History

“The Uxbridge High School history curriculum will provide all our students with an academically rigorous, stimulating and fulfilling experience of studying the past. Through a wide-ranging, deeply planned and knowledge rich curriculum, spanning over a thousand years of history, students will be exposed to a rich store of cultural capital to which they are entitled and as a result develop a rich armoury of analytical skills.” – UHS History Department Vision

KEY CURRICULUM PRINCIPLES:

• Breadth and Depth: The UHS history curriculum is designed to encompass diverse aspects of one and half thousand years of British, European and World History. By the end of the foundation years, all students will have had a rich and wide-ranging encounter with humanity’s past. Transition, mastery and advanced years will offer students the opportunity to build on these experiences and dig deeper into that past.
• Deep Planning: The UHS history curriculum is greater than the sum of its parts. Each topic is designed to contribute knowledge and skills which build upon students’ previous work and lead each student on a path to progress in history. Topics and their accompanying forms of assessment will tackle specific second-order concepts such as cause and consequence whilst also providing a logical chronological pathway for foundations year students to follow, building up necessary pre-requisite knowledge before tackling new areas. Transition, mastery and advanced level students will have a sophisticated grasp of the nuances of the historical discipline and be equipped to take on the demands of national exams whilst developing a life-long passion for history.
• Research Based: To maximise students learning opportunities, the UHS history curriculum structure, curriculum topics and individual lessons are designed to draw upon cutting-edge subject specific pedagogy, rooting students learning in evidence informed practice; drawing upon colleagues’ experiences in historical and pedagogical research as well as the work of the wider educational community. Particular attention is paid to innovations in fields as wide as: cognitive psychology, structured historical enquiry and knowledge driven learning and the learning advantages they each offer.
• History at UHS is for all students to enjoy, as such it is designed to stimulate, challenge and support students learning in equal measure with all lessons and topics designed to provide a unique and engaging stimulus for every student regardless of their background and at a level appropriate to their current attainment.