Year 8 is a really exciting time to be studying History!  Many of you will have studied bits of History in Primary school - learning about the Vicious Vikings or Victorians!  Others will have saw great programmes like Horrible Histories which give you lots of great facts! Some of you may have little experience of History at all! 


Our aims are:

1. To make History fun!
2. To show you how useful it is and how many skills it can produce!
3. Finally we want you to see how everything that is happening in our world today is somehow connected with History - We can really understand our world a lot better by knowing our History! 
   

TERM 1 IS ALL ABOUT SHOWING YOU WHAT HISTORY IS. WE SHOW YOU WHY HISTORY IS SO USEFUL AND WE TEACH YOU SOME OF THE SKILLS INVOLVED IN BEING A GOOD HISTORIAN.
WE LEARN: 



1) SKILLS

• What is History?
• What is Chronology and why is time so important? 
• We learn to use our dates correctly. 
• We find out what Bias is and why it is important.
• We learn how to make balanced decisions based on evidence. 
• This part of the course will involve: Drama, interviews, speeches, timelines and CSI detective work on a real murder! 

2) THE 3 CONTENDERS
TWO BATTLES & ONE WINNER!

• Why did three contenders want to take over England in 1066?
• Who was the strongest contender? 
• What happened in the Battle of Stamford Bridge? 
• What happened in the Battle of Hastings? 
• Why did William the Conqueror win ?
• How did William rule England ? (Feudal system, Terror, Domesday book, Castles)

Harald Hardrada

William of Normandy

Harold Godwinson

TERM 2 IS ALL ABOUT SHOWING YOU HOW THE NORMAN CONQUEST OF ENGLAND WOULD HAVE LONG TERM CONSEQUENCES FOR IRELAND. WE WILL INVESTIGATE HOW THE NORMANS DIDN'T SIMPLY INVADE BUT WERE ACTUALLY INVITED OVER!  WE LOOK AT THE IMPACT IN OUR PROVINCE ULSTER AND WHAT LEGACY HAS BEEN LEFT
WE LEARN: 



1) THE NORMAN CONQUEST OF IRELAND 

• Who was Dermot Macmurrough and why was his story so important?
• Who is Strongbow and what impact did he have on Ireland? 
• Who is John De Courcy and what was his impact on Ulster? 
• How did the Normans take over Ireland so easily?

2) THE IMPACT OF RELIGION IN THE MIDDLE AGES?

• How important was religion in the Middle Ages?
• How did Religion affect peoples lives?
• What was the Tithe?
• What were Monasteries? 
• Why did some people oppose the church? 
• What was a Doom Painting. 
• Who was Thomas a Beckett and why was he murdered? 

TERM 3 IS DECIDED BY YOU BUT IS BASED ON VARIOUS ASPECTS OF MEDIEVAL LIFE. YOU WILL GET TO INVESTIGATE A NUMBER OF AREAS FROM THE MIDDLE AGES
YOU HAVE A CHOICE FROM:
 

• Crime and Punishment in the Middle Ages?
• What was the Peasants Revolt and why did it happen?
• What was Black Death and what caused it? 
• How did they try to cure Black Death?
• What was the role of Knights? 
• What were the Crusades? 
• What leisure and entertainment was available at this time?. 

GO TO FIRST YEAR 8 SECTION: WHAT IS HISTORY?

© J Wishart 2019