The teaching of History should inspire students to pursue their curiosity, building their capacity to learn and investigate the past.
At St George’s School, students’ history lessons guide them to make sense of the changing political and human landscape, and to reflect on and question what they discover. Students are given a strong chronological understanding of history, enabling them to place the events of the past in their context and appreciate their significance, both in their own time and in shaping our present.
A wealth of knowledge is the foundation of our curriculum; it is a tool to build a genuine breadth of perspective and coherence of understanding.
History is the science of humans in time. Its effective study promotes the development of respectful and informed young people who can understand the world as it is and appreciate the diversity of it. We look to help students become compassionate, empathetic members of society with the knowledge and understanding to make well-founded contributions to it.
History in Years 7, 8 and 9 is taught in mixed ability groups, with students in Year 7 receiving four hours teaching a fortnight of the subject and students in Year 8 and 9 receiving three hours a fortnight. The curriculum is designed to cover the objectives listed below, using a variety of engaging activities to inspire a lifelong love of the subject:
To develop students’ knowledge and understanding in the following key areas:
- The nature of power (social, political, economic, religious)
- The evolution of democracy over time
- Cultural diversity and changing societies over time
- Conflict and international relations over time
- Beliefs and ideologies
- ‘Understanding the past to make sense of the future’
To develop a student’s historical skills and sense of enquiry in the following key areas:
- Chronology (change and continuity and key turning points)
- Causes and consequences
- Significance of individuals, events and ideas
- Diversity and inclusivity
- Literacy and historical terminology
- Empathy and compassion with individuals and events in the past
This knowledge will be assessed in a range of ways throughout the course with students working on one summative assessment each half-term that could take the form of a knowledge test, presentation, essay or exam.
Students will receive a ‘prep’ task each week.
Additional Opportunities
The department runs a number of residential trips to Berlin for interested GCSE students.
The faculty offers a ‘digging deeper’ super curriculum which is available to all students via Google Classroom.
