Elizabeth's Court and Parliament

Students will learn about Elizabeth I’s background and character, including what life was like in her court and how her power was distributed. The students will consider the challenges that she faced when she first came to the throne and the way those changed over the course of her reign. Students will assess the importance of these challenges, and they will hone their historical evaluation through essay questions.

Life in Elizabethan times

Students will learn about the Elizabethan ‘Golden Age’, which famously includes the rise of permanent theatres and Shakespeare’s plays. The complexity of this time period will help students to understand the dynamism of Elizabethan England. On the one hand it was a time of prosperity and expanding exploration and on the other hand, it was a time of crushing poverty that led to the beginnings of the English welfare state.

Elizabethan troubles at home and abroad

In this term, the focus will be on religious matters and conflicts with Spain, many of which were linked to concerns both about religion and competition in trade. In this term, students will look at the complexity of causation but also delve into the historical concept of ‘significance,’ as so many problems had many different consequences.

The Cold War- Origins

Students will learn about the differing ideologies during the Cold War. They will consider the causes and events of the Cold War and seek to show why conflict occurred, and why it was difficult to resolve the tensions between the East and the West. Students will learn about the origins of the Cold War and the end of the Second World War, and the Yalta and Potsdam Conferences.

The Cold War- Development

Students will learn about the development of the Cold War in relation to the significance of events in Asia, including the Korean War, the Vietnam war, the Chinese revolution, the military rivalries and ‘The Thaw'.

The Cold War- Transformation

Students will finish the term learning about the Berlin Wall, why it was constructed and Kennedy's response to it in the USA. Finally, they will learn about the easing of tensions and the role played by Brezhev and Nixon. This unit will also have room for a discussion of the development of social movements in the USA, including the Civil Rights Movement, and its role in the easing of tensions between the USA and USSR in the 1970s.

Germany and the growth of Democracy

Students will develop the skills required at GCSE level history such as complex analysis of contemporary sources. Students will learn about the growth of parliamentary rule and the influence of the Prussians. Students will also look at the impact of the First World War in terms of war weariness, economic problems and the end of the monarchy.

Germany and the Depression

Students will learn about the impact of the Great Depression, and the failure of the Weimar governments in Germany. This part of the course will also explore the establishment of Hitler’s dictatorship and Nazi Germany.

The experiences of Germans under the Nazis

Students will learn about the societal changes that occurred due to Nazi rule. Students will study both economic and social changes, with a focus on the impact on women and children.

Health and the People: Medicine stands still

This term will mark the start of the study of Health and the People, in which students will study the history of medicine across time. Students will start their study in the Middle Ages and learn about the approaches to Medieval medicine in both Western Europe and the Islamic Empire. They will also study public health in the Middle Ages, such as the responses to the Black Death.

Health and the People: The beginnings of change and a revolution

In this term, students will move onto the Renaissance and look at the massive changes that occurred, especially in surgery, to health and medicine in this time period. Students will understand the impact of the Renaissance on Britain as well as the development of Germ Theory. They will also learn about improvements in public health in industrial Britain. It is through this study that students will start to see the links between our modern understandings of public health and medicine and the historical practices of medicine.

Health and the People: Modern Medicine

In the final section of the Health unit, students will understand how the transformations of the 18th century came to fruition in the 20th century in Britain and around the world. Topics include the development of medical technology and the development of public health, including the NHS. This study will allow both for students to complete a thematic consideration of how medicine has changed across time (for instance, but just considering surgery), but it will also allow students to think again about the wide-ranging significance of various historical developments.