History

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introducing history

Our aim is to inspire an interest in the past, so that pupils will continue to read and enjoy history throughout their lives. The underlying principle is to introduce pupils to the idea that history is an analytical subject which depends upon sensible interpretation of evidence: it requires more than merely the accumulation of facts about the past.

year 9

The Year 9 History programme provide pupils with an understanding of the political, social, cultural and religious issues of the past, both through investigative learning and from the perspectives of contemporaries and historians. In Year 9 pupils study;

The History of Sedbergh School – In Michaelmas Term, pupils study why Roger Lupton, Headmaster of Eton College and chaplain to King Henry VII, founded a school in Sedbergh. Pupils then learn some of the History of the school, its buildings, its language and culture, its people and events and also the relationship with Sedbergh town.

The rise and fall of the British Empire – This thematic study seeks to explain how the British Empire covered, at its peak, a third of the world and how it subsequently declined. Pupils study factors that influenced migration as well as looking at case studies of America, Australia, India and Africa. Finally, pupils tackle the question ’Should Great Britain today feel proud or shameful of its colonial past?’

GCSE

This is a two-year iGCSE course through the Pearson Edexcel exam board, with two exams taken in the summer term of Year 11. Each exam is worth 50% of the course. There is no coursework for GCSE History.

For exam paper one, pupils study; Germany and the development of dictatorship from 1918-1945 and then Superpower relations, 1943–1972

For exam paper two, pupils study the origins and course of World War One, and then the changing role of international organisations: the League of Nations and the United Nations, 1919–c2011

A LEVEL

This is a two-year course through the AQA exam board, with two exams taken in the summer term of Year 13.

The examined content is; The British Empire, c1857–1967 and Modern USA, 1945–1980. In addition, all pupils submit a piece of Non-Examined Assessment (Coursework) which is a 3,500 word research essay on either the Crusades or rebellions against the Tudor monarchs. The NEA is worth 20% of the A Level.

To complement the USA topic, pupils have a chance to visit Washington DC to see key government and historic sites such as the White House, Capitol Hill, the Pentagon and the Lincoln Memorial. To practice their public speaking, pupils have the opportunity to present on a historical/ political topic of their choosing to the Bracken Society.