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History
“Histories make men wise” ~ Sir Francis Bacon (1561 – 1626)
The aim of the History Department is to give all students the opportunity to develop the academic disciplines and skills inherent in the work of a good historian and to provide an insight into and an understanding of the history of our modern democratic society.
All students are taught to research and record evidence, to recognise bias, and to evaluate sources. They also learn to employ a variety of writing, research and presentation skills in order to analyse, give clear accounts and make tenable hypotheses.
The scheme of work in Key Stage 3 complies with the requirements of the National Curriculum. In Year 7 students will complete three study units based on the Roman Empire, Medieval Realms and a comparative study of a non-European culture, Islam. The year is drawn together by a fieldwork study involving local history, to bridge the transition into Year 8.
This deals with the Development of the UK from 1500 – 1750 ending with Industrial Changes 1750 – 1900, which bridges the transition into Year 9. The beginning of Year 9 is consolidated by a fieldwork visit to Ironbridge, after which students complete KS3 with a study of the Twentieth Century World including the two world war and the Holocaust.
In Key Stage 4, our GCSE examination groups follow the AQA Schools History Project, which covers four major tropics – Medicine through Time, The Irish Question, Castles and The American West 1840 – 1895. Assessment is by two internally moderated coursework assignments and two terminal examination papers.
The A-level course in Key Stage 5 currently follows Edexcel AS8264 and A9264 syllabus, broken down into 6 units. In Year 12 students following the AS course will study two units of British history. Votes for women and British Society between the wars 1919 – 1939, and one European unit – Italy and the Rise of Facism 1919 – 1925.
Students who continue their studies at A2 in Year 13 will examine Facist Italy 1924 – 1939, the Soviet Union after Lenin 1924 – 1939, both of which have a terminal examination, and a British unit based on Immigration and Society 1850 – 1960, which is assessed by a coursework assignment of 1750 words.
The skills developed during this course of study, and indeed throughout all Key Stages, enable our students to approach higher education with both confidence and competence and to achieve success in fields as wide as journalism, law, the media, politics and, of course, History.
