Course overview
In Year 9 we study WW1, looking at the lives of soldiers in the trenches, and discuss whether those soldiers were well led . Students then consider the consequences of the war for both Britain and the wider world. We also examine the growth of the USA, looking in particular at the destruction of the Native Indians and the assassination of President Kennedy. Here, students are required to evaluate the evidence and decide whether this murder was the work of a lone gunman or was a wider conspiracy. The final term has an overview of Nazi Germany and WW2, and draws together students' experiences of History from across Key Stage 3.
At GCSE we look at the history of the 20th century in more depth. The OCR syllabus focuses on Democracies and Dictatorships, examining aspects of British social history such as the Suffragettes and the development of the welfare state. USA in the 1920s and 1930s with its Flappers and freedoms, its prohibition and its prejudice is compared to life in the Nazi dictatorship.
At AS and A2 students are given a choice of topics, some opting to study 16th century History, notably Henry VII, the Reformation, and Elizabeth I, while others stay with modern History, focusing on Fascist Italy, the Russian Revolution, and modern Britain to 1964.
Click on the links below to open up Powerpoint presentations in which you will find out more about the GCSE and 6th Form History courses
