Through the History curriculum, we seek to nurture and inspire in our students a deep passion and drive to learn more about the past, to critically interrogate historical evidence and see historical enquiry in the context of the big debates and controversies of our times.

We seek to create effective historians with intuition and discernment, students able to make informed opinions, create balanced arguments and draw nuanced conclusions which are substantiated with evidence. The History curriculum allows students to dive deeply into topics such as the significance of women throughout the centuries to provide them with ‘powerful knowledge’ of the world in which we live.

The sixth form Politics curriculum develops students’ knowledge and understanding of contemporary political structures and issues in their historic context, both within the UK and globally. We wish students to develop a passion for political thought and action and an understanding of the fabric of the world they inhabit and the consequential rights and responsibilities of individuals and groups in that world.

Content

Years 7-9

The Norman Conquest, the development of the medieval and early modern church, state and society, slavery and its historical legacy, the rise and fall of the British Empire, migration in Britain and the 20th century world including the Holocaust.

Years 10 & 11

Medicine through time, Weimar and Nazi Germany, Spain and the New World and Early Elizabethan England.

Sixth Form

The sixth form History curriculum comprises Britain, 1626-1701, Russia, 1894-1924, Civil Rights and Race Relations in the USA, 1850-2009 and coursework on the Holocaust. The sixth form Politics curriculum comprises UK government, core political ideas and global politics.

Examples of cross-curricular links

With Science, e.g. the emergence of the germ theory of disease in the 19th century. With Music, e.g. the importance of the medieval church as chief patron of the arts, including music. With RE, e.g. the impact of the British Empire on Hindus and Muslims in India.

Extra-curricular opportunities

Lessons from Auschwitz, visiting speakers, university study days, sixth form immersion talks.