History

Ellen McHugh is the Head of History and Head of the Faculty of World Studies. She specialises as an Economic Historian. She completed her BA (Hons) at the University of Leicester in 2002, studying a joint degree in Social & Economic History and Politics followed by her PGCE Secondary at Trinity and All Saint College at the University of Leeds. In 2013, Ellen also completed a MSc in Educational Leadership and Management, also from the University of Leicester. Ellen has been teaching in Hertfordshire since 2004 and has been working in girls’ schools since 2014. In her free time Ellen is an avid reader, but she prefers psychological thrillers to historical fiction.

Subject Overview

The History Department aims to develop students’ intellectual curiosity about the past and the people who lived there, so that they can understand and reflect on the society and culture of modern Britain and the Wider World.

The content in Years 7-9 is taught chronologically with a focus on developing the core skills of a historian; Using Evidence; Interpretation; Causation; Judging Significance; Similarity and Difference; and Change and Continuity. The content of our curriculum has a focus on British History and the History of the Wider World.

Programme of Study

Key Stage 3:
Year 7

• What is History?
• Who should be King in 1066?
• How did William control England?
• What was medieval life like?
• Who challenged the power of the King?
• The Tudors and Stuarts
• The Aztecs
• The English Civil War and Oliver Cromwell

Year 8

• The Industrial Revolution
• The Age of Empires
• Enslavement and Black Civil Rights
• Development of Human Rights
• Causes and consequences of the partition of India
• The Migration Nation

Year 9

• World War One
• World War Two
• The Holocaust
• The Cold War
• South Africa 1948-1994
• The Arab Israeli Conflict

Enrichment:
Students will have the opportunity to visit:

• Warwick Castle (Medieval Life)
• London Docklands (Slavery)
• Ypres (World War One)
• Secret Nuclear Bunker (Cold War)

Each year in the Spring Term we host a guest speaker from the Holocaust Education Trust for students in Year 9 to learn about the personal story of a Holocaust Survivor.

Key Stage 4:

GCSE History A: Explaining the Modern World
Examination Board: OCR (J410)

History is a very broad subject which not only covers many interesting events from our British, European and World past, but also helps us to understand the world we live in today. The beginning of the course picks up with the end of the First World War and takes us on a journey into the inter-war years, assessing the reasons for the rise of fascism, the international tensions which end up resulting in the Second World War. This continues into the Cold War hostilities between the USA and the Soviet Union. The nature of the GCSE course is set out to give you a broad overview of the twentieth century, which is then investigated in finer detail in relation to the USA and how it faced social changes including the Civil Rights campaigns and equality for women, and other marginalised people in society.

Beyond this, you will learn how to develop your analytical skills where you will assess the changing nature of British society and how it has dealt with the change nature of power over the last thousand years and judge how successfully the people have come together to promote democracy and human rights. The environment around us is scarred by history, which will be seen in our research into the development of castles in Britain, this will involve a site visit to learn more first-hand about how architecture was used to defend or intimidate, suppress and oppress the people of England since the time of the Norman Conquest.
Challenging but highly rewarding, History GCSE will require you to take an active interest in the past outside of the classroom and to read around the subject, but it will put you in a position of understanding the reasons why our society operates in its present form.

The aims of this qualification are to enable students to develop:

• History develops a variety of important employability skills such as problem solving, communication and developing confidence in sharing your own views and values.
• A qualification in History is highly respected and is connected to a wide variety of careers from professional historian to actor, to lawyer.

A Level History
Examination Board: OCR

Successful History A-Level students have a genuine interest in the past and how societies have worked. Their curiosity to learn more about cultures both foreign and distant are essential to enable them to embrace the variety of experiences they will study. They should be happy to read widely around the topics in the units below, and to want to read more about other topics and pursue interests beyond the curriculum. A willingness to write logical, detailed and balanced arguments is also important as the majority of assessment involves answering extended response questions. Ideally a grade 7 at GCSE would enable the student to be able to explore the issues and themes at A-Level.

The aims of this qualification are to enable students to develop

A-Level History will provide you with the skills required of an undergraduate – an inquiring mind and the analytical ability to critically evaluate evidence and write convincing arguments. It is a highly regarded subject that will open many doors at undergraduate level for you.