History
Head of Department
Mrs K Gambrill
“How do you know who you are unless you know where you’ve come from? How can you tell what is going to happen unless you know what has happened before? History isn’t just about the past, it is about why we are who we are, and about what is next.”
(Tony Robinson)
The History department aims to help pupils gain a clear knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world. History should inspire pupils’ curiosity to know more about the past. Students will learn to ask thoughtful questions, present ideas, weigh arguments and make decisions. History helps pupils to understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups, as well as their own identity and the challenges of their time.
Throughout KS3 and KS4 students will be taught the principles of democracy, the importance of toleration and how these values have been challenged throughout History.
History is all around us – on the TV, in newspapers, on book shelves and at the cinema. We believe that History forces students to ask questions about particular people, events or cultures – not just Where and When but more importantly, Why and How. We encourage our young Historians to think about these questions and discover the past for themselves, and in so doing, form their own opinions whilst developing their own analytical and reasoning skills.
Curriculum content
Year 7
Students will investigate:
What was life like in the Neolithic Stone
How did Medieval Kings maintain control?
What was life like in Medieval England?
What threats did the Crusaders face?
Why did religion change in Tudor England?
Does the Globe Theatre represent Elizabethan society accurately?
Why was there a Civil War? Includes a local study on Basing House
What was the Industrial Revolution?
How did the Industrial Revolution change the lives of normal people?
Year 8
Students will investigate:
Why did Britain want an empire?
How should the British Empire be reflected?
What was the Slave Trade?
What was life like on a plantation?
What was the most important event of the Civil Rights Campaign?
Why was there a French Revolution?
What was the significance of the Revolution in France?
How close was Britain to its own revolution?
Peterloo, Swing Riots or Suffragettes, what had the biggest impact in the 19th and early 20th Century?
Who was Jack the Ripper?
Year 9
Students will investigate:
What does the lives of Ernest Coleman, Gavrilo Princip and Adolf Hitler tell us about WW1?
What was the most significant event of WW2?
Should the bombing of Dresden be considered a war crime?
Why was there a revolution in Russia
What was the Cold War?
Why did the Russians and Americans fall out?
How close did the world come to nuclear war?
What was life like in Nazi Germany?
What was the Holocaust?
How did the Holocaust happen?
KS4
At GCSE students follow the AQA History GCSE, which includes a thematic study (Britain: Health and the people), two depth studies (Conflict and tension 1894-1919 and Elizabethan England 1568-1603), and a period study (Germany, 1890-1945: Democracy and dictatorship). In these units students will learn how mistakes led to medical discoveries, how a crisis in Morocco led to the First World War, why an English Queen executed her cousin and how a failed artist took control of Germany.