Department Aims
To make History an enjoyable and relevant subject by making it centred around the study of people, from the 'ordinary' to some of the most 'extraordinary' people who lived.
To develop students' skills and abilities for life that can be transferred to many situations. - an enquiring mind eager to understand how and why human beings have acted/do act; - a critical mind, weighing up evidence and different points of views and making judgements that are fair, unprejudiced and sensible given the available evidence.
Confidence to express opinions in a variety of ways.
Key Stage 3
We follow the programmes of study set out in the National Curriculum which identifies the aspects of history in which pupils are expected to make progress and to be assessed:
Knowledge of chronology
Knowledge and understanding of events, people and changes in the past
Historical interpretations
Historical enquiry
Organisation and communication
The following give a breakdown of general topics we cover:
Year 7
1. The Medieval World 1066 - C1485
2. A study of the Black Death
Year 8
1. Britain 1485 -1750
2. Development of the Slave Trade
Y9
1. Britain 1750 -1900
2. Aspects of the world after 1900
Key Stage 4
Two courses are studied:
A. Edexcel 'Modern World History' for current Y11 comprising the in-depth study of:
i. WW1
ii. Hitler's Germany
iii. Cold War 1945-1990
iv. Arab-Israeli Conflict from 1945
B. OCR 'Schools History Project for current Y10 comprising the study of:
i. development of medicine from early day to present
ii. Nazi Germany
iii. A local study
iv. The historical context of the current problems in Middle East
Career Opportunities In History
In many areas of work, employers look for someone with an enquiring mind, understanding and appreciation of other peoples' points of views and an ability to reach clear, fair, critical and informed decisions. These skills are central to the study of history in KS3 and KS4 and explain why a very high proportion of leaders of industry, for example, are history graduates.
Thus;
"[The] general and transferable skills gained by studying history, are much in demand in today's employment market. As good writers and communicators, researchers, analysts and critical thinkers, historians often follow careers in, for example, teaching, journalism, publishing, libraries, project management, retail management, local government and marketing"
(Connexions Service 2001)
However, possibly just having the opportunity to study the development of different cultures, past and present, so as to critically understand and belong to our multi-cultural, multi-racial society is grounds enough to study History.
Departmental Staff Members:
Subject Leader: Mr D Hickman
Teaching Staff: Miss R Ross, Mr K Heslop, Mr P Milner