History

Our Vision

The study of history stimulates an interest in and understanding of where we have come from. It helps young people understand the complex and dynamic changing world to understand how this contributes to the key historical events of today. It allows pupils to build up their own opinions of the past by looking at different viewpoints from a selection of periods and gives them an opportunity to investigate the past and make their own judgements. In history, we use a variety of teaching and learning styles in our lessons. At the very core of our department are our widely experienced staff who between them have a wealth of knowledge and interests, allowing for a diverse curriculum. We also believe in whole-class teaching methods and combine these with enquiry-based research activities, getting pupils to bring together all of the big questions looked at within a unit of work to answer one over-arching enquiry question. Pupils will have the opportunity to use a variety of primary and secondary sources such as newspapers, photographs, models and artefacts. Pupils take part in debates and discussions around key concepts and enquiry questions. They engage in a wide variety of problem-solving activities and wherever possible, we involve them in 'real' historical activity, as well as looking at their local area. We also encourage pupils to reflect on their learning through feedback and dialogue in their books to develop critical historians. The History department aims to provide a stimulating and rewarding Historical experience for all and helps pupils become thoughtful historians and independent thinkers who are able to express themselves clearly and respectfully.

We see our key objectives as:

Providing time to appreciate a range of historical events from around the globe in depth.
Giving the opportunity to gain an insight into different events and how they have affected a range of people from across the world.
Allow pupils to make links between events that have happened in the past and events affecting us today.

History encourages thought, thorough investigation and analytical debates, as well as drawing upon inference, explanation, evaluation and judgement skills.

As a department, we believe that History is important to a student’s programme of study for a number of reasons:

History teaches us lessons about the past, present and future.
It allows us to understand the world we live in, how we got here, and what our role in it is.
History teaches us valuable skills; being critical, building arguments, evaluating evidence, how to communicate and problem solve.