Why do we learn history?
Welcome to the history department at Ark Academy. At Ark Academy we aim to expose students to a broad, diverse and inclusive range of history. Students finish Key Stage 3 with a strong narrative of British and global history from 1000 to the present day. This then informs their understanding at Key Stage 4 and 5, supporting consistently excellent outcomes at GCSE and A Level.
Head of Department
Ms Thomas
Ms Kinnon
Our approach
Students in Key Stage 3 benefit from a chronological approach. This approach allows the curriculum to interweave between different substantive concepts, and allows students to place key events and trends within a firm timeline. As students enter into GCSE and A Level in which they study both discrete periods of time and themes across broad periods, they build on this existing chronological understanding in more depth.
Our key objectives for students include:
- Supporting students to retain long-term, key historical knowledge and substantive concepts that will prepare them for formal examinations and enable them to become active citizens.
- Teaching students to be flexible in the way they apply their knowledge and to communicate their knowledge fluently and confidently.
- To understand the contested nature of historical narratives and interpretations, and to understand how to challenge existing interpretations of history.
- To equip students with the study skills and learning habits necessary to become independent and effective learners, in particular the ability to read academic literature with fluency.
Primary
At Ark Academy, we intend to instil awe and wonder within the pupils about the past. By learning history, pupils will understand the complexities of people’s lives, processes of change, diversity of societies and relationships between different groups as well as their own identity and challenges of their time. Pupils will be inspired to think of consequences of actions on a bigger scale and consider their role now and in the future. As they journey through our primary, our aim is for pupils to gain coherent knowledge and understanding of our world’s history to provide a sense of relevance of the environment they live in. A high-quality history education will support pupils in understanding their heritage, their identity, their life and that of others; enabling full participation in our society.
Year 1
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
|---|---|
| How have toys changed over time? | |
| Geography taught component | Toys in time |
| Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
|---|---|
| Have we always travelled in the same way? | |
| Ticket to ride: transport | Ticket to ride: transport |
| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
|---|---|
| Have we always liked to be beside the seaside? | |
| Geography taught component | The seaside now and then |
Year 2
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
|---|---|
|
Who was the most powerful British monarch? Did the Great Fire of London only have a negative impact? |
|
| Kings and Queens | The Great Fire of London |
| Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
|---|---|
| Geography taught component | Geography taught component |
| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
|---|---|
| Who do you think made the biggest contribution to discovery? | |
| They Made a Difference | Geography taught component |
Year 3
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
|---|---|
| How did life improve in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age? | |
| Changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age | Geography taught component |
| Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
|---|---|
| Were the Romans successful in their invasion of Britain? | |
| Roman Invasion | Geography taught component |
| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
|---|---|
|
How did the Anglo Saxons change Britain? Was the Shang Dynasty the most advance of the early civilisations? |
|
| Anglo Saxons | Shang Dynasty |
Year 4
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
|---|---|
| The Vikings were all vicious warriors only interested in killing, do you agree or disagree? | |
| Vikings | Geography taught component |
| Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
|---|---|
| What made the ancient Egyptians one of the most successful civilisations? | |
| Egyptians | Geography taught component |
| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
|---|---|
| Has Wembley benefitted from the Wembley arena? | |
| Local History Study | Geography taught component |
Year 5
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
|---|---|
| Who were the ancient Greeks and how have they influenced our lives today? | |
| Greeks | Geography taught component |
| Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
|---|---|
| How has life changed in the 20th century? | |
| Leisure and Entertainment in the 20th Century | Geography taught component |
| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
|---|---|
| What was the Golden Age of Islam and how did it help us today? | |
|
Early Civilization- Islam |
Geography taught component |
Year 6
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
|---|---|
|
Did the abolition of the slave trade lead to equality? What were the priorities for the British Government during WW2? |
|
| Black History | World War 2 |
| Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
|---|---|
| Geography taught component | Geography taught component |
| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
|---|---|
| Did the Victorian age have a positive impact on humanity? | |
| Victorians | Geography taught component |
Year 7
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
|---|---|
|
What drove Baghdad’s thirst for knowledge? How disruptive were the Normans? Why did Alexios’ empire survive? Why did the barons keep rebelling against their English rulers? What light can one saint’s story shed on western Christian worlds? |
|
| World Views in c1000: The Byzantine Empire, Islamic civilisations, and Western Christian world | Contested power, contested land (11th and 12th centuries) |
| Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
|---|---|
|
What does the story of Mansa Musa reveal about medieval Africa? Who was affected by English expansion [in Wales and Scotland]? Order and disorder in Walsham: how did one village respond to the Black Death? What do the Wars of the Roses reveal about power and instability in fifteenth-century England? |
|
| Empires: expansion and collapse (13th century) | Stability and instability (14th and 15th centuries) |
| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
|---|---|
| What changed in the village of Morebath from 1519 to 1574? | |
| Religious revolution and resistance in the 16th century | Revision |
Year 8
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
|---|---|
|
Unit 1: Expanding empires, connected worlds in 1600 Unit 2: Contested power, contested land |
|
| Autumn 1 enquiry: How does Ruby Lal use sources to construct her story of Nur Jahan? | Autumn 2 enquiry: How close did England really come to a Puritan reformation? |
| Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
|---|---|
|
Unit 3: Destroyed communities, created communities Unit 4: Worlds in motion: minds, migrants and machines |
|
|
How did Atlantic slavery create ideas about race and racism?
