History

Staffing In History
History is taught by four members of staff; Mr Tanner (Teacher in Charge), Mr Gubbins, Mr Hussain and Ms Moore.

Aims Of The Department
For us, “History Matters!”. Our vision is to equip every student with an understanding of the past to inform their knowledge of the society they are growing up in and are to contribute to as responsible citizens.

Presently, one of our main aims is to increase the percentage of students achieving A*-C in History to at least 50%.  We also aim to improve the department’s engagement with parents and carers through making known to parents and careres the.  At  diversity of the history learned at Cumberland and how this reflects the diversity of the pupils’ background.

Pupil progress is at the heart of what we do in the History department.  Our aim is therefore to develop the quality of teaching to improve rates of progress, allowing potential high achievers to excel whilst ensuring that each individual reachies their potential in the subject.

In their learning students are regularly challenged to consider why we study history and how what they are learning is related to making sense of the society we live in. Rights and responsibilities are promoted with reference to specific curriculum content areas, particularly those related to citizenship.  History is being chosen by an increasing number of the KS4 pupils (currently almost 25%) as an option to be taken for GCSE; these pupils reflect the full range of the schools’ community.

History teaching at Cumberland gives, where appropriate, a focus to basic skills needed in employment. Through the range of tasks used in their History learning, pupils have opportunities to develop life-skills such as literacy, oracy, numeracy, ICT, researching and team working.  These are transferable across the school curriculum and beyond school. 

The History Curriculum

The History Curriculum in Year 7
In Year 7 pupils (from September 2012) study History for two hours a week. They undertake the following units of work.

  • Power and Control in Medieval England
  • Religion, Rights and Responsibilities (focus on Medieval England and the Crusades)
  • Exploration - causes and consequences and the Black Death

  • Changes 1450 - 1550


The History Curriculum in Year 8
In Year 8 pupils study History for two hours a week and undertake four units of work. 

  • The problems of Elizabeth I
  • Black Peoples of the Americas
  • Living and Working conditions in Victorian Cities
  • WW1 - the experiences of different groups
  • Consequences of War
  • Aspects of WW2 - the Holocaust


GCSE History

Pupils follow Edexcel History GCSE Specification B (Schools History Project)

History Curriculum in the first year of GCSE study:

Pupils will study History for two or three hours a week and undertake two units of work:

  • Develpment study into 'Crime and Punishments'; 1hr 15min exam in June
  • Source enquiry in 'Protest, Law and Order in the 20th Centrury'; 1hr 15min exam in June

History Curriculum in the second year of GCSE study:

Pupils will study History for two or three hours a week and undertake two units of work:

  • Depth study into 'Life in Germany c. 1919 - 1945'; 1hr 15min exam in June
  • Controlled Assessment on 'The Indian Subcontinent: The Road to Independence 1918 - 1947'

Each of the four units of the GCSE is worth 25% of the final makrs of the overall qualification

Assessment For Learning
Marking pupils’ work is the primary method by which teachers monitor the progress of pupils. All work produced either in class or for homework, is marked. The marking of pupils work signals to the pupils that their efforts are valued by the teacher and should improve pupil motivation to make further progress. The History department has a diagnostic marking policy.  We aim to give positive comments in appropriate language whilst informing the pupils how they could improve the quality of their work and continue to make progress in the subject. Marking and pupil response is an ongoing element of teacher/pupil dialogue. 

The History department supports the work of the English department and the National Literacy Strategy, correcting common grammatical mistakes, common spelling errors and particularly the misspelling of historical terms. We are aware that many of our pupils have difficulties with their written work and we would not want to discourage them by excessive corrections.  Teachers use their professional judgement and are selective in their use of corrections.

At the end of each unit of study the students will complete an assessment which will be given a National Curriculum level and a diagnostic comment, with instructions on how the work could be improved in order to achieve a higher National Curriculum level.  The results of these are stored centrally.

The History Department also recognises the achievements and efforts of pupils in History through the department's reward scheme where each term pupils can be nominated as History Heroes for outstanding work, effort and/or progress made. Four pupils are then selected from those nominated and named as the History Heroes for that term, being presented with a reward. The reward scheme has proved popular amongst pupils, motivating them in lessons and in completing their homework to a higher standard.


Attainment In Our Department
 

Results at end of Key Stage 3 (Level 5+)

  2009 2010 2011
Level 5+ 60 % 61% 64%


Results at end of Key Stage 4 (A*-C)

  2009 2010 2011
GCSE 41% 31% 39%