The Team and Facilities:

There is a dedicated team of history specialists, including the Leader of History. We are a small but enthusiastic team bringing different strengths and ideas to the teaching of History.  Lessons are based on a wide range of resources and activities, including a variety of history books that students of all ages can access.

Key Stage 3

At Key Stage 3 we introduce students to historical concepts and skills as well as exploring different historical periods.  Throughout the course in years 7, 8 and 9 we encourage students to investigate history from the UK, Europe and across the world. Students really enjoy the lessons, which enables them to engage with new and interesting concepts, times and people. We follow the national curriculum, looking at the History of England and the UK from 1000 to the present day in order to understand the country in which we live today and how it developed.  We also put this into an international context by considering the role of the UK in the world and how the wider world has impacted on the development of the UK, such as the industrial revolution.

In Year 7, students get an introduction to historical skills by looking at life in Anglo-Saxon England. We move onto looking at the Norman Conquest; explain why William won at the Battle of Hastings and how the Norman conquest changed England. We then look at life in medieval England, examining the impact of the Black Death and the Peasants Revolt. Students then focus on why people felt so strongly about the Crusades before looking at the Kingdom of Mali in West Africa. Students finish Year 7 looking at the rise of the Tudors and the English Reformation.

In Year 8, students looking at the Mughal Empire in India. Focus then shifts back to the UK, by looking at the causes of the Civil War and examining why Charles I was executed. Students then investigate the impacts of the transatlantic slave trade and the rise of the abolitionist movement. Finally students focus on the role of the British Empire in India. Year 8 finishes by looking at how the industrial Revolution made cities unhealthy places to live and then how people gain more rights and freedoms.

In Year 9, students start looking at how migration has changed the face of the local area. After this, students will have an overview of the 20th Century; starting with the First World War, the causes and then examining what trench warfare was like. Then students look at the interwar period, looking at how Hitler came to power in Nazi Germany and then how Nazi Germany started the Second World War. Students then look at the impact of the Second World War on the Home Front in Britain and, finally, we examine why it is important to learn about the holocaust.

Key Stage 4

Students who choose History as an option at GCSE will study the Edexcel Specification. The course consists of 3 papers. In Year 10, students will study Paper 1: Medicine in Britain 1250-modern day and the site-specific study; the British sector of the Western Front, 1914–18: injuries, treatment and the trenches. They will then study the first topic of Paper 2, the British depth study, on Early Elizabethan England. In Year 11, students will study the second half of paper 2, the period studying the American West. They will then move onto studying Paper 3: Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918–39.

The current year 11 is finishing AQA Specification studying Britain: Health and the people: c1000 to the present day; Medicine through time and Elizabethan England, c1568–1603 for the exams in Summer 2027.

Key Stage 5

In Year 12 we focus on the theme of rights and freedoms in the twentieth century, looking at the USA and at South Africa. We consider the Social, Political and Economic History of the USA (1917-1980) and the rise and demise of Apartheid in South Africa (1948-1993).

In Year 13 we study the British experience of warfare, 1790-1918, including the Napoleonic wars and World War One.  Students also complete an essay on an interpretation relating to the French Revolution as coursework.  This coursework is excellent preparation for the researching and essay writing skills which are essential at university.

Students find this course extremely challenging but highly rewarding. We read a lot, and we write a lot of essays. We make no apologies for this and, with the expert help of our teachers, we have helped our students make significant progress in their writing. This is very helpful for our students, most of whom go on to university.

A Level History is not just for students interested in social sciences and humanities. The hard sciences require students to reason and analyse, but many university courses in science will also require students to produce a 10,000-word dissertation in their third year. The support we give in developing complex writing is not to be underestimated.

Please see links below for the History Curriculum Intent and easy-read curriculum map, which explains what your child is learning and when throughout the year.