|
What can sources reveal about how peoples' lives changed? Age of Revolutions: Did revolutionary thinkers achieve their aims? during the Industrial Revolution? |
| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
|---|---|
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Unit 5: Revolution and rebellion, reaction and reform |
|
|
How far did abolition transform life for Jamaicans?
|
Revision, exams and review |
Year 9
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
|---|---|
|
Autumn 1 enquiry: How did Ngugi interpret colonisation in East Africa? Autumn 2 enquiry: What did Hannah Mitchell want to change? / How did Sergei’s photographs portray the Russian empire? |
|
| The Age of Imperialism | Changing empires, changing lives |
| Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
|---|---|
|
Spring 1 enquiry: Why did so many European leaders declare war in 1914? Spring 2 enquiry: Did Stalin transform the Soviet Union? / Why did so many German people support the Nazi Party? |
|
| Empires at war | Ideas of power |
| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
|---|---|
|
Summer 1 enquiry: How typical was Lien’s story of European Jews in the 20th century? / How did the atomic bomb reshape the world? Summer 2 enquiry: Why did colonisation become so contested in Kenya? / How can we describe the lives of the Black diaspora in the 20thC? |
|
| War and post-war | Changing histories |
Year 10
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
|---|---|
| What caused progress in medicine to stall and accelerate? | |
| Medicine in Britain, c1250–present | Medicine in Britain, c1250–present |
| Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
|---|---|
|
What can we learn about treatment and developments in medicine on the Western Front from contemporary sources? How did the Weimar Republic emerge and stay afloat after the First World War? |
|
| The British sector of the Western Front, 1914–18: injuries, treatment and the trenches | Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918-39 |
| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
|---|---|
| How did Germany go from a democracy to a dictatorship in the 1930s? | |
| Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918-39 | Revision and end of Year assessments |
Year 11
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
|---|---|
|
How did two superpowers dominate global politics after WWII? |
|
| Superpower relations and the Cold War, 1941–91 | Superpower relations and the Cold War, 1941–91 |
| Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
|---|---|
|
What challenges did Elizabeth I face to her rule and how did she overcome them? |
|
| Early Elizabethan England, 1558–88 | Early Elizabethan England, 1558–88 |
| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
|---|---|
| Revision | External exams |
Year 12
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
|---|---|
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Britain
Russia:
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BRITAIN, 1625-1701 - Theme 1: The quest for political stability. RUSSIA IN REVOLUTION - Theme 1: The rule of Nicholas II and Theme 2: the end of Romanov rule |
BRITAIN, 1625-1701 - Theme 1: The quest for political stability. RUSSIA IN REVOLUTION - Theme 1: The rule of Nicholas II and Theme 2: the end of Romanov rule |
| Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
|---|---|
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Britain:
Russia:
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BRITAIN, 1625-1701 - Theme 2: Religion: conflict and dissent and Theme 3: Social and intellectual change RUSSIA IN REVOLUTION - Theme 3: The Provisional Government and its opponents |
BRITAIN, 1625-1701 - Theme 2: Religion: conflict and dissent and Theme 3: Social and intellectual change RUSSIA IN REVOLUTION - Theme 3: The Provisional Government and its opponents |
| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
|---|---|
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Britain:
Russia:
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BRITAIN, 1625-1701 - Theme 4: Economy, trade and empire and Theme 5: Interpretations of the Glorious Revolution RUSSIA IN REVOLUTION - Theme 4: Defending the Bolshevik revolution and independent coursework |
BRITAIN, 1625-1701 - Theme 4: Economy, trade and empire and Theme 5: Interpretations of the Glorious Revolution RUSSIA IN REVOLUTION - Theme 4: Defending the Bolshevik revolution and independent coursework |
Year 13
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
|---|---|
|
The Great Witch Hunt, in Bamberg, Germany, 1623-32 Matthew Hopkins and the East Anglian witch craze, 1645-47 Cotton Mather and the Salem witch hunt, 1692-93 The North Berwick witches in Scotland, 1590-91 and the aftermath to 1597 The Lancashire witches of 1604-13 |
|
| The witch craze in Britain, Europe and North America, c1580-c1750 and independent coursework | The witch craze in Britain, Europe and North America, c1580-c1750 and independent coursework |
| Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
|---|---|
|
Changing attitudes to witchcraft in Britain The wider intellectual context: the coming of science and reason |
|
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The witch craze in Britain, Europe and North America, c1580-c1750 and independent coursework Paper 1 and 2 revision |
The witch craze in Britain, Europe and North America, c1580-c1750 and independent coursework Paper 1 and 2 revision |
| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
|---|---|
| External exams | External exams |