In June of Year 11 students will sit two exams, each lasting two hours and having equal weighting:
Paper 1 Section A: America, 1840 – 1895 Expansion and Consolidation
Paper 1 Section B: Conflict and Tension, 1918 -1939.
Paper 2 Section A: Britain, Health and the People c1000 to the Present Day
Paper 2 Section B: Norman England, 1066 – 1100
Click the link below to download our curriculum delivery overview for History: