FACULTY LEADER: Mrs N Edney

SUBJECT LEADER: Mr P Low

The History team at Prince Henry's work hard to make students experience of history a fascinating one. Our courses are very popular, with large numbers of students choosing to continue with their studies of History at GCSE and A level. We are proud of what students in History achieve, and have a strong record in terms of results achieved at both GCSE and A Level. Our team of six specialist teachers has a range of different interests in History, ranging from medieval Britain to the Russian Revolution.

KS3 Curriculum

Please see an overview of the KS3 curriculum below. Each half term, students are set a mini assessment as a home learning task, as well as two or more creative home learning tasks.

The mini assessments have been proven to help students to improve their success in each bigger end of term assessment.

Lessons are planned to develop three core skills which students need for GCSE History: concepts, interpretations and sources. An overview of how students can achieve these skills can be found in the inside front cover of their exercise books.

In each year of Key Stage 3, students are assessed with a key focus on three specific areas: extended writing, historical enquiry and use of sources. These skills are developed throughout the Key Stage and are excellent preparation for students moving onto the study of History at GCSE.

KS4 Curriculum

At Key Stage 4, students may opt to study GCSE History (Edexcel).

In Year 10 we study: Medicine through time; The British Sector of the Western Front; Early Elizabethan England 1558-88.

In Year 11 we study: Weimar and Nazi Germany 1918-1939; Superpower relations and the Cold War.

KS5 Curriculum

At Key Stage 5, students may opt to study A Level History (OCR).  An overview of topics can be seen below:

Assessment

Assessment in History has been designed to support Assessment of, for, and as learning. KS3 is centred around regular low-stakes questions at the beginning of lessons, formal knowledge and summative assessments are integrated into all SoW. At KS4 appropriate examination questions are integrated into the SoW to support the development of examination skills. This is supported by regular low-stakes questioning using 5 questions and Educake quizzes. Assessment skills are modelled for students and opportunities for peer assessment have been integrated into the SoW. Year 10 students and future GCSE students will now have two books one for class-work and one for assessments. At KS5 assessment skills and examination style questions have been integrated into the SoW to support students towards their examinations. Regular low-stakes questioning takes place at the beginning of lessons. At all Key Stages students are expected to undertake green pen DIRT tasks to ensure they reflect on feedback and apply guidance from staff.  

Enrichment

The History team organises a wide range of enrichment activities to give students opportunities to experience history in both a local and a global context. Regular activities include an annual Year 9 trip to the First World War Battlefields of Belgium and France, and a Year 12/13 History and Politics trip to London and Paris.