Welcome to S2 History!

Throughout the year, students will undertake the study of two discrete historical units:

1. The Cold War (August – December)

During this study unit, students will investigate a variety of enquiry questions such as:

• What was the Cold War? Why was it considered ‘Cold’?
• What is the difference between Communism and Capitalism and how did this play into the Cold War?
• How did the Cold War start? Who was involved and why?
• What is the MAD theory? How did the MAD theory impact on country’s relationships during the Cold War?
• What happened during the Cuban Missile Crisis? How was the crisis resolved?
• What was the Space Race? Who ‘won’ the Space Race?
• What happened to Germany at the end of the Second World War? How did this contribute to growing tensions between different Cold War countries

1. The Transatlantic Slave Trade + Civil Rights (January – May)
   As a part of this study unit, students will investigate the following issues:

• What was the Transatlantic Slave Trade? In what ways did the slave trade change over time?
• How did people become forced into slavery?
• In what ways did people try to justify the slave trade?
• What was the ‘Middle Passage’ and what experiences did slaves have during this time?
• How did slave auctions work?
• What was life like for slaves when they reached the plantations? What different roles were slaves forced to take on?
• How did slaves try to stand up to their masters? How successful were slaves in their attempts to escape?
• How did slavery impact the start of the American Civil War?
• Why did slavery leave a lasting imprint on American society?
• In what ways did Black Americans stand up to prejudice and discrimination during the Civil Rights movement?

S2 pupils will end the year by completing an Interdisciplinary study of China. In History, they will learn about the life, achievements and legacy of the First Emperor of China, Shi Huang Di, including the creation of the Terra Cotta Army.

Students will use a source material to help build a solid understanding of the time period, key events and causes and consequences of each of the study areas. In S2, there is also an added emphasis on developing pupils’ source analysis and interpretation skills and this is done by making use of a variety of primary and secondary sources.

Throughout the course, students will complete various cooperative, active and creative learning tasks, encouraging further developing of social as well as historical skills. Pupils will also build on their knowledge through participating in group discussions and completing individual tasks. Whenever possible, we aim to incorporate an element of personalisation and choice into our course, allowing students to consolidate and conceptualise their understanding in a way that best suits their ability and skills.

Additionally, we are often able to make use of current media to help further draw out concepts and understanding of course topics. For example, in previous sessions, the S2 History classes have participated in excursions to the Filmhouse to view ‘Selma’ as a part of our study of the Civil Rights movement.

There will be two summative assessments and multiple formative throughout the year.

The summative assessments take the following format:

• Cold War Unit – Summative skills and knowledge based end of unit test (sat during 1 period)
• Slave Trade + Civil Rights Unit – Summative Essay task (sat during 1 period)

Formative assessments include using a variety of peer and self-assessment, as well as smaller tasks such as source questions.

All pupil assessments are routinely graded and recorded by the teacher and the results are stored centrally, these results are used by staff to track the progress of the individuals and ensure that their needs are being met. Pupils also review their own attainment and are encourage to identify ways to improve their learning. Staff report formally to parents as per the school calendar.