History
History is an important subject because it shows us the value, importance and relevance of past events and why a knowledge of the past is important to our future.
In the NUAST History department our philosophy is:
- History should be exciting and interesting. We will not teach anything that cannot be made exciting or interesting (thankfully, almost all of history can be).
- History should be relevant. It should teach students something about the world they live in and help them make sense of modern life as well as teaching them about past lives.
- History should teach skills. Students should leave us with not only a knowledge of the past but critical thinking skills, debating skills, the ability to weigh up arguments and the ability to spot bias and propaganda.
Curriculum Journey
Curriculum Intent: History
Studying History develops a wide range of skills; the ability to locate, study and interpret written and visual material, in order to extract evidence and meaning. Historians are adept at contextualisation, analysis, problem-solving and critical thinking. This makes people who study this subject strong communicators.
History at NUAST develops critical, curious and well informed students, who learn from and recognise the lessons of our collective past. Our curriculum provides rich historical knowledge with schemes of learning developing from chronological depth and breadth studies to thematic studies, placing a strong emphasis on cultural capital as the curriculum progresses.
Our approach embeds analytical, evaluative and summative skills which are specific to the discipline of history whilst also being transferrable across NUAST’s curriculum, higher education and careers. We support students in developing a critical eye towards not only past events but present ones; giving them the tools to make them more immune to “fake news” and propaganda, while also making students into effective and passionate defenders of their evidence-based opinions.
Key Stage 3
History is currently offered in year 7 and year 8 and will expand into year 9 as the school grows over the coming years.
Our vision is to provide a relevant curriculum across the key stage that pupils will engage with and which will develop their higher order thinking skills. We aim to promote understanding of the past whilst making links to the present.
Year 7 topics
- Raiders and Invaders
- Middle ages - power and control
- The Stewarts and the English Civil War, Power and Descent
- British economic power - The Titanic
- Stories of power and systems of power - communication and fascism
Year 8 topics
- Empire and Slavery
- Revolutions
- 19th century democracy and woman's suffrage
- World at war - WWI and WWII
- Post-war Britain
Year 9 topics
- Holocaust and genocide
- Black and British aand civil rights
- LGBTQ+ and modern ideas
- The cold war
- Ancient Science
- Medicine stands still - medieval medicine