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Here is our DRAFT History curric for KS3, Sept 2022-24. Feedback/suggestions very welcome.
= a summary of each year group and a few things I’m thinking as HoD. H/T to top collaborator @eharrison810
Plenty to do: some units tried + tested, some not planned yet!
Made some solid gains this year. 2 lessons a week. This document is less complete than others…!
The most work still to do in time for delivery next year, but finally happier with the content. This is by far the hardest section to get right. 2 lessons a week.
The most embedded. One or two tweaks I’d still make, but generally happy with it! 3 lessons a fortnight.
Note 1: DocumentationThe above images are the PPT saved to PDF for the website. On the doc itself are spaces for development notes and more detailed curricular links to help teachers. We can print the whole lot to annotate by changing the slide size to A3 before printing.
Note 2: Intent statement This 2019 doc forms an anchor for each year group document. We spent time on it, and we need to ensure our rhetoric is not beyond our practice. More on how we created it here:
https://onebighistorydepartment.com/2019/10/17/process-of-constructing-a-vision-statement/
Note 3: Representation Many enquiries have more diverse stories & better representation woven in, but we had to choose areas to leave out- as they have few sequenced & coherent connections to other topics. I call this as The South America Problem. Not sure it need solving?
Note 4: RepresentationTo be clear, it’s NOT perfect, there are valid criticisms. But it’s MUCH better than it was. We’ve improved with reasonable pace and workload, despite the chaos of covid-19.
So, not perfect but way *better,* which is a REALLY important reflection.
Note 5: StructureWe have lots of small enquiries. The potential fragmentation problem is dealt with by explicit teaching of connections between the content of units, but also the development of themes and substantive concepts over time. It does allow us to cover more ground!
Note 6: ImplementationWe will converse as a department to fill out the tables in the left in Note 1 TOGETHER, exploring the links and making time to discuss how we can teach to generate maximum coherence and make the most of the sequencing.
Note 7: ImplementationI don’t think “constantly updating” is helpful- nothing gets time to bed in.
It doesn't leave time to think hard about pedagogy or, crucially, evaluate the effect of sequencing across years.
Fine-tuning, for 2 yrs minimum, once this doc is finalised.
Note 7 contdTherefore, for at least two years we will embed and fine-tune:
Subject knowl across Dept Pedagogical approaches Assessment across Dept Ongoing Dept priority of historical writing.All of this is still 'curriculum development.'
Note 8: ImplementationIf/when we do absolutely need to bring in new units entirely, or rework an approach to work on a disciplinary concept more effectively, it is made much easier to achieve with the shorter units that we can lift out to drop new ones in. H/T @richkbristol
Note 9: ImplementationThe curriculum development calendar must start in May. Much of the major work we already know about- sure we may tweak a few things after Aug results, but we can’t miss the chance to use half term 6 properly. So…
Note 10: Implementation.Gained time is not a total myth. As HoD, I calculate GT for each teacher & allocate tasks proportionately. Taster/transition days etc reduce that, so I only direct for ~60%. But doing this
now, & having the chat in note 4, I’m ready to do this now.
Note 11: THANK YOUI am hugely grateful to many people for expertise, collaboration & shared ideas. To name a few: (deep breath!) @eharrison810, @katypotts82, @garrylittlewood, @richkbristol, @jonniegrande, @N_kesterton, @sehartsmith, @michaeldoron, @OliveyJacob, @Counsell_C…
… @mrbwteach, @MsQuinnHistory, @First_floor_8, @mrwbw, @Ruth_Ashbee, @tomallenhistory, @apf102, @SnelsonH, @ed_durbin @hannahcusworth.
Of course I've learned tons from @histassoc folk and chats with four ace SLDP cohorts!
Plus *tons* of others who may spot their own influence.
Of course I've learned tons from @histassoc folk and chats with four ace SLDP cohorts!
Plus *tons* of others who may spot their own influence.
*Important* Note 12: DisclaimerThe people above deserve much of the credit, but all mistakes, errors and shortcomings are my own… I would love to hear things that would enrich these units, or ideas about how we are doing this. I would genuinely love feedback and ideas!
PS: It might be just who I follow, but I don’t see many detailed curric docs like this shared. Not sure why..? Lots of roadmap/learning journey summary things, but not this kind of doc.
I’d LOVE to see equivalents to this one as points of comparison.
Yes, I am meant to be marking my A-level coursework. What do you mean 'massive procrastination?'
On assessment: https://twitter.com/HughJRichards/status/1516176181241987078
