Faculty: Humanities
Subject: History
Subject Leader: Mr L Billingham – Head of History
Staff and Responsibility: Mr L Billingham, Mr M Gameson, Ms G Baker, and Mr A Coyle
Subject Overview
The History Department aims to develop a lifelong interest in the study of History in all students. Through this study the students will acquire the skills and perspectives that will enable them to lead successful and enriching lives. The content of all of our courses allows the students to make sense of current affairs by relating to the past and to develop a moral perspective, a sense of empathy and a tolerance of a range of opinions. Our teaching introduces all of our students to the distinctive methodology of the historian, in particular varied and exciting enquiries based on evidence with a focus on enriching other areas of the curriculum at the same time.
Course Content
History students in Year 10 and 11 will study Edexcel GCSE History and have the opportunity to study a wide variety of History. The exam is linear, and students sit three papers at the end of their course –
- Paper 1 – Thematic Study and the historic environment
1 hour and 15 minutes (30%)
- Paper 2 – Period Study and the British Depth Study
1 hour and 45 minutes (40%)
- Paper 3 – Modern Depth Study
1 hour and 20 minutes (30%)
Details of each section of the course are outlined below:
| Paper 1 – Thematic Study and the Historic Environment (30%) |
| Thematic Study: Medicine in Britian 1250-present This thematic study will enable students to gain an understanding of how medicine developed in Britain over a long period of time. Students will be able to understand how key features in the development of medicine were linked with the key features of society in Britain. More specifically they will analyse the nature and process of change over the time periods. This will involve understanding patterns of change, trends and turning points, and the influence of factors inhibiting or encouraging change within periods and across the theme. Students will look at key individuals and institutions (Church and government), science and technology and attitudes in society. They will be able to understand how factors worked together to bring about particular developments at times. |
| Historic Environment: The British sector of the Western Front, 1914–18: injuries, treatment and the trenches
Within the thematic study students will look closely at medicine on the western front during WW1. They will explore the technological and medical difficulties and advancements of the time. They will mainly focus on the types of injuries and systems of medical support in the trenches. |
| Paper 2 – Period Study and British Depth Study (40%) |
| British Depth Study – Elizabethan England c. 1558 – 1588 This option allows students to study in depth a specified period, the last early years of Elizabeth I’s reign. The study will focus on major events of Elizabeth I’s reign considered from economic, religious, political, social and cultural standpoints, and arising contemporary and historical controversies. Students will consider such historical debates as “Should Elizabeth have executed Mary Queen of Scots?” and “Why did the numerous plots and revolts against Elizabeth fail?” |
| Period Study – Superpower Relations and the Cold War 1941 – 1991 This unit covers a broad time period, and a more modern one. Learning about the Cold War gives students insight into modern politics, and World affairs. While predominately focused on the relationship between the USA and the USSR, students will also look at the Hungarian Revolution, the Marshall Plan, and more well-known events, such as the Cuban Missile Crisis. |
| Paper 3 – Modern Depth Study (30%) |
| Weimar and Nazi Germany 1918 – 1939 Mainly focussed on how Adolf Hitler legally created a Dictatorship in Germany, the unit starts with a study of the Weimar Republic, and ultimately why it failed and ended with Hitler in power. Finally, students will investigate key political moments in Hitler’s Government from the Night of the Long Knives to the Final Solution. |
