History
Introduction
"If you don't know History, then you don't know anything, you are a leaf that doesn't know it is part of a tree" - Michael Crichton - Timeline.
History is a stimulating and enjoyable experience and it is the aim of the department to develop the following objectives:
- To stimulate an interest and enthusiasm of studying the past.
- To allow each pupil to develop an understanding of how the modern world has developed.
- To develop an understanding of different peoples in different times.
- To develop an understanding of course and consequence, similarity and difference, continuity and change.
- To develop study skills including the ability to locate, record and organise information and to construct a logical argument.
- To understand that historians have different opinions of events and understand how and why they have occurred.
- To develop an interest and enjoyment of the past and the many varied ways in which it manifests itself.
- To allow pupils to develop their communication skills, both written and oral through group work and/or working alone.
Overall, the aim is to develop and enrich each pupil's educational experience through the study of history using lively, interesting and stimulating methods. Each year follows a learning map and each topic is set as a 'big question'.
Lower School
In the First Year we cover the following topics:
What is History? Immigration to Britain, The Norman Invasion, The Medieval World, Diversity and the Silk Roads, Castles, Town and Village life and The Black Death.
In the Second Year we cover:
Tudors and Stuarts – including Henry VIII, Elizabeth I; The Armada, Witches, James I and Gunpowder Plot, Charles I and Civil War, Native Americans.
In the Third Year we cover:
Industrial Revolution (local study), Empire Building, Protests, Peterloo, Political Reform and Suffragettes, The Slave Trade and Civil Rights in the USA and the UK, World War I and World War II, Post War Diversity in Britain.
Middle School
History
Board: Edexcel
Key elements are:
Medicine through time; Richard I and King John; Superpower relations and the Cold War 1947-91; Weimar and Nazi Germany 1918-39.
Senior School
History
Board: OCR
Lower Sixth Form elements are:
Russia 1894 – 1941
Britain 1900 – 1951
Upper Sixth Form elements are:
Historical Investigation
Popular Culture and the Witchcraze in 16th and 17th Century Europe and North America.
Sixth Form
History provides candidates with a testing intellectual challenge. To know what happened in the past is important but to be able to think and argue knowledgeably about why it happened is more valuable and fulfilling.
The course aims to develop the skills of Historical Understanding, Investigation and Communication. It is taught using a mixture of tutorials, lectures, seminars, documents and video and audio tapes. It is not necessary to have studied history at GCSE, but a good grade in English is helpful, as is the ability to write clearly and think objectively.
The Course
Examination Board: OCR
The course will consist of study of the following aspects of History:
A Level
Unit 1: Britain 1900 – 1951
This unit provides an understanding of change and continuity in Britain from 1900 to 1951, through periods of peace and war to an era of consensus and affluence. Pupils will be able to demonstrate an understanding of important individuals, such as Lloyd George, Ramsay MacDonald, Stanley Baldwin, Winston Churchill, Clement Attlee and key ideas such as socialism, liberalism and conservatism. They will also look at the impact of economic and social change on government policies and, by studying the key events and developments, will be able to draw conclusions about the changing relationship between the state and its citizens.
Unit 2: Russia 1894 – 1941
This unit gives an understanding of the causes and events which led to the collapse of the Tsarist Regime in Russia and the subsequent success of Lenin and the Bolsheviks. It then provides an understanding of Stalin's rise to power and his dictatorship up to the Nazi invasion of Russia in 1941.
Unit 3: Popular Culture and the Witch Craze of the 16th and 17th Centuries
This module provides an insight into popular culture and attitudes to religions and social and economic change in the period. It then analyses the reasons for the persecution of witches and which particular groups were persecuted. The module concludes with an investigation into witchcraft in Southern Germany, Essex and Salem.
Unit 4: Essay
This is an independently researched essay of 3000-4000 words in length. It is assessed as coursework and the topic and title may be chosen by individual pupils. A range of 10–15 sources are to be studied, but this is not prescriptive, of which some must be primary and some secondary.
Careers
Many of our pupils continue with their studies in higher education where they read a wide range of subjects including Economics and Management, English, geography, history, mathematics, politics.
An A Level History qualification can lead to careers in the following areas:
Accountancy
Advertising
Archive Works
Armed Forces
Auditing
Banking
Broadcasting
Civil Service
Commerce
Health Service
Hotel Management
Insurance
Journalism
Law
Local Government
Management
Marketing
Museums
Personnel Management
Police Force
Public Relations
Publishing
Retailing
Social Services
Teaching