Department Overview
History is a large and enthusiastic department with six classrooms within a dedicated building for Geography and History. The department currently consists of seven teachers that teach across the Key Stages.
All students study History in Key Stage 3. In Year 7, 8, and 9 students have four lessons a fortnight whilst students in Year 10 and 11 will complete five lessons of History a fortnight. The subject continues to be a popular options choice.
KS3 Curriculum Overview (Years 7-9)
Students in Key Stage 3 follow a chronological study of History. Throughout each topic, students are challenged to use the narrative of the subject to evaluate the causes and consequences of the topics studied. We also challenge the students to develop their historical skills by critically considering the context and provenance of the sources that they use.
In Year 7, students are given an introduction into chronological understanding and how, as historians we learn about the past. Students spend the rest of the first term investigating the settlement of Britain from 0CE to 1250, including the Iron Age, Romans, Saxons, and Normans. During the Spring term students investigate religion, conflict, and life in the Medieval period, with case studies of the Crusades, the Plague and the Peasants Revolt. In the Summer term students spend time studying the revolutionary turmoil of the Tudor and Stuart dynasties and the French Revolution.
In Year 8, students move on to studying the Industrial Revolution and de-industrialisation in the 1970s. Students move onto to our World at War module, completing studies of WWI, WWII, the Holocaust, and the modern War on Terror. Finally, in the Summer term students investigate social justice, completing case studies on Civil Rights, Suffrage and the LBGTQ+ movement.
The expectation is that students in Year 9 start their GCSE curriculum in advance of Year 10; regardless of option choice. In September 2021 Year 9 will begin studying the OCR KS4 curriculum. Year 10 and 11 will continue with their Edexcel KS4 curriculum.
OCR KS4 Curriculum Overview (Years 9-11) – start 2021
GCSE students follow the OCR School’s History Project B curriculum for the 9-1 GCSE. The History GCSE is split into three different exam papers.
- Paper 1 – British History
- Paper 2 – History Around Us (local history study)
- Paper 3 –World History
Paper 1 – This paper is divided into two topic sections. Section A is our thematic study – Migrants to Britain, c.1250-Present. Section B is our British depth study – The Elizabethans, 1580-1603. Each section is worth 20% of the total GSCE.
Paper 2 – This paper is a local history study of Portchester castle focusing on change and continuity over time and the significance of the site. It is worth 20% of the total GCSE.
Paper 3 – This paper is divided into two topic sections. Section A is our period study – The Making of America, 1789-1900. Section B is our world depth study – Living life under Nazi Rule, 1933-1945. Each section is worth 20% of the total GCSE.