Year 9 History

Brief summary of the syllabus:

All boys will be following the National Curriculum in History. The syllabus for the course is as follows:

Term One: The Era of the First World War

• The great powers at the start of the War
• The causes of the War
• Trench warfare, its causes and effects
• The key battles of the War
• The War in the air and at sea; the impact of technology
• The impact of the War on the home front
• Propaganda and censorship in the War
• The entry of the USA and the reasons for victory
• How the War changed British society

Term Two: The Era of the Second World War

• The Treaty of Versailles and its effects
• The reasons for the rise of dictators in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s
• Focus on Hitler's Germany
• Appeasement and the causes of the Second World War
• Blitzkrieg and the fall of France
• The war in Europe: Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain, the Atlantic War, D Day and the Battle of the Bulge
• The war in Russia: the reasons for the invasion, Moscow, Leningrad, Stalingrad and Kursk
• The war in the Mediterranean: North Africa, El Alamein, the Italian invasion
• The war in the Pacific: Pearl Harbour, Midway, the British in the Far East, island hopping and the bomb
• Focus on the reasons why the allies won the war
• The Atomic bomb
• Occupation, resistance and collaboration
• The Holocaust
• The legacy of the Second World War in Britain
• The legacy of the Second World War globally: the UN and human rights

Term Three: The Home Front

• Pupils will do work comparing the home front in the Second World War
• This work will be in preparation for GCSE coursework in Year 10
• In addition pupils may have the opportunity to study the assassination of Kennedy in preparation for GCSE style work, or a topic on Crime and Policing in the late 19th Century

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What skills and attributes are being developed and examined?

Historical evidence

Inferring information from sources

Questions might sometimes ask you to explain what information a source is giving out. It might not always be obvious. The key tips are to:

• Try and to show not just what it says on the surface, but what it says if you read between the lines.
• Place the source in context to give an understanding of why it might say such things.

Reliability

1. Is the author of the source in a position to know what happened?
2. Does he or she they have any reason for being biased?
3. Does the source sound logical? Does it make sense?
4. Do other sources agree with the source?
5. Where did the author get the information from? When was the source produced?
6. Why was the source written/produced? Was there a hidden agenda?

Usefulness:

1. If the source is factual, do the facts tell you what you want to know?
2. If the source is biased, does it tell you how people felt and their opinions?
3. When was the source written? Does the date tell you anything significant?
4. What type of source is it - a diary of private thoughts, something for public consumption, a photograph or a painting? All of these factors affect usefulness in some way.
5. Why was the source produced? Was it to put a particular view across or was it written with a different purpose in mind to the one it is now being used for?

Comparing sources

A question might ask you to compare a two or three sources for a particular purpose, ie, to explain if one supports the evidence of another about an issue.

1. Identity the key points of similarity and difference between the sources.
2. Maybe look at the dates, types of sources and reasons for which they were produced to indicate more complex points of support/disagreement.

Historical interpretation

Different historians have different views about what, why and how things happened in history. Bear in mind the following. Historians may disagree because:

1. They use different evidence.
2. They may be writing at different times and therefore have access to different sources.
3. They may be writing at different times and so see the world differently and have different values.
4. They may be writing at the same time and have different values.
5. Different backgrounds and biases affect their selection of sources and their interpretation of sources.

Causation

When looking at the importance of causes try to think about the following:

1. How many people does a cause affect?
2. How long are they affected for?
3. Whether or not it led to any other cause.
4. Categorisation: short, medium or long term; political, economic or social.

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What can parents expect to see in class and homework specifically?

Homework is set on a weekly basis and may take a variety of forms, such as:

1. Comprehension exercises, for example question- and- answer exercises. Answers should always be in full sentences and pupils must either write out the question or include the terms of the question in the answer. If this is not done the pupil's work will have little value when it comes to revision.
2. Source material exercises. Pupils must analyse the question very carefully in order to supply a relevant answer. They may be asked to make deductions, comment on a source's usefulness, put together information from a source, compare the sources, or judge their value. They must give an indication of what the source contains as well as analysing various points.
3. Note-making. The key to success is to read the questions very carefully and only include material that is directly relevant. Bullet point notes and the use of lots of structured headings is useful. Note-making should be just that - it should not be copying out a whole passage.
4. Research. Pupils will sometimes be asked to find out information from reference books, libraries, computers (including the Internet) or by questioning adults. To avoid wasting time pupils should give plenty of thought to what they have been asked to find out and make sure that they write down a list of what they need to find out. Once they have located the information they must not copy out chunks of text, but follow the procedure for note-making above.
5. Other. This could be the preparation of a role play exercise, a piece of work for display (posters, leaflets etc) or a presentation to the whole class.

