HISTORY

The discipline of history deals in the WHY and the HOW.  We want our students to question the past, so that they are aware of the present and can shape the future as informed, ethical citizens. 

How will they think differently, how will the world look different to them as a result of how and what we have taught them; a student walking down their street or city, how does this now look different to them, what questions are they asking, what awareness have they developed, evoking curiosity. How does looking at a map of the UK change to them, or when they meet people from different cultural backgrounds and understand that they have always been here in a different capacity but still part of society; that migration is not something new, their presence has shaped the world they live in.

So, our curriculum is a rich tapestry which is not content driven or just have narratives of the past but have developed a disciplinary understanding which allows every student to participate in society by identifying causes and consequences of events, their significance and how the world is ever evolving so they can engage in respectful and meaningful debates; an understanding and appreciation of the news. 

The beauty of history is that there are always new questions to be asked, new evidence to discover and therefore revisions to our understanding of events are made.  At Monkwearmouth we have engaged in this explosion of scholarship over the last few decades and are exposing our students to different historical perspectives. So, that they can form their own opinions and understand history is not a silo of events, that the inter-connectedness nature of what happens in the world is influenced by many factors and therefore we are often thinking in the ‘grey’ and that is the challenge!

 In the History Department we strive to inspire our students to BELIEVE in their ability to engage with all forms of evidence and develop their own, justified, opinions. To enable them to ACHIEVE their potential in history we strive to develop a strong literacy based skill set which will help them SUCCEED in their future career or further education choices.  We would hope they would continue to engage with history and draw parallels with current affairs and debate as active and informed citizens of the local, national and global world. 

CURRICULUM PLANS