History – Curriculum Overview
Key Stage 3
Students will begin History in Year 7 with a local study. They will investigate how Exeter has changed through the ages from the Roman period up until the present day.
Students will also explore the theme of ‘Everyday Life’ in Britain from the Middle Ages until the present day. They will discover what life was like and they will also begin to understand why life has changed. Students will compare living and working conditions in a Medieval village and town and they will understand the power of the Medieval Church. They will also look at how the Black Death changed the lives of peasants in the Middle Ages.
They will explore life in England during the 16th Century and study Tudor and Stuart culture, including belief in witchcraft. They will also look at how the Reformation caused significant religious changes within Tudor England. Students will carry out an in depth study of the causes of the Industrial Revolution. In addition they will discover why life expectancy was so low in 19th century industrial cities and they will learn about the horrors of child labour during the Industrial Revolution.
Students will investigate features of life in Britain during the 1950s and 1960s. Students will be able to make their own judgement on which decade in British history was the best to live. They will end their study of ‘Everyday life’ by investigating what life was like during the 1930s in the USA and in the USSR. This will enable them to compare life in a democracy with life in a dictatorship.