Key Stage 3 History
Year 7:
The Year 7 syllabus is traditional in regards to the period 1066-1485 being studied. It is important students have a knowledge base of this period from which to progress to the later periods studied in Year 8 and 9. Themes include change, health, justice, religion, and conflict.
1066 and the Norman Conquest - Claims to the throne, events of 1066, Battle of Hastings.
The Feudal System - Establishment of the system, what was life like under the system?
Castles - Motte and Bailey, Square Keeps, attacking and defending castles etc.
The Medieval village/town life - What did a village look like? What evidence do we have of village life, life in a village, roles of men and women, differences between rich and poor, life in a medieval town?
Justice in the middle ages - What sort of crimes could you be punished for in the middle Ages? What role did religion play in justice?
Medieval religion - Heaven & Hell, role and importance of the Church, life in an Abbey
The Black Death - What was the Black Death? What impact did it have on medieval England? Was the Black Death a disaster?
Problems Facing Medieval Kings - Thomas Becket, Kings & Barons/Magna Carta, Peasants’ Revolt
The Crusades - Why did people go on Crusades? What did the Crusades achieve? What were the similarities and differences between society in Western? Europe and the Islamic community in the Middle East, What were the effects of the Crusades?
Year 8:
The Year 8 syllabus provides a varied course of study, ranging from the early modern period, through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to the twentieth. Themes include change and continuity, conflict, human rights, and gender.
Tudor-Stuart Britain - Lords & Masters, The Church, Henry VIII takes control of the Church, Mid-Tudors, Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots, War with Spain, Gunpowder Plot, 1603-40, Civil War, Monarchy restored, Plague and Fires.
Black Peoples of the Americas - The Slave Trade, Middle Passage, slave-worked economies, conditions under slavery, West Indian colonies and slave resistance, British profits from slavery, opposition to slavery, the USA after slavery.
Britain and the Great War - Why did the Great War begin? Western Front (trench warfare etc), war spreads (British Empire etc), Weapons and tactics, Recruitment and conscription, propaganda, rationing, attitudes, women at war, peace, aftermath.
Year 9:
The turbulent twentieth Century is the focus of Year 9. The key themes of the year revolve around causation, conflict, resolution, and an undercurrent of human rights. The Second World War, Holocaust, and Civil Rights in the USA are the specific periods studied.
The Treaty of Versailles – aims of Allies, terms of treaty, was the treaty justified? the other defeated nations
The Growing Nazi Threat – aggressive actions of Hitler during the 1930s, response of the League of Nations
Nazi Beliefs & Policies – background of Hitler, beliefs of the Nazis, how Nazis won power in Germany, why did the German people support the Nazis? How the Nazis stayed in power
War in Western Europe – Norway, Dunkirk, Battle of Britain
The German Invasion of the Soviet Union – reasons for Hitler’s invasion, Stalingrad as a turning point
Europe under the Nazis – countries occupied by Germany by end of 1942, what did Germany gain from the occupied countries? How were the conquered people treated?
Opposition to the Nazis – why did more people not speak out? Resistance to the Nazis, Nazi response to resistance
War in the Pacific – Japanese aggression in South East Asia and the Pacific, Japanese invasion of USA
Allied Victories in the West – 1942 as a turning point for Germany, role of North African campaigns/Soviet Front and Western Front in Germany’s defeat
Victory in the Pacific – Reasons Japanese were difficult to defeat, Japanese position by mid-1945, use of atomic bomb
The Holocaust – actions taken against Jews during 1930s, how Hitler got his message across, the Final Solution
Civilians at War (the Blitz) – reasons Hitler launched the Blitz, measures taken to limit effects of the Blitz (
Civilians at War (Blitz to Atomic Bombs) – bombings of Germany, evacuation of British children
Race Relations in the USA, 1861-1910 – Civil War, Reconstruction, Jim Crow
The Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1968 – Rosa Parks, Montgomery Bus Boycott, Little Rock, Freedom Rides, March on Washington, Civil Rights Act, Martin Luther King The Black Power Movement – Nation of Islam, Malcolm X, Black Panthers.