History

Intent

The History curriculum provides opportunities for students to engage with exciting and stimulating topics that are relevant to their lives and enable them to understand the world as it is today. Above all we want to develop our students’ natural curiosity about the past to ensure they leave Hockerill with a life-long interest in history. 

From our own study of history, we know that historical understanding develops by means of argument in which competing interpretations are put forward by historians. Therefore, it is not our job to ‘tell’ students what happened in the past. Instead, we offer students the chance to explore the topic for themselves and develop their own theories about the past.  

Key aims across the stages: 

• Years 7–9 (MYP): Introduce students to key events in British, European and world history. Emphasis is placed on collaborative and individual inquiry-based learning. Students learn to present their historical knowledge in interesting and creative ways. 

• Years 10–11 (KS4/GCSE): Build analytical and evaluative skills through a mixture of development studies that track change over time and depth studies that focus on much shorter periods. Students develop skills of essay writing and source analysis, while developing their understanding of the key concepts of change and continuity, cause and consequence, and significance. 

• Years 12–13 (KS5/IB HL & SL): Students become critical thinkers who can create interesting, sophisticated and effective arguments. They learn to evaluate historiography and explore topics from a range of perspectives. 

Implementation

The American biographer Catherine Drinker Bowen once said, ‘History is, in its essence, exciting; to present it as dull is, to my mind stark and unforgivable misrepresentation.’ We couldn’t agree more and work hard to make sure that our lessons are as engaging as possible. As a result, many of our students retain an interest in history long after they have left Hockerill.  

Key approaches: 

• Independent inquiry-based learning allows students to investigate the past for themselves. 

• Discussions, presentations, and debates are used to develop students’ communication skills. 

• Opportunities for group work are used to help students develop their social and collaboration skills. 

• Students produce essays and other pieces of extended writing to develop skills of argumentation and evaluation. 

• Activities related to exam skills are designed to ensure students are fully prepared for their final assessment. 

By stage: 

• Years 7–9 (MYP): KS3 units typically incorporate elements of independent inquiry-based learning and build towards a project which replicates how people use history in the real world. Varied assessment tasks help to ensure that all students can demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of history. 

• Years 10–11 (KS4/GCSE): All students are issued with a workpack for each topic which contains both core and extension material to ensure a comprehensive coverage of the syllabus. A range of approaches are taken to ensure students engage actively with the material. Regular end-of-topic tests provide opportunities for students to practise their exam technique and receive detailed feedback on their progress. 

• Years 12–13 (KS5/IB HL & SL): A ‘typical’ lesson involves the presentation of material (in a variety of media) by the teacher followed by discussion and debate. Although notetaking is an important life skill, we are much more interested in what students think about what we are studying and what they can do with the knowledge and information they have. Regular essays are set which allow us to check how well students understand the topics covered. 

Impact

The History curriculum ensures that students: 

• Understand key themes in history: Students make connections across periods and topics, recognising patterns across different contexts. 

• See the complexity of the past: Students appreciate that simple narratives about the past cannot capture the full picture of what happened. 

• Develop respect for others: Student develop empathy for others, open-mindedness and inter-cultural understanding. Many of our topics serve as a powerful warning of what can happen when such values are not respected. 

• Understand the historical roots of important British values: Topics allow us to explore the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs. 

• Develop critical thinking and analytical skills: Students can use evidence to evaluate different perspectives on the past. 

• Can think conceptually: Students develop a powerful understanding of the “big ideas” that go beyond the topic they are studying. 

• Acquire research and communication skills: Through projects, essays, presentations, and debates, students learn to structure arguments, analyse evidence, and present findings effectively. 

• Develop literacy skills: Engagement with a broad range of texts and sources encourages the development of a wider vocabulary and improved literacy skills. 

• Prepare for formal assessment and progression: Skills in essay writing, source analysis, and exam technique equip students for GCSE, IB, and higher education. 

• Achieve measurable outcomes: We are proud of the continued success students demonstrate in internal and external assessment. At GCSE and IB our results are well-above average.