Curriculum Intent

At Washington Academy students become Historians. Students can think critically, constructing their own interpretations whilst being immersed in scholarship. Students will gain an understanding of the complexity of people’s lives, diversity of society, their own identity and the challenges around the world. Students will do this by examining evidence, understanding chronology, and evaluating interpretations. By doing this, students can articulate arguments using historical vocabulary and create their own substantiated judgements.

Learners are given the opportunity to identify significant events, make connections, draw contrasts, and analyse trends within periods and over long arcs of time, so they can draw connections between key events to gain a wider perspective of how events shape lives. At Washington Academy, students are taught a wealth of knowledge which builds their cultural capital. As we teach empathy and tolerance throughout our modules, an understanding of how history has created the world we live in today is developed. This means regardless of whether students choose GCSE History, they all move onto KS4 with a solid understanding of concepts which will shape their adult life.

Students follow a programme of study that is developed using the National Curriculum History programme of study for KS3; allowing learners to cover both the statutory and non-statutory elements of the curriculum. Supplementary to this, to ensure a broad and rich curriculum is delivered; students are provided with the opportunity to explore units such as African Kingdoms which don’t feature as a standalone section on the current national curriculum for history. This is a feature that we are proud of at Washington Academy and is an example of how we encourage diversity and opportunity to delve deeper into aspects that aren’t in the National Curriculum. Within this, it is our aim to ensure all students across key stage 3 embed key terms and concepts that they have previously studied across other units delivered that are driven from the National Curriculum for History as student’s learning becomes ‘sticky’ as they make connections to other topics and where applicable, other subjects.

Upon entry to Key Stage 4 students deepen their knowledge of Crime and Punishment in Britain, Elizabethan England, American West and Germany 1918-1939. (GCSE Edexcel) allowing students to develop an understanding of chronology, change and continuity, a deeper understanding of narrow events and historian’s perspectives.

Curriculum Overview

Year 7

• Autumn Term 1:  How did England develop before 1066?
• Autumn Term 2: How did William consolidate his power of Britain?
• Spring Term 1: How much did power evolve in the medieval period?
• Spring Term 2: How powerful were African kingdoms? 
• Summer Term 1: How did religion change in the Tudor period?
• Summer Term 2: Why did the world 'open up' for Tudors and Stuarts?

Year 8

• Autumn Term 1: Why were the three Kingdom's turned upside down?
• Autumn Term 2:  How revolutionary was the age of revolution?
• Spring Term 1: How much did the slave trade fuel the British empire?
• Spring Term 2:  How much did the slave trade fuel the British empire?
• Summer Term 1:  How was Britain revolutionarised?
• Summer Term 2: How did people fight for freedom in Industrial Britain?

Year 9

• Autumn Term 1: Why are there different interpreations of WW1?
• Autumn Term 2: How was the world transformed through 1920s America?
• Spring Term 1: Why did peace not last in Europe?
• Spring Term 2: How did Jewish persecution worsen over time?
• Summer Term 1: How 'hot' was the Cold War?
• Summer Term 2: How much progress was made in society post WWII?

Year 10

• Autumn Term 1:  Paper 1 Crime and punishment
• Autumn Term 2:  Paper 1 Crime and punishment
• Spring Term 1: What problems did Elizabeth I face in the early years of her reign?
• Spring Term 2:  How did Elizabethan England develop?
• Summer Term 1: How did early settement affect the Plains Indian's lives?
• Summer Term 2: How did the Plain's Indians lives change?

Year 11

• Autumn Term 1:  What problems did Germany face?
• Autumn Term 2: The rise of the Nazis and consolidation of power
• Spring Term 1: Domestic Nazi policies 
• Spring Term 2:  Exam preparation
• Summer Term 1:  Exam preparation
• Summer Term 2:  Final preparation for GCSE examinations