Much of the emphasis on the Year 9 Syllabus will be on developing the essay skills which they have picked up in Years 7 and 8.

Another strand of their learning will involve sources and the ability to see how historians differ in their opinions of particular events. Pupils will be expected not only to develop an understanding of the use of sources in terms of reliability and usefulness, but will also undertake GCSE-like exercises to prepare them for further study.

To encourage an appreciation of the subject the department aims to run a number of school trips to sites of historical interest, which will include opportunities for the first year to become involved. The department uses also a wide variety of learning material to stimulate historical interest, including the use of role play, video, audio and IT. A web site will be available which that will include exemplary materials produced by members of the school which all pupils will be able to access. The department also encourages boys to bring in relevant newspaper cuttings and magazine articles of historical interest and puts them on display.

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What parents can do to help at this stage in this subject?

1. Ensure history homework is well ordered and presented and sufficiently detailed.
2. Discuss work with your son, concentrating particularly on the way he justifies his views.
3. Help him in gathering extra material, particularly for research assignments.
4. Discourage him from trying to explain the past using the attitudes and values we hold today as tools of analysis.
5. Encourage visits to places of historical interest in your locality and the reading of historical material. Anything that stimulates interest in the first instance is of value.
6. Ensure that books and revision files are complete and well ordered with revision summaries.

Historical sites of interest for Year 9:

• Imperial War Museum (London and Duxford)
• Royal Air Force Museum, Hendon
• London Transport Museum

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Setting:

Setting is undertaken strictly on the basis of test results since it is performance in tests that bests evaluates the ability of the pupil.

Boys are divided into two years halves - PSU and BHL. There is a top, middle and bottom set in each year half.

Performance in tests throughout the year will determine whether boys move up or down. Boys will be reset at the end of each term since two tests are really necessary to gauge if a long-term improvement/deterioration in performance has taken place.

Apart from the standard textbook, pupils will sometimes be provided with additional materials. This might include a rather more difficult textbook which they will be able to borrow for the completion of certain homework assignments, or they may be provided with an extension booklet. The latter policy is particularly relevant for the top sets. The department strongly believes in taking pupils to the maximum of their potential and has provided a challenging extension booklet for tops sets which includes GCSE and even in some places A-level- type materials (broken down more simply so that younger pupils can understand them). Examples from the Year 9 booklet includes work on historical interpretations of the First World War, an analysis of Marxism and Fascism as political concepts, and A level source material on the Second World War. These provide pupils with a more complex understanding of the material they are learning and also achieves a higher level of historical skills.

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Final Examination:

The final examination is taken in the Summer Term. It will be double-weighted in order to help calculate National Curriculum levels at the end of the year.

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Tests:

Test One: First Half Autumn Term

The first half- term test will focus on essay- writing skills. The test will comprise one essay. Pupils should note that in Year 9 essays are more difficult and should take a full hour to write. Pupils should focus on a range of factors involving causation, paying particular attention to long-term, medium-term and short-term factors as ways of breaking down the information. Top- set pupils will have access to a range of historiography which they should attempt to incorporate in their essays to achieve the highest marks.

In addition, pupils should pay attention to style. Essays should be organised logically, perhaps from least to most important cause, dates and historical terms should be accurate (for example, the spelling of words like bias and interpretation) and all information should be relevant. For the highest marks, the essays will develop and logical and sustained argument. There should be a clear introduction which sets out the point of the essay, and a conclusion which rounds off the argument neatly. Excellent essays will be able to link points.

Test Two: Second Half Autumn Term

The test for the second half-term will be focused on sources. Pupils should pay particular attention to the following factors, and for revision should also consult the Level Descriptors which give a detailed breakdown on how to answer source questions.

Questions will be based around inferring from sources, comparing sources for content and the extent to which they support each other, using a variety of sources to explain why an event happened (together with own knowledge) and looking at the usefulness of sources for a particular historical enquiry.

