History
History
History is a thought provoking subject which helps students to analyse events in the past, and how they link to the world around them today. In history, students learn the significance of key events in Britain, Europe and the wider world. It seeks to develop invaluable skills such as decision-making, forming interpretations, and evaluating arguments. History encourages students to challenge preconceptions of past and modern societies. Students will develop literacy and thinking skills as they progress in History - important tools in an adult world. History is also an important platform for teaching citizenship. During each stage, students have an excellent understanding of the level they are working at, and are given personalised targets in order to improve. This ensures that each student is able to reach their full potential at Canons.
Key Stage Three History
Year 8
Students learn about aspects of religious, social, and political change from 1500 to 1750. The course covers the National Curriculum requirements for teaching students about historical people and events. We study the reign of the Tudor and Stuart monarchs. We also look at the experience of people in England during the English Civil War, and tensions that arose as England moved from witchcraft and superstition to scientific discovery. Later in Year 8, students study the changing role of Britain from 1750 to 1900. This includes social and economic effects of the Industrial Revolution, the rise and fall of Empire, and the significance of the transatlantic slave trade. Alongside these topics, students are taught key concepts such as evidence, change and continuity, empathy, and interpretation. Students are encouraged to evaluate their ideas using sources to form their own opinions of the past.
Year 9
Year 9 History builds upon skills that students have acquired in Year 8. The key focus is on the Twentieth Century world. Students study the experience of the First World War, international relations during the 1930s, aspects of life in Nazi Germany, an empathetic understanding of the Holocaust, and the significance of the Second World War. Students will also study the post-War world by looking at the road to Indian Independence, and ending Apartheid in South Africa. Students have a much more progressive understanding of key concepts such as evidence, interpretation, and the evaluation of sources. They also are able to analyse and interpret information, events, and people at a sophisticated level. The course covers the National Curriculum requirements, and seeks to form a stronger link to citizenship by challenging students' ideas of the world around them. Year 9 students undertake a Holocaust Workshop in the Spring term.
GCSE History
Students in Years 10 and 11 choose to study History as one of their options. Students find the Edexcel Modern World History syllabus both stimulating and challenging. The course allows students to build upon skills learnt previously, and develop a more refined level of thinking and communicating. Students are encouraged to independently form judgements, and create challenging arguments about events in the recent past. The course is currently made up of four modular units. Each unit makes up 25% of their GCSE.
We start by looking at the USA from 1945 to 1970. This involves analysing the achievement of greater rights for black Americans and women, and evaluating the role of protest through source investigation. During Year 10, students will also study the era of the Cold War (1945-1991). The Controlled Assessment undertaken in Year 11 focuses on Crime, Policing and Punishment from 1880 to 1990, and includes a study of the Jack the Ripper murders, and a trip for students based on this theme. Finally, students gain an in-depth understanding of political, social, and economic events in Germany under the weak Weimar Republic, and the stronger Nazi regime. As with studies in the lower school, students who undertake History have an excellent understanding of the level they are working at, and their targets to improve. Most students who take GCSE History go on to study a Humanities-based course at our Sixth Form, and can enter a career in law or the media.