History

The History Department at All Hallows Catholic High School is a vibrant and exciting area of the school. We are committed to delivering high quality, challenging, interesting and appropriate learning experiences to all our students, both inside and outside of the classroom. In 2024 the department achieved exceptional results with 83.3% of students achieving passes at 9-4. 35% of students achieved grades 9-7 and 6.5% achieving the top grade 9. In every measure the department has achieved scores which are well above national averages and those of similar schools.

History is a popular subject at All Hallows and we work hard to provide our students with the tools to be successful so they don’t just learn about the subject but also gain invaluable transferable skills that will be an essential part of their adult lives. These include skills in research, comprehension and analysis of source material; forming reasoned interpretations, and developing the ability to make sound judgements and communicate these in different formats.

Accommodation

The History Department has two purpose-built rooms, each containing an interactive whiteboard.

Teaching Staff

• Mr Jenkins (Head of History)
• Mrs Washington (Teacher of History/Assistant Headteacher)
• Mr Illingworth (Teacher of History)
• Mrs Sykes (Teacher of History and Geography)

We offer a varied and engaging curriculum at Key Stage 3 based on the theme of “The Story Of Us” – a chronologically structured study of British society and its developing relationships with our neighbours and the wider world through the ages. All students follow a carefully created programme of study at Key Stage 3 in two lessons per week during Years 7, 8 and 9. Our young people have the opportunity to work individually, in pairs and collaboratively during the following topics:

Year 7 – The Age of Invaders (How has British society changed as a result of invasion?)

Autumn

1. What do Historians do? Developing the skills of the Historian.

2. What was the legacy of the Silk Roads? Why were the Silk Roads so significant as routes for trade, invention, cultural and religious developments?

Spring

3. Glory, God or Greed’ – Why did people go on the Crusade?

4. What might life have been like in Medieval Penwortham and Preston?

Summer

5. Was England a good neighbour in the Medieval Era?

6. How did the Black Death change England?

Year 8 – A Developing Nation – The United Kingdom 1485 – 1900 (How has our society developed from absolute monarchy to democratic government?)

Autumn

1. What was the legacy of the Tudor monarchs? Including a study of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I

2. Why was the reign of the Stuarts so traumatic? Case study of the Gunpowder Plot 1605 and the Witch hunting craze of the mid-17th century

Spring

3. What was the impact of the Industrial Revolution? Including a local study of conditions in Preston in the 19th century

4. Was Britain complicit in the Slave Trade?

Summer

5. How close was Britain to revolution in the 18th and 19th centuries?

6. Did things get better under the reign of Queen Victoria?

Year 9 – A Century of Challenges – (How has British society met the challenges of the 20th Century?)

Autumn

1. Why was Jack the Ripper able to evade capture in 1888? An historical environment study.

2. Why did women get the vote in 1918?

Spring

3. How did the morale of soldiers change during World War One?

4. How were the Nazis responsible for the deaths of 20 million people?

Summer

5. How significant was World War Two to the lives of British people?

6. How has health and medicine improved over the years? An overview study.

Our GCSE History Course

All students studying GCSE History will follow the AQA course in three lessons per week. This course provides students with the opportunity to study History from 3 different eras, on 3 different timescales and from 3 different geographical contexts. Students sit two exams. Each exam lasts for 2 hours, covers two of the units studied and is worth 50% of the overall GCSE grade award.

Students have the opportunity to work individually, in pairs and collaboratively during the following topics.

Year 10 – We study 2 units from the GCSE course.

Britain: Health and the People: c1000 to the present day.

This topic from Paper 2 takes a chronological and thematic look at the development of medicine, surgery and improvements in public health since the Middle Ages.

Norman England, c1066 – 1100.

This unit from Paper 2 studies how England changed as a result of the conquest of England by William, Duke of Normandy and assesses the impact of his reign on the English people, including the development of castles, the Feudal System, religion, laws and ordinary life for peasants.

Year 11 – We study 2 further units from the GCSE course.

America, 1920–1973: Opportunity and Inequality module.

This topic from Paper 1 enables students to understand the development of the USA during the 20th century, focusing on opportunity and inequality.

Conflict and Tension in Asia, 1950 – 1975.

This unit from Paper 1 focuses on the Korean and Vietnam wars and seeks to show how and why conflict occurred and why it proved difficult to resolve the tensions which arose.

For further details of the AQA GCSE course please contact Mr Jenkins.

Extra-Curricular Enrichment and Visits

The department believes in bringing History to life and offers opportunities to enrich students’ experience of learning about History. To further develop cultural capital these opportunities are designed to add colour to students’ learning experience and their understanding of the world around them.

All Year 7 students visit Beeston Castle in the summer term as part of their study of Medieval life. All Year 8 students visit Maritime Museum in Liverpool as part of their work on the British Empire and slavery topics. All Year 9 students visit the Imperial War Museum North to support their understanding of conflict in the 20th century. Year 10 students have the opportunity to visit the Thackray Medical Museum in Leeds to support their work on the development of medicine and healthcare.

In 2021 and 2023 the department ran very popular visits to London for Year 9 & 10 students including a tour of Globe Theatre as part of their studies on Elizabethan England. We hope to run this again in 2026.

