History

At TLA we are committed to providing a comprehensive and engaging history curriculum that equips students with the knowledge and skills to understand and appreciate the complexities of the past and its influence on the present and future. 

The KS3 curriculum is sequenced broadly chronologically, focusing on the period from 1066 to present day, but including both an earlier era study, and thematic study on how we approach and think about history.  We build on the KS1-2 primary curriculum and meet the objectives set out in the National Curriculum in terms of knowing significant aspects of British and world history. However, the KS3 curriculum aims to take students beyond this in order to gain cultural capital but also confidence in their own identities and stories. The curriculum in history allows students to develop an understanding of how history informs our identity and place in the world through studying a range of periods, places, perspectives and people. 

During Key Stage 3 students are also given opportunities to develop skills such as analysing sources, explaining causation and consequence, and evaluating evidence and explaining their judgement, which equips them for further studies in history at key stage 4 and beyond.

In KS3 students explore the development of Britain and the wider world in the last 1000 years. In Year 7 the focus is on key concepts and skills, and we incorporate a local history and pre-1066 study, as well as exploring Medieval and Tudor and Stuart Britain. In Year 8 students bridge the gap from medieval to modern history, examining the Industrial Revolution, empire, slavery and finally the events of WWI and the rise of dictatorships in the 20th Century. In Year 9, the focus is on modern history, covering WWII, the Holocaust, post-war Britain and the development of civil rights. Students then investigate the events of the Cold War and conclude with a reflection on how we approach history, examining underrepresented groups in history such as women and minorities, and the role of historians in combating conspiracy theories in the modern information age.

At Key Stage 4, students study the EDEXCEL History GCSE syllabus. In Paper 1 (30% of the GCSE), students complete a thematic study of crime and punishment in Britain from c1000 to the present day, developing an understanding of change and continuity in crime, punishment and the justice system over the Medieval, Early Modern, Industrial and Modern eras. This paper also includes a historic environment study of Whitechapel between 1870 and 1900, against the backdrop of the Jack the Ripper investigation.   

In Paper 2 (40% of the GCSE), students complete a period study of the American West c1835-c1895, spanning the early settlement of the West and the original lifestyle and culture of the indigenous Plains Indians, and covering the increasing development of the plains by white settlers during this period, the conflict which resulted, and the eventual destruction of the plains tribes’ way of life. 

Paper 2 also includes a depth study of Elizabethan England 1558-1588 where students will discover the challenges Elizabeth faced on her first arrival on the throne and how these challenges developed over the first 30 years of her reign, including religious, political and economic conflict, and the role of Mary, Queen of Scots and Philip of Spain. The course also covers life in Elizabethan England including society, leisure, education and exploration. 

In Paper 3 (30% of the GCSE), pupils complete a modern depth study on the interwar period of Weimar and Nazi Germany 1919-1939. This covers the struggles of the Weimar Republic in the 1920s dealing with the aftermath of WWI, their brief success before further crisis resulted in Hitler’s rise to power. The course also covers Nazi control and dictatorship, and life in Nazi Germany.

We offer a varied and stimulating course which involves;

Paper 1: Britain, 1918-1979.

This course examines change and continuity in British twentieth century political, social and economic history. Students examine changing patterns of immigration, education, the status of women as well as attempts to build a welfare state. There is a fascinating study of interpretations of Margaret Thatcher’s impact on British history. This course is worth 30% of the A level and is tested in an exam.

Paper 2: USA 1955-1992:

By contrast, this course allows students to make an in depth investigation of a twentieth century super power and the attempts of different presidents to cope with the different challenges of civil rights, the conditions in cities, the rights of minorities and the Vietnam War. The roles of Presidents from  Eisenhower to Reagan by way of Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford and Carter are charted.   This course is worth 20% of the A level and is tested in an exam.

Paper 3: The Witchcraze in Europe and North America, c. 1580-1750.

This course provides students with a real contrast. They will be examining social, religious and intellectual ideas, not of the 20th century but centuries earlier. They experience the challenge of understanding what led people to persecute witches. They seek to make sense of mindsets and world views very different from their own. This course is worth 30% of the A level and is tested in an exam.

Paper 4: Coursework. For many students this is the best part of the course because they get to choose a topic of their own and investigate it, not in an exam but in their own time. Those students who have a passion for a particular person or period in history that doesn’t overlap with the three taught units have an opportunity to fulfil it through this part of the course.The challenge of independent learning provides a bridge between A level and higher education.

Hours of lessons per fortnight for this subject:

- KS3: 3

- KS4: 5

- KS5: 8

Edexcel GCSE History 

Edexcel A Level History

Fully equipped classrooms with resource library and fully stocked revision materials.

Students have opportunities for curricular and enrichment activities, including a lively debate club, film club, revision space and homework hub.

We also have a number of different trips that run every year and these vary between local history sites and those further afield.