History

"History cannot give us a programme for the future but it can give us a fuller understanding of ourselves, and of our common humanity so that we can better face the future"

Robert Penn-Warren

Subject Intent 

History, at Brislington, will grow a generation of young people who are passionate, curious and active citizens of Bristol. The History curriculum at Oasis Brislington will help students to make sense of the world they live in, and will help them to cement their place within their city.

We will deliver a diverse and local curriculum through a team of passionate History teachers, who are experts in their field and will inspire the same interest into their students as they have themselves for their subject.

Our curriculum will be enquiry-led, so that students can experience what it is really like to be an historian; they are trying to answer questions about the past. As such, our curriculum will also be influenced by the work of contemporary scholars and will address topics that are being investigated by historians today. This will help to prepare our students for entering a world, which is rapidly changing and will allow them to have an up-to-date and relevant understanding of the world of History and how it has shaped our today. Alongside this, we will teach our students through the medium of rich sources & evidence, so that they are able to develop critical analysis skills, which will enable them to challenge the world around them and develop informed opinions.

The curriculum will be challenging; History is hard! We don’t always have the answers to the questions we are asking and we want our young historians to be able to grapple with these frustrations. To support them in their work, we will base our curriculum in an over-arching narrative across their study of History; allowing students to build a chronological understanding of the world, through time and to place their own lives within this context. It is this understanding, which will enable them to be engaged members of their communities who are able to challenge things they do not agree with and build a positive future for themselves and their community.

Curriculum Intent

We value character, competence and community in our curriculum:

Character

The OCL history curriculum aims to develop students who are confident in presenting their own arguments and interpretations but willing to listen to and be challenged by others. We aim to teach our students how to frame and answer questions, encouraging curiosity but also developing independence. The nature of history itself, with their very rarely being a simple answer, helps develop resilience as well as ensuring that students are willing to challenge overly simplistic narratives they are presented, both in and outside of the classroom. The OCL history curriculum also aims to ensure students encounter diverse cultures, societies, people and often ‘hidden histories’, ensuring their sense of identity and their perceptions of others are not based on singular representations or
misrepresentations.

Competence

The OCL history curriculum aims to ensure students develop a broad body of historical knowledge, chronologically and geographically, from the local scale to global issues. The curriculum is designed to draw out the connected nature of the past, rather than presenting histories in isolation of one another, allowing students to make sense of the world they live in and the events, forces and people who continue to shape it. Students will engage in the processes through which history is written and challenged, aiming to develop student’s understanding of history as a discipline, and therefore as a societal construction rather than an objective narration of the past.

Community 

Throughout the curriculum students study numerous different societies and communities as well as the interactions between them, exploring both the bonds that bring people together but also the issues that can cause conflict. Local history gives students the chance to reflect on how their local community has developed overtime and how it is both similar and different to other communities they have explored.

Future Career Pathways:

Should you have any queries or would like further information regarding this subject please contact Miss Emily Worgan (Subject Lead) via email: emily.worgan@oasisbrislington.org