History
Aims
- To stimulate curiosity, interest and enjoyment of History amongst pupils.
- To cultivate a sense of the past through the knowledge of events, people, motives and outcomes.
- To help pupils to develop an appreciation of how we gain knowledge about the past and perceive History in the context of a wider body of knowledge, vocabulary and skills.
- To encourage open, enquiring minds and the development of informed opinions, supported by reasoned arguments.
- To encourage the reading of serious historical literature.
- To encourage and develop the skills of analysis, judgement and extended writing.
Academic Staff
There are three members of the department, all of whom are experienced and well-qualified subject specialists. All members of the department have at least a Master's Degree in History.
Courses Offered
The syllabus taught by the Department covers the following areas:
- First Year (Year 7) - English History 1066 - 1485; the Crusades
- Second Year (Year 8) - British History 1485 - 1830
- Third Year (Year 9) - The Great War; the Rise of the Dictators; World War Two.
- GCSE Years (Years 10/11) - Edexcel - Modern World History; the USA in the 1920s and 1930s; the Cold War; Civil Rights in the USA; Britain and the Second World War.
- Lower Sixth (Year 12) - Edexcel - Italian and German Unifications; Britain 1830 - 1885.
- Upper Sixth (Year 13) - Edexcel - Germany: From Kaiser to Führer, 1890-1945 and History of Modern Russia, 1856-1964.
Resources
The department has three dedicated teaching rooms, all of which are equipped with a computer and data projector. The other classroom has television and DVD/video facilities. There is a wide range of audio-visual material in the department, some of which is available on the school’s intranet. In addition, past papers, markschemes, syllabus materials and schemes of work are also available on the intranet.
The department makes full use of the internet, and recommends specific websites for courses. Lectures and radio programmes can also be downloaded from the History area. The department has a large range of textbooks, which are aimed at encouraging our highly-motivated pupils to get to grips with the richness of the subject. We specify reading from textbooks and expect research to be thorough and detailed. We set essays throughout the school, as we believe that extended writing is essential to the study of the subject, as well as for preparation for study at university.
