The aims of the history department are:
- To make the study of history stimulating and enjoyable and to encourage a lasting interest in the past
- To develop pupils’ understanding of the past
- To investigate historical events and people, change and continuity, cause and effect
- To examine historical sources critically
- To develop an understanding of bias and propaganda.
The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.
L. P. Hartley
History at The Queen's School
History is a compulsory subject in Years 7 to 9. The National Curriculum for Key Stage 3 forms the basis of our teaching. In Year 7 pupils learn about life in the Medieval Period (1066-1485); in Year 8 pupils study a modern history curriculum which included World Wars 1 and 2 and the rise of Fascism in Europe. We begin GCSE study in Year 9, with introductions to key units such as life in Elizabethan England. In the summer term, pupils also complete an historical enquiry on Victorian Whitechapel and the crimes of Jack the Ripper.
The subject is optional at GCSE. We follow the Edexcel course which covers the following key areas:
- Crime & Punishment Throughout Time
- Early Elizabethan England, 1558-88
- British America, 1713-83
- The USA 1954-1973: Conflict at home and abroad
At A-level our pupils study the transformation of Britain into a modern democracy between 1851-1964 and International Relations & Global Conflict, 1890-1941. There is also the opportunity to develop independent study skills in Year 13 when students complete an independent historical enquiry into the causes of the Great European Witch-hunt of the C16th & C17th.