Key Stage 3 Curriculum - History
All of our Key Stage 3 curriculum is taught through a range of activities which include teacher
explanation, video, ICT, pupil role play and presentations. Pupils are assessed on the key skills of
chronology; knowledge and understanding of events, causes and consequences; interpretations of
history; use and evaluation of sources for investigation; and communication and organisation. In Year 8
and Year 9, pupils are set according to ability across the humanities subjects.
Year 7




What is History? - As an introduction to secondary History, pupils investigate how we ‘measure’
History and how we find out about the past. This includes looking at historical artefacts and a trip
into the woods to solve our very own Hardenhuish history mystery!
The History of Fun - As a way to get an overview of over 2000 years of history we look at
different kinds of entertainments through the ages including games, theatre, music and sport.
Medieval Life – From the origins of 1066 to castles, the Magna Carta and the Black Death
A History of Crime and Punishment – Focusses on what crimes people have committed
throughout History and how they have been punished.
Year 8






Year 9






The Tudors
The Stuarts
The English Civil War
The Industrial Revolution
The Slave Trade and Black Peoples of the Americas
Hardenhuish House
Protest Through Time
The First World War
The Second World War
Life in Nazi Germany
The Holocaust
The Cold War
KS3 Progress and Assessments
The progress of pupils in Years 7, 8 and 9 is assessed according to criteria set out in the National
Curriculum Attainment Levels. The way we assess progress in History is under constant development,
particularly strategies for better tracking and monitoring which is a key focus. Pupils complete three
formal assessments each year and are given a level for each piece of work with clear guidance on what
they have done well and what they should do to improve. We are committed to including pupil and peer
assessment within our teaching and have devised a series of peer-marked projects so that the pupils
themselves have the opportunity to mark both their own work, and the work of their classmates.
Assessment of on-going class work takes place at least once a term (6 times a year). Teachers mark
exercise books and homework, commenting on what has been done well and setting targets for pupils to
work towards.