History

Head of Department: Mr Granath

 

Department Background
 Through the study of history we hope to gain an understanding of the past and how it impacts on the present. Our emphasis is on British History with a significant focus on telling our national story while acknowledging that other cultures and societies have an equally valid story to tell. The vastness of the subject means that choices always have to be made that lead to difficult decisions about what to leave out.

Year 7 - 9
 In Year 7 we focus on the nature of history: idea of chronology and how judgments can be made from evidence.  There is also a rewarding project on family history that often throws up unexpected results and connections. ‘My great, great, great grandfather was WG Grace.’
 
We place a strong emphasis on English history 1066-1485 with a particular focus on kingship and the impact of the monarchy.

These themes are continued in Year 8 as we study the dramatic events of Tudor and Stuart times leading to the civil war and the execution of the king. Following this we look at the French Revolution as ‘the most important event of the last one thousand years’ before crossing the Atlantic to study Native Americans in the nineteenth century.
 
For Year 9 our major themes are the abolition of slavery, urbanisation and the Industrial Revolution, The First World War, the causes of the Second World War and the Holocaust.
Year 10 - 11
 For GCSE there are four elements.
  1. A study of the Cold War between 1945 and 1991.
  2. A Divided Union: the USA during the turbulent years 1945 to 1970 focusing on the Civil Rights campaigns.
  3. Weimar and Nazi Germany 1919-1939.
  4. The controlled assignment covers an aspect of Britain’s social and political history 1955-75. This varies but at present we are looking at race, immigration and the impact of Enoch Powell’s 1968 Rivers of Blood Speech.
 Sixth Form

 AS History comprise two papers.

  1. Liberals and Conservatives 1845 to 1995 with a strong focus on the greatest political rivalry of the past two hundred years between Gladstone and Disraeli.
  2. The heroic and romantic story of Italian Unification 1815-1870 featuring Mazzini, Cavour and Garibaldi.

A2. 

  1. The troubled, difficult and tragic relationship between Britain and Ireland between 1798 and 1920. This is the synoptic unit.
  2. The coursework involves writing 2 essays on aspects of the Russian Revolution between 1903 and 1924 although by negotiation different topics can be chosen.