Students begin to learn a coherent chronological narrative of Britain from the arrival of The Celts -1588. Strands of migration, invasion, power and control form the themes through the course. Students experience a knowledge rich, skills-based curriculum, understanding terms such as: continuity and change; cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance, embedded within the chronological narrative.

Core knowledge to be learnt in Year 7:

• Who are the British? – an introduction to multiculturalism and migration
• How were/are the British controlled? Feudalism and Domesday
• How power and religion was/is exercised in Britain? Monarch v. Parliament, the murder of Thomas Becket
• How has control and power in Britain changed? Magna Carta
• What was life like for ordinary people? How does it compare to life today?
• Religion and The Black Death

The narrative continues in year 8 and students study the transformation in the nature of governance in Britain from the absolutism of Tudor rule to the challenge to absolutism by Parliament during the Stuart Dynasty. With power resolved as an issue students study the Industrial Revolution, the development of the British Empire and the causes and course of WWI. They continue to experience a knowledge rich, skills-based curriculum, understanding terms such as: continuity and change; cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance, embedded within the chronological narrative.

Core knowledge to be learnt in Year 8:

• How were/are the British controlled/governed? – The Divine Right of Kings
• How power was/is exercised in Britain? – The growth of Parliamentary government and the reduction of the monarchies power though events like the Civil War
• How has control and power in Britain changed? The evolution of British politics and role of protest groups – Suffragettes and Chartists
• What was life like for ordinary people? How does it compare to life today? – The impact and diversity of the Industrial Revolution
• What was Britain’s role in shaping the modern world? – The globalisation of the world and role of the British Empire

Students build upon the studies of the Nineteenth Century and investigate the Twentieth Century world set against the context of British imperial decline and increased international rivalries based upon political beliefs and the struggle for power resulting in WWI and WWII. Students will then progress to study some landmark events of the post WWII world, notably the origins of the Cold War, The Cuban Missile Crisis and 9-11.

Core knowledge to be learnt in Year 9:

• How were/are the British controlled? What is British democracy?
• How does the British experiment in Democracy compare to the of the USA and dictatorships?
• How does Democracy contrast with Dictatorship?
• How power was/is exercised in Britain / USA?
• How has control and power in Britain changed / USA?
• What is/was life like for ordinary people in Britain and the USA?
• What was Britain’s role in shaping the modern world?

Students will investigate the theme of medicine in Britain over a thousand years of history, thematically studying the changes in cause, cure and prevention of illness as well as the factors that shaped them like religion, science, government and individual genius. An additional environmental study will be undertaken on the injuries and treatment experienced by British soldiers on the Western Front. This final content will build upon prior leaning in Year 8.

Students explore what the ‘real’ American West was like and examine the impact of settler expansion in the American outback, which had far-reaching consequences for both the Indians and the many settlers of the time. Their studies will provide context for further studies of the USA in Year 12.

Core knowledge to be learnt in Year 10:

• Medieval Medicine
• Renaissance Medicine
• Nineteenth Century Medicine
• Twentieth Century Medicine
• The British Sector of the Western Front
• The early settlement of the West c1835-1862
• The development of the plains c1862-1876
• Conflicts and conquest – the clash of civilisations

Students bring their learning back to Tudor England looking at the changes brought to England by Queen Elizabeth in both society, foreign policy and religion. This unit will draw upon context of the period already studied in Year 8.

Students learn about the social, political and economic factors that contributed to the fall of Imperial Germany, the rise of liberal Weimar Germany and the emergence of Hitler’s Nazi Party and the establishment of the Third Reich. This study will draw upon student’s understandings of Dictatorships and the main events of the 1920’s taught in Year 9.

Core knowledge to be learnt in Year 11:

• Queen, government and religion – how did Elizabeth reconcile the conflict between Protestants and Catholics
• Challenges to Elizabeth at home and abroad – Foreign invasion and Catholic plots to bring down the Queen
• Elizabethan society in the age of exploration – How Britain began her progress of empire building
• Weimar Germany 1918-29 – How did democracy emerge in Germany after WWI and why it took the form it did
• The rise of Hitler and the Nazis – How did Hitler exploit the experiences of Weimar Germany in the 1920’s to build his power
• The Co-ordination and control of Germany – How did Hitler turn Germany into a Totalitarian dictatorship?
• Life in Nazi Germany – What was life like for ordinary people under the Nazis and how were minorities treated