To enable students to question and influence the people and communities around them and help students make sense of the world as it is by exploring the world as it was, in an intriguing and ambitious way. We strive to make our curriculum representative of the past’s inhabitants, aiming to understand the broadest possible picture and the details that illuminated it.

Students begin Year 7 with an enquiry into how the Normans took control of England. They then consider the power of medieval monarchs before assessing the extent to which the Reformation impacted England under the Tudors. Towards the summer term Year 7 students are introduced to the Transatlantic slave trade and analyse its effects and eventual abolition. Students end Year 7 with a thematic study investigating migration to Britain through time.

In Year 8 students will build upon the skills introduced in History in their first year here at Finham and will develop their understanding through an analysis of the events of the twentieth century. We deal with the themes of conflict and tension through a consideration of World War One, the inter-war years, Nazi Germany and World War Two.

Students begin Year 9 with a depth study of the Holocaust before embarking on a thematic study of medicine through time. Assessments take place within each topic for all years where students are challenged to debate and reflect on what they have studied.

The History Department currently follows the AQA GCSE syllabus which is 100% exam based. The GCSE consists of 2 written exams lasting 2 hours each which are taken in the summer term of Year 11. One paper assesses knowledge of two British topics and the other paper assesses two wider world topics.

For Paper 1 (Understanding the Modern World) GCSE historians study America, 1840-1895: Expansion and Consolidation and Conflict and Tension, 1918-1939. In the America topic students follow the expansion of the country into the west and learn about the development of its influence through the second half of the nineteenth century. The Conflict and Tension topic focusses on attempts at peacemaking following the First World War and seeks to find answers about the causes of the Second World War.

For Paper 2 (Shaping the Nation) GCSE historians study Health and People, C. 1000 to the present day and Norman England, c.1066-c.1100. The Health and the People topic is a thematic study about how medicine has changed and progressed throughout time. We look at the fight against disease, public health and surgery in a range of different time periods including the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, 1750-1900 and the 20th century. Part of the course also focuses on themes and how these have helped developments in medicine for instance, warfare, religion, science and technology and their effects. As part of this we also consider the role of individuals and different groups and how they influenced the fight to understand and treat illness. As part of their study of the Norman Conquest, students draw conclusions about life under the Normans as they discover how William the Conqueror secured the English throne and consolidated the Norman’s position in England. As part of this unit, every year students are assigned a different historical site linked to the Norman Conquest which they must study in detail in order to answer a question on it in the exam.

Our topics are sequenced across the course of the GCSE to give students opportunities for retrieval and retention of the four topics throughout. We vary our sequence between British and world history to enhance student engagement whilst enabling students to continually develop their knowledge.

A Level students have two teachers in history, each teaching students a different section of the course. We teach the AQA syllabus.

The A Level course consists of 3 sections. One is a study of India which is a non-examined assessment (NEA) essay worth 20% of the overall A Level grade. The other two are exam based and taken at the end of Year 13. One is based on a study of British history and the other European.

British History: The English Revolution 1625-1660
European History: Russian history covering the years 1855-1964, the three Tsar’s (Alexander II, Alexander III and Nicholas II) and the three dictators (Lenin, Stalin and Khrushchev).
India NEA: 1847-1947 Indian Independence and Partition. This is assessed as an historical enquiry of 3500 words.

Learning and Assessment in History

In History we use a wide variety of stimuli to inspire and encourage our students to be active participants in our lessons. These include: pictures, cartoons, written sources, films, documentaries, newspapers and music. Students are offered a range of perspectives in the sources they are provided with to consider at all Key Stages and students are encouraged to take responsibility for their own learning through a variety of activities which are designed to meet the needs of all learning styles.

Throughout Key Stage 3, 4 and 5 students are assessed on a number of historical skills including: knowledge and understanding; use of source material, and understanding different interpretations. They are encouraged to develop their skills of analysis and judgement, which are essential for success at GCSE and A Level, and to draw conclusions on the following within the topics they study: change and continuity; cause and consequence, significance, and similarity and difference.