Years 7 & 8 Curriculum - History

Half Term YEAR 7 YEAR 8
Autumn 1 Enquiry: How and why did sanitation in Britain change through time?
In this thematic study students study more than two thousand years of sanitation in Britain. They will find out how people obtained their water and how they got rid of their waste. Their challenge is to explain how and why sanitation in Britain changed through time. They will study six time periods. For each period, they will make a ‘summary card’.		 Enquiry: How did the Trans-Atlantic Slave trade transform the West?
In this enquiry students will be looking at the impacts of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. They will look at how the trade worked, why Britain was involved and how Britain and Africa changed as result. At the end of the enquiry they will be able to complete a piece of extended writing that answers the enquiry question.
Autumn 2 Enquiry: How did the Normans conquer England?
In this enquiry, the challenge is to explain how the Normans conquered England in the twenty years between 1066 and 1086. Students will be building up notes about each stage of the Norman Conquest. Then, at the end of the enquiry, they will make a judgement on whether they think the main reason the Normans succeeded in conquering England was because they were violent and brutal.		 Enquiry: How and why did people’s health improve by the end of the Industrial age?
In this enquiry, students will explain and understand how life changed for people in the 19th century.  This topic will focus mainly on developments in medicine and surgery. Then, at the end of the enquiry, students will make a judgement on why important changes in medicine and surgery happened at this time.
Spring 1 Enquiry: What mattered to Medieval people?
In this enquiry students will use pictures from The Luttrell Psalter, and other information, to find out what mattered to people in the fourteenth century. The enquiry will focus on: What mattered to lords such as Sir Geoffrey Luttrell. What mattered to peasants. What mattered to people in towns. How religion matter to everyone. As they work through the enquiry, students will produce a picture book for Year 3 children to explain what mattered to medieval people.

Enquiry: What should people understand about the Black Death and Peasants Revolt?
So far in year 7 students have already looked at one major event that had a big impact in the Middle Ages: the Norman Conquest. They have also looked at what life was like for the people who lived in the Middle Ages. This next enquiry will look at two other major events: The Black Death and the Peasants Revolt. They will investigate both before making a judgement on which was the most significant. 		 The British Empire should be known as the ‘Evil Empire’ do you agree?
In this enquiry students will study the British Empire and its legacy concluding whether it is something we as a nation should consider as a positive or negative influence in world history or a little bit of both.
Spring 2 Enquiry: What was Henry II famous for?
In 1170 the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral. In this enquiry students will be looking at the reasons why this murder took place.

Enquiry: What is the Magna Carta and why is it significant?
In this enquiry students will look at how King John faced a rebellion from his barons and had to agree to Magna Carta. This stated that kings had to obey the law.

Enquiry: What did King Edward I achieve?
Edward I ruled from 1274 until 1307. In this enquiry, you will find out about: the problems that Edward faced at the beginning of his reign; how Edward ruled England; the wars Edward fought in Wales and Scotland. Their challenge is to explain what Edward I achieved during his long reign.		 Enquiry: How did people get the vote?
In this unit students will discover how people who were trying to get the vote grouped together in many different movements and organisations. They have already studied the abolitionists. (the campaign to get the slave trade abolished) Students will learn about the Peterloo Massacre, Chartism, The Great Reform Act and the Suffragettes.
Summer 1 Enquiry: What should go in a documentary about the Tudor period?
In this enquiry students will be looking at the Tudor period, 1485-1603. The focus will not be on the Tudor monarchs but the day to day life of the people of the period. Students will look at how people lived, the attitudes and ideas of the time and the main changes. At the end of the enquiry they will be able to write a letter saying what should go in a documentary on the Tudors and explain why.		 Enquiry: What was the impact of the First World War on people’s lives?
In this enquiry, you are going to investigate the different impacts of war on the people who fought in it and on the people, who stayed at home. Their challenge will be to write an explanation.
Summer 2 Enquiry: How far was Elizabethan England a Golden Age?
Elizabeth I died in 1603. Some people look back on her 45-year reign as a ‘golden age’, but not everyone agrees. At the end of this enquiry students will make up their own mind about how far Elizabethan England was a ‘golden age’.

Enquiry: How can we explain the Civil War?
The mid-17th century was a time of great upheaval and turmoil in British history. A Civil War tore the country apart and led to huge changes in politics and ideas. In this enquiry students will explain what made the changes of 1625-60 so shocking, when the Civil War became inevitable and what made the change so traumatic.		 Enquiry: The Rise of Dictatorships in Europe: Why did parts of Europe turn to dictators?
In this enquiry students will look at what drove two powerful European countries to accept being ruled by a dictator. They will examine conditions in Russia and Germany before Lenin/Stalin and Hitler took control and look at how these individuals took widespread discontent to take over a single ruler.
Then, they will examine what life was like for individuals under a communist and a fascist dictatorship and determine whether Hitler and Stalin despite being mortal enemies were all that different in their rule.