Overview

How to develop pupils’ understanding of chronology at key stage 3

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5. Models of planning for chronology across key stage 3

Here are two approaches to planning for chronological knowledge and understanding.

Adapting and developing an existing scheme of work.
Devising a new scheme of work to encourage chronological knowledge and understanding.

Adapting and developing an existing scheme of work

This approach is based on the key stage 3 plan for Holbrook High School, Suffolk contained in the ‘Improving planning’ section of this website. The annotations in italics below the enquiry questions suggest where some of the activities from section 6 of this guidance can be used to enhance chronological knowledge and understanding. The exact choice of activities will depend on the development of pupils’ understanding.

Holbrook High School

History plan for year 7

The Roman Empire

Introduction to year 7
Chronology input: diagnostic tasks on vocabulary, framework and sense of periodeg Activities 1, 2 and 7 (see section 6 of this guidance)
Overview: Why was the Roman army so successful?
Chronology input: vocabulary – reinforce AD/BC, ‘centuries’
Depth study: Why is it hard to decide if Julius Caesar was a hero or a villain?
Chronology input: nothing specific planned
Depth study: What can historical fiction tell us about life under the Romans?
Chronology input: sense of period eg Activity 8A, distinguishing Roman, Saxon and Viking, Middle Ages. Build up sense of period diagram – Activity 10 (see section 6 of this guidance)

The Medieval world

Introduction to the Medieval world
Chronology input: vocabulary eg Activity 5; sense of period for Middle Ages eg Activity 9 (see section 6 of this guidance)
Overview: Why was 1066 a turning point in British history?
Chronology input: framework eg lifeline Activity 15 (see section 6 of this guidance)
Depth study: Did Walt Disney get it right? Was John really a bad king?
Chronology input: vocabulary – reinforce ‘centuries’
Overview: A medieval ‘whodunnit?’ Who was responsible for the development of parliament?
Chronology input: outline framework eg Activity 15 combined with a timeline activity (see section 6 of this guidance)
Local study: How and why has Dunwich changed since Roman times?
Chronology input: framework covering Roman period to twentieth century – see Activity 16 (see section 6 of this guidance)
Year 7 review activities
Chronology input: Activities 4, 11, 14 (see section 6 of this guidance)

History plan for year 8

Britain and the wider world 1500–c1900

Introduction to year 8
Chronology input: sense of period activities 8C and D (see section 6 of this guidance)
Overview: Britain 1500–1900. Which century saw the most significant social and economic changes?
Chronology input: framework eg Activity 12; reinforce vocabulary eg ‘centuries’
Local study: What can Holbrook local church tell us about the religious changes that took place between 1500 and 1900?
Chronology input: framework eg Activity 12 (see section 6 of this guidance)
Depth study: Why did Charles I lose his head in 1649?
Chronology input: detailed framework eg Activity15 (see section 6 of this guidance)
Depth study: Why do historians disagree about Oliver Cromwell?
Chronology input: nothing specific planned
Depth study: Why were the Chartists and the Suffragettes so important?
Chronology input: detailed framework eg Activity 15 (see section 6 of this guidance)
Local study: How significant was Thomas Clarkson’s role in the abolition of the slave trade?
Chronology input: reinforce vocabulary eg ‘centuries’
Year 8 review activities
Chronology input: vocabulary Activity 4, sense of period Activity 11, frameworks Activity 12 and/or Activity 14 (see section 6 of this guidance)

History plan for year 9

Introduction to year 9
Chronology input: wider chronologies eg world history outline Activity 17; timelines of multiple cultures eg Activity 19 (see section 6 of this guidance)

The Native American Indians
Overview: Why was there a battle at the Little Big Horn in 1876?
Chronology input: nothing specific planned
Depth study: How and why have films about the Native American Indians changed since 1950?
Chronology input: nothing specific planned
The twentieth-century world
Introduction to the twentieth-century world
Chronology input: sense of period activities eg Activity 8E (see section 6 of this guidance)
Local study: How do we find out about men from our area who died fighting in the First and Second World Wars?
Chronology input: framework activity on twentieth century eg Activity 15 (see section 6)
Depth study: Does the film The Battle of the Somme provide a realistic picture of life in the trenches?
Chronology input: nothing specific planned
Depth study: What was the main turning point of the Second World War?
Chronology input: detailed framework eg Activity 15 (see section 6 of this guidance)
Overview: Should the twentieth century be remembered as the ‘age of prejudice’?
Chronology input: Activity 14 (see section 6 of this guidance)
Key stage 3 review activities
Chronology input: looking back over years 7–9, eg Activities 11, 14 (see section 6 of this guidance)

Devising a new scheme of work to encourage chronological knowledge and understanding

This outline scheme is built upon a series of stories or themes that run throughout key stage 3. This enables teachers and pupils to move backwards and forwards through time, making natural links within themes and reinforcing chronological knowledge by summarising the stories to date at regular intervals. For example when starting ‘Warfare and unity’ in year 8, ‘the story so far’ can be recapped and then a longer story told at the end of that unit. In year 9 that process can be repeated so that pupils keep going back to the key points from earlier years. By the end of key stage 3 pupils will have developed a sense of each of the five main themes outlined here. Thinking about key events, people and dates as part of a theme is an aid to memory.

For clarity this scheme omits specific chronological activities so that users can focus better on the continuity of the themes. However this scheme offers the opportunity to:

reinforce understanding and use of the vocabulary of chronology throughout the enquiries
add ‘sense of period’ activities during the year as well as using them at the beginning
let ‘framework of past events’ activities arise naturally from the use of themes as planning tools and which will be included in each year
relate topics and themes to the wider context of history.

Stories/ Themes	Year 7 to c1540	Year 8 c1500–c1900	Year 9 since c1900
Introduction	Vocabulary and ‘sense of period’ activities	Vocabulary and ‘sense of period’ activities	Vocabulary and ‘sense of period’ activities
Empires	Did the Romans do more harm than good?	Why were so many American cultures destroyed?	Why do people still argue about the impact of the British empire?
Warfare and unity	a) Why did the English rebel against the Normans? b) Why couldn’t English kings conquer Britain?	a) How have wars changed since 1500? b) Why weren’t the British Isles ever unified?	Why was the twentieth century so full of wars?
Power and citizenship	a) Was Magna Carta really so significant? b) Why was London in flames in 1381?	a) Why did Charles I quarrel with parliament? b) When did the monarchy lose its power?	Did violence do more to win the vote than peaceful campaigns?
Religion and human rights	a) Why did so many people visit Canterbury in the Middle Ages? b) Why did Henry VIII close the monasteries?	Why did religion cause so many wars?	Has the struggle for human rights been successful?
Social life	Would you like to have lived in the Middle Ages?	When was the best time to be alive 1500–1900?	a) Why have living standards risen so quickly since 1900? b) … but have they risen for everyone?
Conclusions	a) What were the most significant people and events you studied this year? b) How do this year’s topics fit into the wider patterns of history?	a) What were the most significant people and events you studied this year? b) How do this year’s topics fit into the wider patterns of history?	a) What were the most significant people and events you studied this year and in key stage 3? b) How do this year’s topics fit into the wider patterns of history?