Year 9 History
Scheme of Work

Ten sections per unit, in the same order every time. One row per phase rather than per lesson. Six units: the franchise, empire in India, the origins of the First World War, the inter-war dictatorships, the Holocaust, and Britain since 1945.

The Holocaust is the one thing the programme of study requires by name, and it is taught differently from every other unit here, deliberately. It is built on sequence and assessed on sequence, because the misconception that does real harm is that it happened suddenly. There is no role-play, no simulation and no imaginative writing from any perspective; no images of the dead; and the unit begins with Jewish life in Europe before 1933, so that victims are studied as people with lives. Teachers are pointed at the national memorial and education institutions whose materials exist for this and are free.

Year 9 is not the start of GCSE. No specification content is taught, no board’s wording is used and no essay is written to a mark scheme — what the year does is make the intellectual demands of GCSE ordinary on unfamiliar content. Every date is checked against a verified chronology at build time, estimates are printed as estimates, and the coverage matrix at the back distinguishes what the programme of study requires from what it offers as an example.

Written to

The statutory programme of study for key stage 3 history (DfE, 2013)

Intended for

heads of history, subject leaders and every teacher who has to deliver it

Extent

59 pages · 23 sections

1. 1a

   The Vote: How Democratic Had Britain Become by 1918?

   Year 9 · Autumn 1 · 6 lessons · September – October

   Who was allowed to decide, and who decided that?

2. 1b

   Empire and India: What Did Rule Mean, and to Whom?

   Year 9 · Autumn 2 · 6 lessons · November – December

   How do you govern a subcontinent, and what does it do to the country that tries?

3. 2a

   1914: Why Did a Crisis in the Balkans Become a World War?

   Year 9 · Spring 1 · 6 lessons · January – February

   How does a local assassination become a war on four continents in five weeks?

4. 2b

   Between the Wars: Why Did People Vote for Dictators?

   Year 9 · Spring 2 · 6 lessons · February – March

   How does a democracy end — and does it always end the same way?

5. 3a

   The Holocaust: How Did It Become Possible?

   Year 9 · Summer 1 · 6 lessons · April – May

   the work?

6. 3b

   Since 1945: How Far Has Britain Changed — and How Would You Find Out?

   Year 9 · Summer 2 · 6 lessons · June – July

   What kind of country came out of the war, and what kind is it now?