History
The History Department works to develop the skills and understanding of pupils across a range of historical periods and locations. The course is devised to give a sound understanding of the history of the United Kingdom, both individually and within a global context. It also covers the domestic history of several other nations and the key international developments of the Twentieth century.
The Sixth Form
The main aim of the course is to develop the skills acquired by students during their GCSE course and introduce them to a wider range of historical subjects and more developed concepts about the nature of history and historiography. There are three units at both AS and A2 level, taken from the OCR specification. At AS level, students investigate the causes of the American Civil War and British History, 1793 - 1841. The A2 course involves a broad study of Russian history between 1853 and 1953, including an in depth study of the role Peter the Great, as a coursework element.
Extra-Curricular
History is a subject that allows students to develop a range of cross-curricular skills, and many students find that they develop
transferable skills as a result of their historical studies, especially at examination level. There is a considerable degree of convergence
between History and Politics, as many of the concepts involved are similar, even if the topics covered are very different. The Department arranges a series of visits outside of normal school hours, the most significant of which have been two seven day visits to the USA. Over 50 pupils have taken part in each of these visits and it is something that we are repeating in February 2010. We also visit the battlefields of WW1 in Flanders and next year will be visiting the D-Day landing sites in Normandy.