History

Fifth Form pupils study Edexcel IGCSE History.  This focuses on the key events of the 20th century that shaped the world we live in today.  Paper 1 covers civil rights in the US, with a focus on the mainstream movement of the 50s and 60s; our Germany unit looks at the origins of the Weimar Republic and the rise of Nazism. Paper 2 looks at the Vietnam Conflict between 1945 and 1975, and we finish with a study of China, from the Imperial period right through to the establishment of communist rule and the events of Tiananmen Square.  

At A Level, we study the USA from the American Civil War through to the depression and New Deal era, a depth study of the Holocaust which focuses on Historial Interpretations, and a European study covering Mussolini’s Italy, Stalin’s Russia and Hitler’s Germany.

History pupils are heavily involved in the production of the SHAPE faculty magazine and regularly participate in the European Youth Parliament and Model UN debates.  Each year we support local Holocaust Memorial Day events, and have heard testimony from local Holocaust survivors.  We have also organised, for example, a project on Oral History and visits to the Charleston Festival.

At GCSE, in tandem with the Philosophy Department, we run a trip to Krakow in Poland.  We explore the medieval heart of the city, and visit Schindler's Factory and Auschwitz-Birkenau.  A Level pupils have the opportunity to visit Washington, with the intinerary including the Smithsonian African-American Museum and Ford's Theatre, as well as tours of the Mall and Federal government institutions.

First pupils start by looking at the campaign for women's suffrage and the actions of the suffragettes in fighting for the vote.  We then move on to our study of the Holocaust, looking at the history of anti-Semitism in Europe and the impact of Nazi rule on Jewish communities across the occupied territories.