In Year 7 our theme is Power, Monarchy and Democracy. Over the course of six smaller lesson series, students discover how the role of monarchy has changed, how ‘people power’ and protest has increased over time and how the democracy we recognise today developed. This thematic approach covers c.1066-present, covering major British history topics:
- the Battle of Hastings, Norman conquest, control and castles, Medieval kingship, Doomsday Book
- Protest: Peasants’ Revolt, development of Parliament, Magna Carta, Wars of the Roses, Henry VII
- Role of the monarch: Henry VIII, the Reformation, Elizabeth and the Armada, the Civil War
- Cromwell, Restoration, Act of Union
- Protest: Great Reform Act, Chartists, Suffragettes, Representation of the People Act.
- Democracy: General strikes, Fascism, post-War, inc. Labour Party and Brexit
In Year 7 all students visit Battle Abbey and Bodiam Castle to build on their learning during their course. Students explore the Battle of Hastings site and explain why William built the Abbey which was then damaged under Henry VIII.
In Year 8 our theme is War, Empire and the impact on people. Over the course of six smaller lesson series, this moves from why people fought in Medieval times, the Crusades, links with India and America, the development of the British Empire, industrialisation, decolonisation and individuals including Ghandi. The events and impact of the First and Second World Wars, the Holocaust, and British society in the second half of the Twentieth Century from the founding of the NHS to Britain’s role on the world through the UN and the EU are then learned.
- Crusades, Angevine Empire, Edward I – Wales and Scotland, Hundred Years War inc. Joan of Arc
- New World, India, Africa, Industrial Revolution, colonies, American Independence, British Empire c.1900
- Maintaining Empires: Slave trade, Indian Mutiny, Irish nationalism in C19th to Easter Rising, Gandhi, Kenya and Hong King studies
- First World War: causes, trench warfare, conscientious objectors, weapons, British Empire, battles, outcomes, Treaty of Versailles
- Second World War: Appeasement, Dunkirk, Battle of Britain, major developments, The Holocaust.
- Post-War world: Cold War, the NHS, the UN, the EU, terrorism
In Year 8 students visit either Dover Castle where they have the opportunity to explore Kent’s medieval past and the site’s role in the Second World War, or Duxford IWM to learn about Cold War developments.