History Curriculum

History Learning Intent 

Students of History at Rye College learn about their past and shared culture in a way that helps them to understand how it fits with the experiences of others within the wider world.  This is to enable them to gain and deploy an historically grounded understanding of abstract terms through improved historical vocabulary.  Students are encouraged to critically examine a range of events over time and explore not only their causes and consequences, but also their significance within the local, national and wider world contexts.  They will relate these events to changes or continuity over time, helping to build strong shared knowledge and understanding of the wider context of our heritage, as well as knowledge of processing skills such as the weighing of arguments, and ways to use primary and secondary sources to develop and support/challenge judgments that they and others have made. At Rye, we believe in creating bright futures for all and challenging all learners to exceed their own expectations through a supportive environment, this happens through inspiring learners’ curiosity and encouraging them to ask perceptive questions.  

Our curriculum aims to encourage growth through a range of powerful knowledge, interlinked with topics that encourage our students to interact with concepts and changes in the media today, as well as through exploring revisionist views of the past.   We study a range of topics from the Medieval period to the Modern, focusing on exploring across the breadth of the past millennia, whilst diving into depth in certain topics and themes to compare the experiences of the powerful as well as the ordinary men and women through time, enhancing students’ understanding of British value such as freedom, justice and the rule of law.  Their studies at Rye College will also help them to develop knowledge and historical ability, and increase opportunities and enjoyment of the topic for all our students, no matter what their starting points or prior knowledge of the past.  It aims to enthuse and allow all students to strive to achieve their true potential both within the subject and beyond. In this way, history will promote a love of learning and a way to make sense of the wider world around us “You can’t know where you are going unless you know where you have been”.  Afterall, “dull people rarely make history”!

Our History Learning Journey 

A snapshot of your child's learning journey from Year 7 to Year 11.

To find further information on what you child will be learning in history this year and for how you can support them, please visit their Year group page.