Skip to content ↓

History and Politics

Staff

  • Miss L Skipworth (Head of Department)
  • Mr T Renwick
  • Mrs L Woodley
  • Mrs K Vigus-Humphrey

You have not allowed cookies and this content may contain cookies.

If you would like to view this content please

 

Resources

The History Department is based in three recently renovated dedicated rooms adjacent to one another on the Ground floor. Each is equipped with whiteboard and data projector . There are a total of twenty-four networked computers within the Department in addition to the School’s central ICT facilities. The department is very well equipped with a range of text books and extra reading resources for all key stages.

History

 

Curriculum

Members of the Department are encouraged to use a variety of teaching strategies to enhance pupils’ learning and to experiment with new techniques and approaches in order to produce lessons that are both creative and challenging.

The curriculum for History promotes the development of skills in communication, empathy, analysis and evaluation as well as a thirst for knowledge about the past and an understanding of its influence on the modern world.

Key Stage 3

History is taught chronologically in Key Stage Three though students are also given opportunity to make comparisons between different periods of History:

  • Year 7: Medieval British History 1066-1485

The course includes a study of 1066, castle building, medieval life and Church, the Black Death and its impact, the Hudred Years War and the wars of the Roses.

  • Year 8: Early Modern British History 1485-1900

The course includes The Tudor and Stuart Monarchs, changes in religion and power, the Industrial Revolution, the British Empire and the Slave Trade.

  • Year 9: The Twentieth Century World

An in depth study of World War I, World War II, life in Nazi Germany and The Cold War.

Key Stage 4

The department follows the Edexcel History syllabus which builds upon the skills developed at Key Stage Three. There are four key areas of History taught which are examined by three exam papers at the end of Year 11. The course offers a balance of depth and thematic studies and a balance between early modern and modern history.

  • Warfare and British society from 1250 to the present day with study of a historic environment- London during World War II.
  • A British depth study: Early Elizabethan England 1558-1588
  • Superpower relations and the Cold War, 1941-1991
  • A modern depth study: Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918-1939

Key Stage 5

The popularity of the subject in school and the variety of expertise among the staff allows students to choose from two courses offered by the department. Both follow the Edexcel syllabus.

Early Modern History: The three units, The Tudors, The Lutheran Reformation and the Witch Craze in Britain, Europe and North America are linked by the theme, “Religion and the State in Early Modern Europe”. The course covers the period of 1509-1750.

Modern History: The three units, “In search of the American dream, 1917-1996”, India, 1914- 1948 and “Britain, losing and gaining an Empire, 1763-1914” are broadly linked by the theme of the search for rights and freedoms.

In addition both courses also have coursework, making up 20% of the course. Students are required to carry out an independent enquiry. The department has built up a range of resources allowing students to select from a choice of questions.

Enrichment

The Department is proud of its long-standing and continuing commitment to History-related School visits. We believe that History beyond the classroom inspires an enthusiasm for the subject and can enhance an existing commitment to study. We currently take Year 8 students to the Duxford Imperial War museum. In Year 9 students are offered the opportunity to take part in a First World War battlefields residential visit and we plan to develop a trip for GCSE students to the Imperial War Museum, London. In addition, we have a weekly lunch time club, allowing students to explore History creatively. Our current project is a World War I mosaic memorial.

Politics

 

Curriculum

Members of the Department are encouraged to use a variety of teaching strategies to enhance pupils’ learning and to experiment with new techniques and approaches in order to produce lessons that are both creative and challenging.

Key Stage 5

The Department currently offers the following course to both AS and A Level:

Edexcel Government and Politics comprising a study of the UK at AS (8GP01) and the USA at A2 (9GP01). This is likely to be reviewed in summer 2016 ahead of the forthcoming curriculum changes scheduled to begin in September 2017.

Enrichment

The Department is proud of its long-standing and continuing commitment to curriculum-related School trips, visits and activities both on and off the School site. Where possible, students of AS Government and Politics are offered the opportunity to visit the Palace of Westminster and are given a tour of the houses of parliament. Meanwhile, A2 Students take part in a Sixth Form Conference day at the De Montfort University in Leicester entitled “Congress to Campus” in which former US congressmen are invited to debate topical issues in US Politics with students studying A Levels.

Members of the Department enjoyed a very successful visit to Washington DC in October 2014.