The History curriculum at WCHS is ambitious, inclusive and enquiry-led. It is designed to challenge all learners, build secure knowledge over time and develop the disciplinary skills needed to think and write like historians.

Our curriculum is sequenced so that students revisit powerful ideas (such as power, protest, empire and conflict) across time and place, deepening understanding through comparison and contrast. We explicitly teach second-order concepts - cause and consequence, change and continuity, similarity and difference, and significance - and we enable students to analyse sources and interpretations so they can understand how the past is constructed and contested.

The journey from Key Stage 3 into Key Stage 4 is carefully mapped so that secure foundations at KS3 lead to confidence and success at GCSE. From September 2025, WCHS moved to a new GCSE specification, with transitional arrangements clearly in place for current cohorts (see KS4 section).

Key Stage 3: An enquiry-based curriculum

At Key Stage 3, learning is structured through rigorous historical enquiries. Each unit builds secure substantive knowledge while developing disciplinary skills, ensuring that every lesson contributes meaningfully to a wider learning journey.

Students study local, national and global history and gain a strong sense of chronology. They learn to make connections between periods and themes, refining their historical thinking throughout Years 7 to 9.

Year 7

Students begin with a study of Roman Britain. They learn why the Romans invaded, how they succeeded after earlier failures, and how they kept control. Students explore resistance from figures like Boudicca and evaluate the long-term Roman legacy, including Hadrian’s Wall.

They then investigate the Vikings. Students learn who the Vikings were, why they raided places like Lindisfarne, and how they settled and created the Danelaw. This leads into the events of 1066, including the succession crisis and the battles of Stamford Bridge and Hastings. Students also examine the Bayeux Tapestry as a key piece of evidence.

Next, students study the Norman Conquest. They explore how William secured control through the feudal system, the Domesday Book and the Harrying of the North. Castles, cathedrals and wider social and cultural change are examined to understand the long-term impact of Norman rule.

Students then move to Power and Parliament. They study tensions between monarchs, the Church and early parliaments. Key enquiries focus on Thomas Becket, King John and Magna Carta, and the first parliament under Simon de Montfort. Students evaluate how these events shaped power and law in medieval England.

Year 7 ends with Henry VIII and the Break with Rome. Students learn about the start of the Tudor dynasty, Henry’s motives for religious change and the creation of the Church of England. They explore changes to monasteries, worship and everyday life and consider the impact of Anne Boleyn.

Throughout the year, students practise skills including causation, significance, change and continuity, and the analysis of sources and interpretations.

Year 8

Students begin with a local history study of the Pendle Witch Trials of 1612. They explore beliefs about witchcraft, the lives of those accused and the events that led to the trials. Students consider what the trials reveal about religion, beliefs and authority in early seventeenth-century Lancashire.

They then study Transatlantic Slavery and its Abolition. Students examine how the trade developed, conditions on the Middle Passage, auctions, life on plantations and the ways enslaved people resisted. They investigate how and why Britain abolished slavery in 1833.

Next, students explore the British Empire through case studies of Jamaica, India and Australia. They consider events such as the Baptist War, the Indian Mutiny and the impact of colonisation on Aboriginal peoples.

Students then move to the Industrial Revolution. They investigate changes in technology, transport, work and urban life. Cultural developments, including the rise of modern sport, are also explored.

This is followed by the Struggle for Suffrage. Students study campaigns for votes for women and evaluate the actions of suffragists and suffragettes. They examine protest, civil disobedience and government responses to the increasing demand for democracy.

Year 8 concludes with a study of the First World War. Students learn about its causes, trench warfare, imperial soldiers, medicine and major battles such as the Somme and Gallipoli. They debate whether the conflict was a ‘great’ victory or a ‘great’ waste of life.

Students apply skills such as causation, change and continuity and analysis of sources and interpretations.

Year 9

Students begin with the Russian Revolutions of 1917. They explore the weaknesses of Tsarist Russia, the impact of the First World War, the February and October Revolutions and the Bolshevik consolidation of power. They examine how the Bolsheviks changed Russia and how Stalin later established a totalitarian state.

Next is Hitler’s Rise to Power. Students study the Treaty of Versailles, the Great Depression, propaganda, political miscalculation and why opponents failed to stop the Nazis. They analyse a range of interpretations about Hitler’s rise.

Students then study the Second World War. They examine its causes, key battles and campaigns including the Battle of Britain, the Battle of the Atlantic and D Day. Students evaluate the impact on Lancashire, including evacuation, wartime work and community life.

A dedicated study of the Holocaust follows. Students learn about early persecution, Kristallnacht, the development of the Final Solution and the experiences of Jewish people across Europe.

Year 9 then moves to Civil Rights in Britain and the USA. Students examine events such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the work of Martin Luther King and the experiences of the Windrush generation. They compare campaigns and evaluate how far each achieved change.

Year 9 concludes with Apartheid South Africa. Students explore the development of apartheid, its impact on Black South Africans and the struggle against racial segregation, including the role of Nelson Mandela. They examine how South Africa changed after apartheid and consider its legacy and lessons for understanding racism and equality today.

Students refine skills in source evaluation, interpretation analysis, causation, significance and change and continuity.

Key Stage 4 (GCSE)

Edexcel GCSE History

In Year 10 students study:

• Medicine in Britain, c.1250-present

Including the Historic Environment study of the British sector of the Western Front, 1914–18, and case studies such as the Black Death (1348-49), Great Plague (1665), Jenner’s vaccination, cholera in London (1854), penicillin and lung cancer.

• Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918-39

Covering the creation of Weimar Germany, early crises, the ‘Golden Years’, the rise of the Nazi Party, Hitler becoming Chancellor, establishment of dictatorship, and life under Nazi rule.

In Year 11 students study:

• Superpower relations and the Cold War, 1941-91

Including the breakdown of the Grand Alliance, major Cold War flashpoints like the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Berlin Crisis and events in Hungary and Czechoslovakia, as well as détente, renewed tensions under Reagan, and the final collapse of Soviet control leading to the end of the Cold War.

• Early Elizabethan England, 1558-88

Covering Elizabeth I’s early challenges, the Religious Settlement, and the threats from Catholics, Puritans, and plots against her. Includes society, education, and leisure in Elizabethan England, growing exploration, and the Spanish Armada.

Students develop expertise in source analysis, interpretation evaluation, significance, and causation.

GCSE Examination Information

Year 11 - Edexcel

Dates are set by the awarding body and may be subject to change.

Paper One = Thursday 20^th May 2027 AM

Duration = 1 hour and 20 minutes

Topics = Medicine in Britain, c.1250-present

30% of GCSE

Paper Two = Friday 28^th May 2027 AM

Duration = 1 hour and 50 minutes

Topics = Superpower relations and the Cold War, 1941-91 AND Early Elizabethan England, 1558-88

40% of GCSE

Paper Three = Wednesday 9^th June 2027 PM

Duration = 1 hour and 30 minutes

Topics = Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918-39

30% of GCSE

Why study History at WCHS

Our curriculum equips students with powerful knowledge and the analytical habits of historians. Through well sequenced enquiries, explicit teaching of disciplinary concepts and regular practice with sources and interpretations, students learn to argue with evidence and think critically about the world.

History at WCHS prepares students for GCSE success and for life beyond the classroom.

Learning Journeys

Year 7 History Learning Journey

Year 8 History Learning Journey

Year 9 History Learning Journey

Year 10 History Learning Journey

Year 11 History Learning Journey

To find out more about our History curriculum, please contact Mr W Davidson, Head of Humanities and MFL, by emailing wdavidson@westcraven.co.uk or phoning the main office to arrange a call back.