What are your memories of GCSE History? What are your first impressions of GCSE History from the last few weeks? Richard Kennett, Redland Green School,

Teaching GCSE History effectively Richard Kennett Subject Leader in Education for History Redland Green School, Bristol Richard Kennett, Redland Green School,

Aims of the session What are the current History GCSEs on offer? How is GCSE History changing in the next few years? What are the essentials of GCSE History? Richard Kennett, Redland Green School,

GCSE (the one the current Year 11 are doing) Two main types: Modern World Schools History Project Richard Kennett, Redland Green School, From the OCR and Edexcel specifications work out what you can and cannot teach and what the key differences are.

What makes KS4 unique? Read through the GCSE Assessment Objectives. Compare them to the (now defunct) KS3 Levels. What is similar? What is different? What level does it most represent? Richard Kennett, Redland Green School,

Timetable of change Richard Kennett, Redland Green School, / / / /2017 Current Yr7Begin the BRAND NEW GCSE Current Yr8Begin the ‘strengthened’ GCSE Sit the ‘strengthened’ GCSE Current Yr9Begin the ‘strengthened’ GCSE Sit the ‘strengthened’ GCSE Current Yr10Begin the ‘strengthened’ GCSE Sit the ‘strengthened’ GCSE Current Yr11Sit the current linear GCSE What does this mean?

That’s the mechanics. Now how do you teach effectively? What do Burn and Fordham argue? Richard Kennett, Redland Green School,

The THREE Essentials 1. Content 2. Sources 3. Exam technique Richard Kennett, Redland Green School,

Essential 1: Content There is a lot to cover in a finite time (esp. when you consider trips, exams, illness) Much of it CAN be very boring It can feel very overwhelming for our students Richard Kennett, Redland Green School, Key to success Making it fun Narrative, narrative, narrative Talking is good Recap, recap, recap

Richard Kennett, Redland Green School, Embrace the story Narrative, narrative, narrative Retelling Galen pig Story cubes Essential 1: Content

Embrace textbooks They are written by the experts – often the examiners You’d be silly to avoid them BUT over use them and you will turn the kids off Variety is the spice of life Think about entertaining or imaginative ways of using them Richard Kennett, Redland Green School, Essential 1: Content TASK: Plan my lesson. What could you do with this? How might you provide challenge for the top ability? How could you support the low ability?

Embrace chronology Not just making bloody timelines Sense of period is key Visualising the past Richard Kennett, Redland Green School, Essential 1: Content com/2012/10/01/sense-of- period-summing-up-an-era- in-a-100-words/

Embrace debate Learn content QUICKLY then discuss it for a LONG TIME – this is far more productive Hot Air Balloon Debate Hot Seating Continuum Lines Corners of the room Richard Kennett, Redland Green School, Essential 1: Content

Essential 2: Source work Fundamental to exam success Brings lessons alive Lends itself to independent learning Richard Kennett, Redland Green School, Key to success Picking out the minutiae Linking to context and own knowledge Don’t focus on bias! Trawl the internet for crackers

Blind Drawing Get into pairs. One with their back to the board. One facing it. I will show you a source on the board. Only those facing it can see. They must describe the source to their partner. Who can do the best picture? Richard Kennett, Redland Green School, Essential 2: Source work

Richard Kennett, Redland Green School, Essential 2: Source work

Richard Kennett, Redland Green School, Essential 2: Source work

Walk through a source On the next slide is a source from the 19 th century. As a group you must recreate the source Richard Kennett, Redland Green School, Essential 2: Source work

Richard Kennett, Redland Green School, Essential 2: Source work

ARK – why acronyms matter A – Answer the question R – Refer to the source K – bring in your own Knowledge Richard Kennett, Redland Green School, Essential 2: Source work uk/Images/ question-paper-unit- a development-study- with-germany-c depth- study.pdf

Essential 3: Exam technique This is fundamental to the success of ALL students They MUST know how marks are allocated and exam technique It is inherently dull It is not teaching history Richard Kennett, Redland Green School, Key to success Knowing the assessment criteria back to front Using the exam websites Not over doing it!

Essential 3: Exam technique QUESTION 4: Explain why the theory of the Four Humours was so important to medicine. [7] Level 0 No evidence submitted or response does not address the question. [0] Level 1 General assertions - valid, but general answers. No specific contextual knowledge. E.g. ‘The Theory of the Four Humours was so important to medicine because it seemed to work and so people liked to use it a lot’. [1] OR Describes The Theory of the Four Humours [1] Level 2 Identifies specific reasons - specific contextual knowledge demonstrated but no explanation. Examples include: Hippocrates / recording / observation / natural treatment / doctors were trained this way. [2-3] Level 3 Explains one specific reason E.g. ‘The Theory of the Four Humours was so important to medicine because it provided doctors with a natural reason and treatments for illness. The theory encouraged doctors to observe patients carefully and try and understand what caused disease.’ [4-6] Level 4 Explains more than one specific reason [7] Richard Kennett, Redland Green School, Help me mark my Year 10 tests please! Mark each out of 7 marks using the mark scheme Highlight those bits of sentences that are actually explaining the point!

Find out more…. Richard Kennett, Redland Green School,

Richard Kennett, Redland Green School,