History

This year more History pupils than ever before achieved a Grade C or above…   a massive 81%

That is almost 20% above the national average for History

A very deserving 13 pupils achieved grade A or A* 

We are continually one of the most highly achieving departments in the school

Staff

The teachers are:
Mr J Buckley (Head of Dept)
Mr M McCarthy
Mr S O’Mahony
Ms M Hammill
 

Department resources

We have two dedicated history teaching rooms, with an interactive whiteboard in the main history teaching room as well as a large collection of film and documentary material to aid learning. A wide range of textbook sets are used in class with all year groups, and many pupils are able to take a textbook home. We also have extensive differentiated material to ensure all abilities are catered for, including the most up-to-date strategies for improving teaching and learning.

What pupils study:

Year 7 – The Romans + Medieval Britain 1066-1500

• From September to December: Pupils study the Roman Empire after an introduction to what history is about. The study includes Rome’s beginnings, legends, the change from Republic to Empire, and aspects of Roman life, including the army, entertainment and slavery. We return to different types of slavery in Year 8. We also look at the impact the Romans had on Britain.
  Activities include designing a guide to ancient Rome and analysing the reasons for the success of the Roman army.
• From January: Pupils tackle the Core Study Unit, ‘Medieval Britain 1066 – 1500’. They begin with the Norman Conquest, and study castles in depth. They go on to the Church, including the murder of Thomas Becket and the Crusades.  By July, they will have studied life in towns and the countryside, punishment, the beginnings of Parliament, the Magna Carta, the Peasants’ Revolt and the Black Death. There is an opportunity to visit the Tower of London and Dover Castle as part of this unit.

Year 8 – Tudors and Stuarts + Black Peoples of the Americas + local history 

• September to February: Pupils studying British History from 1500 – 1750, namely the ‘Tudors and Stuarts’.  This period covers the Reformation, the growing power of Parliament and the Civil War.
  Activities include looking at how Elizabeth used portraits to project an image of herself, investigating what it was like to fight in the Civil War on both sides and how the war affected ordinary people as well as those in positions of power. They also look at differing interpretations of Oliver Cromwell.
• February to June: We study the unit  ‘Black Peoples of the Americas’, which covers origins in Africa, the development of the slave trade, life on a sugar, cotton or tobacco plantation, rebellion, winning freedom, segregation, and eventually equality, covering the American Civil War, significant Black American leaders and campaigners, and the Civil Rights Movement.
  This unit is closely connected to citizenship, as pupils debate the meaning of freedom, racism and equality, through this history right up to the present.
• Pupils finish the term working on a local history project about Bermondsey and the surrounding area of London, which includes two guided walks.

Year 9 – Industrial Revolution + Twentieth Century World 

• From September to January: Pupils study Britain from 1750 to1900. The topics include the new inventions and sources of power that created the Industrial Revolution, what it was like to live and work in an industrial town, and the campaign for the vote. Pupils also investigate the influence of the British Empire for good and bad.
• Activities include working in groups to solve the mystery of the disappearance of a factory boy, a National Curriculum assessment on conditions for children in the factories, and the designing of an Empire plate to show how people’s perceptions of the British Empire have changed.
• Trip: All groups visit the Science Museum to deepen their understanding of the inventions that changed Britain.
• From January to July: Pupils cover some of the main historical events of the 20th century.  They investigate the causes of the Great War, the Western Front, the Home Front and the Treaty of Versailles.  By the end of this unit, pupils will have studied the causes of World War Two and the war itself, including the dropping of the first atomic bombs.
• Activities include an assessment on the causes of the Great War and in-depth project work on the Blitz and the Holocaust.
• Trip: The Holocaust Exhibition at the Imperial War Museum.

Year 10 GCSE 

Pupils study the AQA Modern World syllabus as follows:

Paper One (37.5% of the marks) 

• Causes of World War One
• World War One (including the Western Front and Home Front in Britain)
• The Treaty of Versailles
  
  Trip: Visit to the Imperial War Museum to study the impact of the Great War on soldiers fighting in the trenches and people back home in Britain

 
Paper Two (37.5% of the marks)

• Germany 1919 – 1939
• The effects of the Great War on Germany and the problems faced by the Weimar Republic up to 1923
• Recovery 1924 –29
• How Hitler and the Nazis took power in Germany 1929 – 34
• Life in Nazi Germany including Youth, Education, Women, the Economy, Work and Leisure, the Jews and other Minority Groups, Propaganda, Police and Opposition Groups.

United States of America 1919 – 1939

Pupils begin by learning how the American system of government works.
The Roaring Twenties. This concerns the bright side of the 20s including Mass Production, the Boom, Cinema, Radio, Jazz, Women, and Henry Ford and the car.  We also study the darker side of this period including the Ku Klux Klan, Prohibition and Gangsters. 

Year 11 GCSE 

• Pupils return to complete Paper One by covering the League of Nations, Causes of World War Two and the start of the Cold War up to 1949. 
   
• The remaining 25% of the marks go towards two coursework topics:
  ‘The Vietnam War’ and ‘Evacuation in WW2’, made up of five written pieces.
   
• There are two trips – the first during the autumn term to the Imperial War Museum to research for the evacuation coursework, then in the spring term to a West End production of the fictional trial of Adolf Hitler, which revises the causes of the Second World War.
   
• Pupils sit two mock exams during Year 11 – for Paper 1 at the end of the autumn term and for Paper 2 at the end of the spring term.
   
• Year 11 Study Clubs are run on Mondays at 3.30 and there are three Saturday schools during the year to boost performance and aid revision.

Our aim is to ensure our pupils enjoy studying history at St Michael’s and achieve their potential at both KS3 and GCSE