In May 2023 there was also a tour to the battlefields of the First World War in France and Belgium by Year 9 & 10 students. We hope to run this trip again in May 2026.

After-school revision sessions are held every week by the department’s teachers.

Curriculum Statement: History

 “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” – Marcus Garvey.

Our History Department’s Intent

History is a vital part of a student’s life. Our “Story of Us” theme provides a structured knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world and helps students to understand the complexity of people’s lives, change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups, as well as giving them a sense of their own identity and the challenges of their time.

• Provides students with a broad range of historical knowledge and understanding, including a sense of development over time, and an appreciation of the culture and attitudes of societies other than our own;
• Allows students to gain historical perspective by placing their growing knowledge into different contexts;
• Gives students power over their own knowledge allowing them to evaluate critically the significance and utility of a large body of material, including evidence from contemporary sources and interpretations of historians;
• Enables students to engage directly with questions and present independent opinions about them in arguments that are well-written, clearly expressed, coherently organised and effectively supported by relevant evidence;
• Allows students to gaining the confidence to undertake self-directed learning, making the most effective use of time and resources, and increasingly defining one’s own questions and goals.

Curriculum features

The History department’s “Story of Us” theme aims to equip our students with the knowledge of the society in which they live and how it grew and to develop the skills required to become well-rounded individuals. Our curriculum is structured to nurture a love of History through the development of key historical skills and a broad range of knowledge. Students develop the five key concepts using evidence, interpretations, significance, change and continuity and cause and consequence. These concepts are used as tools for students to make sense of, and understand, the volume of knowledge required for the development of expertise. Students study a wide range of historical periods from Roman Britain to the modern day. This enables students to study the past from a variety of standpoints and to make connections and comparisons over time.

The History Department will seek to ensure that all students:

• Attain the highest possible personal standard of achievement.
• Are enabled to communicate their ideas and views to the best of their ability
• To aid all students to enhance their social skills through a variety of means
• Develop confidence and understanding of literacy, Numeracy and ICT

Curriculum intent

Our curriculum is designed to:

• To instil within each student, the importance and joy of studying History.
• To develop within each student an understanding of the society in which they live and how the world around them has been shaped.
• To promote the idea that all civilisations have contributed to humanity’s development and progress in a variety of ways at different times.
• To encourage students to empathise with individuals and experiences outside the normal range of personal interrelationships.
• To help students’ value and enjoy the historical legacy of past peoples left as architectural, literary and scientific signposts to our progress over the centuries.

Curriculum 2024 -25

The History curriculum aims to provide a personalised experience for our learners. This is achieved by:

• Treating students as individuals
• Planning learning to meet the needs of all our students.
• Offering a comprehensive range of topics to be studied.
• Focusing on developing students’ skills
• Providing a range of learning experiences in and outside of the classroom.
• Ensuring students have access to high quality information, advice and guidance.

Key Stage 3 Curriculum Content

Students will build upon the knowledge and skills learned in Key Stages 1 and 2 and become more confident in applying these and develop a greater understanding of society and the world in which they live.

Our course is centred around the theme of “The Story of Us” looking at the intricacies, twists and turns in the development of our modern day society, creating a trail through which our students can come to know their place in the world and how they reached this point in time. We will teach students to explore aspects of the History of Britain, their local community and the wider world. These studies of people and societies will encourage students to ask questions, devise opinions and discuss the knowledge gained articulately with confidence and certainty.

Key Concepts 

• Chronological understanding – students will be able to demonstrate their understanding of this concept through the identification and placing of ideas within a historical period and what it was like to live at that time.
• Change and Continuity – Through the study of a wide period of time which spans from the ancient Romans to the present day, students are able to identify how British society has changed in many ways within and across periods of history whilst also recognising that there have been strands of society which have remained unchanged through time.
• Causation – Students are given many opportunities to look for and identify the reasons for why things happened in the past.
• Significance – Students are able to assess the importance of events and people and how they brought about changes at local, national and international levels.
• Interpretation – Students will analyse how and why the past has been interpreted throughout Key Stage 3, handling evidence with a sense of questioning and curiosity and expertise in appraising sources and interpretations of the past.
• Cultural, ethnic and religious diversity – students study Britain and the wider world. As a result, students are able to identify a range of ideas, beliefs and attitudes of men, women and children in past societies.

Key Processes 

• Historical enquiry
• Using evidence
• Communicating about the past

 Homework Expectations

Students are expected to complete 30 minutes of extended work each week. The work will be varied and may include research, a writing task, revision of a topic, planning and project work. When students are not set formal work they are expected to review their work and read around a topic that they are studying in class.

Key Stage 4

Students will continue to develop a secure understanding of chronology, knowledge and understanding of history on different scales and contexts, apply historical concepts and processes and engage with the nature of evidence and interpretation. In each pathway, students will engage with a variety of perspectives, such as political, social and economic, and investigate the contributions of key individuals and groups. In this way students will be able to draw parallels and make links between the distinct areas of study.

Assessment:

Students will be assessed against four major objectives:

• Demonstration of knowledge and understanding.
• Analysis of events and periods studied.
• Source analysis.
• Analysis, evaluation and judgements about interpretations.