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Morpeth School

History Department

Head of Department: Tom Smith

Key Stage Three (Years 7-9)

History is not about remembering battles and dates. History is a subject driven by questioning and deep analysis. As such, students chronologically follow key developments in world history by studying schemes of work which aim to answer the key questions summarised below:

Year 7:

First half-term

Why did William and the Normans win the Battle of Hastings in 1066?

Second half-term

Which event was most significant for advancing the position of Medieval peasants – the Black Death or the Peasant’s Revolt?

Third half-term

What were the Crusades, and why were they fought?

Fourth half-term

How useful is the film “Brave Heart“ for understanding William Wallace and the Scottish rebellion?

Fifth half-term

Why did Henry VIII break with Rome?

Final half-term

What were the secrets of Elizabeth I’s success?

Year 8:

Autumn term: How accurate is the film Braveheart for understanding the Scottish rebellion? Why was England changed from a Catholic to Protestant state? Why did the English kill their King?

Spring term: How far did industrialisation benefit the lives of the British people from 1750? What was the long term impact of the Irish potato famine? Who was Jack the Ripper?

Summer term: Why did the Irish revolt against the British in 1916? How has the legacy of the British Empire affected the development of Tower Hamlets?

Year 9:

Autumn term: What can we learn from the Slave Trade? Who was most important in driving forward the civil rights movement?

Spring term: How did two bullets lead to 20 million deaths? Why was mass murder part of government policy? These questions are answered by way of an in-depth study of the Holocaust lasting a full term.

Summer term: How was the world plunged in to a 45 year Cold War? Why did the world come to the brink of a Third World War in 1962?

Key Stage Four (Years 10-11)

Our GCSE offer remains very popular with Morpeth students. We follow AQA’s Specification B Modern World History, and all students sit 37.5% of their final GCSE at the end of Year 10 as a modular exam. Students submit one controlled assessment (25% of their grade) in the first term of Year 11, the focus of which is on the experience of the two world wars for the British people. Students then sit a second and final paper (37.5%) at the end of Year 11 during the traditional exam season.

Class sizes are restricted to 24, and the emphasis is on enabling students to develop their higher order thinking skills; skills of analysis, synthesis and evaluation. Our two key aims are to ensure high levels of attainment and prepare students for an engaged life beyond Morpeth.

Year 10: Why did the First World War break out in 1914? Was the Weimar Republic doomed from the start? How was Hitler able to come to power? Did Germans benefit from Hitler’s rule? What were the results of Hitler’s foreign policy?

Year 11: Controlled Assessment: What was the experience of the two world wars for the British people? Why did the Americans fail in Vietnam?

Key Stage Five (Years 12-13)

As part of the Cambridge Heath Sixth Form consortium, we offer full AS and A2 courses in modern History, following the AQA syllabus. Students follow two courses in tandem throughout Years 12 and 13; two examinations at the end of Year 12 assess students’ progress, and upon successful completion of these, students can elect to progress to A2. All students are loaned core texts for taught units, and supplied with relevant articles to support independent learning.

Year 12: Britain 1906-1951: a close analysis of the key political, social and economic drivers of change in this period. Hitler, Anti-Semitism and the German People: a close source-based analysis of how Hitler came to murder 9 million people

Year 13: The Making of Modern Britain, 1951-2007: a close analysis of the key political, social and economic factors that created the modern, post-war settlement; a detailed research unit focussing on Modern Japan.

Assessment:

All Key Stage 3 students are assessed on three core skill areas each year, and their work is rigorously standardised to ensure all are working to their potential. The Department feeds students’ results back to parents in line with the school’s reporting cycle. All Key Stage 4 and 5 students are assessed fortnightly by way of past exam questions and papers.

Homework:

Key Stage 3 students are set two challenges per year, which take approximately six weeks to complete. These challenges take the form of an independent piece of research which is then presented in a piece of extended writing. All students are expected to complete these assignments, as they provide an exciting opportunity for students to develop their own interests and areas of enquiry.

Key Stage 4 (Year 10-11) are expected to complete a substantial piece of homework every week to both consolidate and develop the learning that has taken place in the classroom.

Key Stage 5 (Years 12-13) are expected to complete weekly essays as set by their teacher as well as following their own independent reading and research. Students may contact staff by email for guidance on which readings to complete.

Enrichment:

It has long been a key priority for the History Department to identify and provide enrichment opportunities for all year groups to take their learning of the subject beyond the classroom. This past academic year (2009-2010) is typical of this commitment, and as such we have offered the following trips and visits:

• Trip to the Roman Baths (Year 7)

• Visit to the Barbican to prepare a borough-wide presentation for Black History Month (all years). Viewing of a theatre production. Assemblies in school to compliment this

• Theatre performances and a visit from a Holocaust survivor (Year 9)

• Residential archaeological dig in Cambridge (Year 10)

• Trip to the battlefields in Ypres, Belgium (Year 10)

• Theatre visit: Lilies on the Land at the Arts Theatre (Year 10)

• Trip to Auschwitz-Berkanau in Poland (Year 12)

• Trip to the Houses of Parliament, combining a full tour (planned for next year’s Year 13)