Note in particular the questions which require the use of both sources and own knowledge. This is a very useful skill at GCSE level and well worth practising now. The sources will give a number of clues about the question at hand, but will not give the whole story. Pupils should therefore use what they know about the issue to fill in the gaps.

Test Three: First Half Spring Term

An essay question again based on causation. This is a difficult essay which requires pupils to assimilate concepts of political, social and economic causation at a higher level than hitherto. Pupils should use the essay-writing tips for test one to help them revise and practise the technique of referring constantly back to the question at hand, as well as linking to the next paragraph. If they do not, they risk descending into narrative.

Test Four: Second Half Spring Term

This test will focus once more on source skills. The skills tested will be broadly those of test two. The best preparation would be to revise this half- term's work and look carefully at the level descriptors and rubric for test two.

Test Five: Summer Test

The test comprises of an essay which looks at causation and consequence and will ask them to understand the complex links between events and factors which lead to a particular event.

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Revision:

Revision must be active. It will not do for pupils to simply to read through the material. Pupils should try and to use spider diagrams or charts to plan their essays in order to see the connections between points when planning essays. Spider diagrams should put the question at the centre of a price of paper and work outwards to build branches of an argument, adding evidence. Charts could be like the following as an example of a paragraph for an essay which asks why Hitler came to power.

Argument (around two sentences)	Evidence (four to five sentences)	Mini-conclusion (two sentences)
Economic reasons	The inflation crisis of 1923 which puts many of the middle classes off the Weimar government The depression of 1929 which causes massive unemployment which that Weimar is unable to solve. Hitler offers hope and a programme, eg Winter help	Hitler certainly offered the German people a way out of the crisis of 1929, but so did other extremist parties like the Communists. Why therefore did people not vote for them?
Political reasons: the fear of communism	Long-term fears of the middle and upper classes regarding the programme of the communists, example of 1917 etc. Rise of Communist KPD vote in 1932 Papen and Schleicher each invite Hitler into power, believing he could be controlled and that he and his SS/SA would attack Communism.	Latent fears of communism might explain why Hitler was favoured rather than the KPD who could probably have mustered a larger percentage of the working- class vote. Hitler's accession was a political act.

The trick is to ensure in each essay that paragraphs are divided into argument, evidence and a mini-conclusion which if possible refers back to the original question and links to the next paragraph.

For source work, pupil should look at the level descriptions which give examples of the type of questions they should ask when assessing a source.

Read the skills guide above and prepare revision summaries or tables. If pupils do not understand they should attend revision clinics or ask their classroom teacher.

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Pupil Target- setting:

Target-setting is undertaken on the basis of the level descriptors given above. At the start of the academic year the department will determine for each pupil what National Curriculum level he is currently on by looking at his performance in Year 8. Targets will then be set for each pupil and these will be further discussed in bespoke tutorials.

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Grade descriptor for top levels:

The departments expects most pupils to reach a level 7 which means boys can see different categories of change, causes and consequences and can link them in their work and provide an overall argument in their essays. They can also analyse sources in order to pick out he main argument and link this with their own knowledge to explain an event.

However, we would also hope that boys would strive for the highest levels. To reach level 8 boys should also be able to see the significance of change over time, and develop their arguments in essays and source work in order to provide a clear thread of argument throughout the work and reach an independent conclusion. For exceptional performance boys would be expected to produce a highly sophisticated analysis which is fully substantiated and understands the value of different interpretations of events.

Level	Essays	Cause, consequence, change	Sources	Historical interpretation
7	Has accurate and relevant knowledge of an event and uses it to produce a clear analysis of the question asked, with a reasonably consistent argument	As above, and can see the links between causes - ie, that there might be a web of causation.	Uses sources to analyse historical situations and to make judgements about the usefulness and reliability of sources by looking at the provenance (authorship, date and purpose)	Can see that interpretations differ and that this depends on factors such as the historian's selection of sources.
8	Can analyse in depth a historical questions. Every paragraph contains argument, relevancy and is detailed in terms of knowledge.	Can explain the relative importance of causation and consequence and change, ie, that one cause may not be as important as another.	Can see that a source which is unreliable can be useful and that the value of a source depends on the questions asked of it.	Can describe the strengths and weaknesses of different interpretations and begins to show how attitudes/circumstances can affect an individual's view of history, as well as sources used.

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