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Mangotsfield Secondary

 

History

“History isn’t just about dates and places and wars. It’s about the people who fill the spaces between them.”

-Jodi Picoult

Why do we study History?

In History at Mangotsfield School we believe that our curriculum should be knowledge rich and ambitious. We focus upon an array of breadth and depth studies, which are based on key historical second order concepts, including: chronology, significance, change and continuity, diversity, interpretation and cause and consequence.


Students at Mangotsfield are consistently challenged, as we follow an ambitious interleaving curriculum. Our curriculum focuses upon an overarching theme every full term, across a variety of time periods. For example: Year 7, addresses the ideas of Health and the People, from the Norman period to the modern day, focusing on a period of History over 1000 years. This allows our curriculum to be culturally broad, we focus on British History, engaging with History from the local area and the wider United Kingdom. We also focus upon History across the globe, including: the Transatlantic Slave Trade, the formation of our nation, the World Wars, Cold war and much more.


Our curriculum allows students to develop their love of history, build up a clear skill set and place themselves within a wider historical context. In History we provide opportunities to learn how to pass judgements and argue respectfully, whilst using an array of different evidence to support our ideas. Our curriculum also allows the students to learn about diversity within our societies and build their confidence to ask questions about the world around us.


The History that we study at Mangotsfield is engaging and relevant to the student’s everyday lives and is consistently underpinned by our fundamental British values.

Meet the team

  • Mrs Z Jones - Head of History
  • Ms C Smith - Head of History (part time)
  • Miss C Collett - Head of History
  • Mr J Gilpin - Teacher of History
  • Mr M Marsh - Teacher of History
  • Mr C Taylor - Teacher of History

KS3 Programme of Study

Year 7:

Terms 1 and 2: The Ancients
Terms 3 and 4: The Formation of Our Nation
Terms 5 and 6: Health and the Peoples

Year 8:

Terms 1 and 2: The British Empire and the Transatlantic Slave Trade
Terms 3 and 4: Power and the People
Terms 5 and 6: Crime and Punishment

Year 9:

Term 1: Conflict through time
Term 2: World War One
Term 3: The Inter-War Years
Term 4: The Rise of Hitler
Term 5: World War Two
Term 6: The Holocaust

Course:

Please follow this link to our GCSE specification. Our students study the AQA GCSE History specification, which comprises the four following elements:

Paper One - 50%:
Written Exam (2 hours)
84 marks (4 SPaG)

  • One period study (Germany, 1890–1945: Democracy and dictatorship)
  • One wider world depth study (Conflict and tension: The First World War, 1894–1918)


Paper Two - 50%:
Written Exam (2 hours)
84 marks (4 SPaG)

  • One thematic study (Britain: Health and the people: c1000 to the present day)
  • One British depth study including the historic environment.(Norman England, c1066–c1100)

GCSE Programme of Study

Year 10:

Norman England c1066-c1100
Britain: Health and the People c1000 to the Present Day

Year 11:

Conflict and Tension: The First World War, 1894-1918
Germany, 1890-1945: Democracy and Dictatorship

Resources

KS3

We use a range of different websites and resources as appropriate. The KS3 History BBC Bitesize site offers a good range of key information guides and videos which support students learning.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zk26n39

GCSE

The link to the AQA History Specification can be found using the link here. We study the following four units:
Norman England c1066-c1100
Britain: Health and the People c1000 to the Present Day
Conflict and Tension: The First World War, 1894-1918
Germany, 1890-1945: Democracy and Dictatorship

GCSEPod is a great revision aid. To access this students will need to use their school login and password information. They will then need to follow the links to the units we are studying within the History section.
https://www.gcsepod.com/

Students are able to purchase Pearson Revision Guides for each unit on the school website at a reduced cost.

Homework

KS3

Homework tasks at KS3 will vary between retrieval practice, revision and extending learning. This may take the form of a quiz, the creation of a revision aid such as flashcards or a mind map, or it may be research to take students beyond the curriculum to explore areas of History outside of the classroom. Incorporating literacy tasks and encouraging a love of reading is important to us, so we will utilise the wealth of historical literature available to us.

GCSE

Homework tasks at GCSE will revolve around the retrieval of knowledge, revision and exam style question planning and practice. Retrieval will allow students to identify areas of strength and areas in which they can improve. This will feed into the revision task where students will create their own revision aids on the areas in which they feel they need to improve. These tasks will be accomplished by using revision guides through GCSEPod or accessible through Google Classroom. Students will then apply this knowledge in the planning and completion of exam style questions.

Enrichment Opportunities in History

KS3:


In past years, Mangotsfield students have been given the opportunity to visit the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley. The Black Country Living Museum is an open-air living history museum and will interact with characters and engage with live demonstrations to explore the stories of those who lived and worked in one of the first industrialised landscapes in Britain.