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15/12/25

Finally, a reminder: The last day of this term is 19/12/2025, and the Academy will close to all students at 12.45pm. Students will be allowed to wear their own clothes, including Christmas jumpers, and we ask all to bring a £1 donation that will go to our local charity.

15/12/25

Whilst Y11 resume career discussions to support them in planning their future pathways. Additionally, they will have the opportunity to take part in their first HAO Sixth Form taster day - an exciting chance to experience what life could be like with us after GCSEs.

15/12/25

End of Term Highlights - As we approach the final week of term, our focus is on exploring the next steps for not only our students, but those that could join us next year. Banding day was a success as we welcomed prospective students and their parents - with a mop up this week.

03/12/25

LBB's upcoming winter HAF programme will run again from 22nd December to 31 December 2025 The programme offers free holiday club places, including activities and healthy meals for families with children 5-16 years old who get FSM. Book directly:  shorturl.at/uluNm

27/11/25

Well done to our Year 8 and Year 9 football teams, who both won their tense and entertaining matches, by 1 goal. Both our goalkeepers saving last minute penalties to hold out for the win! Great effort by all!

24/11/25

What a week at HAO last week! From advocacy and community engagement, assessments galore,  to student achievements and a little theatre magic – here’s what we’ve been up to in images 👇       

19/11/25

Well done to the Year 10 football team on their 7-2 win on Monday night in the Bromley League. Two wins from two, making it a successful campaign so far.

14/11/25

To support our learners, we delivered half-term masterclasses across a range of subjects, ensuring students had access to expert guidance and tailored sessions.  shorturl.at/kDBj2

14/11/25

With half-term now behind us, the past few weeks have been have been full of energy, learning, and meaningful activities. Our school community has been working hard, especially as students prepared for GCSE resit exams and Year 11 assessments.

11/11/25

Every November, our country comes together to observe Remembrance Day. It’s a time to honour the courage & sacrifice of those who served in the armed forces & gave their lives for our freedom. Today, HAO will join the nation in a one-minute silence to reflect & pay our respects.

03/10/25

and our parents and cares for attending information evenings. We look forward to the coming weeks activities.

03/10/25

1 month ago today we welcomed back our staff and students  as we all returned to school. It's been a busy couple of weeks, but we say thank you to all our visitors attending our open events...

25/09/25

All experiments were fully supervised by our Head of Science Ms Edward’s and Mrs Miller, our Science Technician

25/09/25

It’s the end of the evening and our catering student volunteers have some treats as they leave for home…yummy! Thank you to everyone that joined us tonight. Don’t forget we have another open morning tomorrow if you haven’t already signed up.

25/09/25

Business studies also got in on the quizzing action - can you guess the logos?

25/09/25

Music has some student vocalists tonight, playing instruments and singing in other languages. Whilst art, design technology are putting on a show as always

25/09/25

Looking down a microscope, can you tell what the objects are?

25/09/25

Science as always conducting some exciting experiments. Many of which our students will get to experience as they move from Y7 to Y13.

25/09/25

With some offering treats as prizes

25/09/25

Just some of the lovely works and activities available tonight from our Humanities dept

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Back to Subjects

History

What is the intention of our KS3 curriculum?

At Harris Academy Orpington our vision is clearly communicated to our students.  ‘We want you to know stories of the past, explore scholarship and examine sources of Britain and the wider world. You will be curious and critical of the diverse and changing world around you and the impact you can make upon it’.

The history curriculum at Harris Academy Orpington will:

  • Increase knowledge of historical periods, people, trends and events - both to develop and retain a rich knowledge of the past
  • Increase disciplinary knowledge by engaging students with latest scholarship, historical sources as well as varied and changing interpretations of the past
  • Ensure that knowledge is retained through a planned curriculum, chronologically sequenced and driven by historical enquiries
  • Ensure students are able to communicate their understanding of the complex past using subject specific language to enable them to construct written and verbal responses
  • Ensure that the curriculum we deliver gives students the opportunity to study an overarching narrative of British history in relation to the local, national and wider world
  • Interweave diverse histories which speak to our student’s own identities and gives them a greater sense of place and belonging within the world they live in

Through doing this, students will gain ownership of their skills and understanding of the discipline of history and its importance in every individual’s life.  

How will this be implemented?

We teach all topics through historical enquiries focused around a second-order concept, such as ‘historical significance’. These explore local, national and world histories, putting an emphasis on the discipline of history and the complexities of the past. We strive to make our curriculum diverse and representative of all protected characteristics. Additionally, students celebrate, commemorate and participate in history beyond the curriculum with our KS5 fellowship programme, termly competitions, educational visits, assemblies and national awareness days.

The topics covered at KS3, KS4 and KS5 are as follows:

History Curriculum 24 25

 

How will we judge the impact of the curriculum?

As a department, we judge the impact our history curriculum has on all students through our Monitoring, Evaluation and Review (MER) process for the department. This process has been designed to maintain the consistency of quality teaching and the effectiveness of the history curriculum using summative and formative assessment, lesson drop-ins, book looks and discussions with students. This helps to further develop the history curriculum in the long-term.

Additionally, the impact of the history curriculum is judged through Federation-wide summative assessments twice a year. This means that students’ progress can be analysed, in relation to thousands of other history students across London. This helps inform conversations around curriculum and ongoing professional development of the department. We use varied styles of formative assessment throughout our lessons and at the end of each historical enquiry.

Students receive feedback in line with Harris Academy Orpington’s feedback and marking policy. Within history, we ensure students receive constructive feedback on their substantive and disciplinary knowledge. Students are given opportunity within lesson time to discuss their feedback with their teacher, redraft their work and therefore improve.