History

History is a very popular and successful subject at Highgate Wood School with students making extremely rapid progress in all years, and enjoying significant success in examinations.

The History Department at Highgate Wood School aims to engage, challenge and encourage all students to develop both a passion for the past and an active interest in the world today.  Our curriculum celebrates the diversity of the school community and helps students to make sense of the world. We investigate the political, social and cultural changes of the past 1200 years by studying the stories of the many different people who have contributed to the history of Britain, as well as African, European, American and Asian History.

Students study the past by engaging with historical concepts such as change and continuity, causes and consequence, similarity and difference and historical significance. By teaching how to analyse the value of evidence, students learn how to think critically, identify bias and evaluate arguments. Considering the complex questions posed by historians and by studying different interpretations of the past, encourages students to understand that history is not a neutral collection of facts but is a series of arguments that change over time. History also teaches students to communicate clearly, formulate their own arguments and to present them persuasively in their extended writing.

Our hope for all our students is that studying a diverse and inclusive History curriculum provides them with the cultural literacy needed to succeed in life and actively participate in the world with empathy and integrity. By answering historical questions and learning how to question historical evidence and interpretations, students learn to think critically and become independent thinkers. By challenging students, stimulating their intellectual curiosity and firing their imaginations we give students transferable skills, preparing them to become lifelong learners and global citizens.

All students study the subject through Year 7, 8 and 9, when they make their choices for GCSE subjects, and many will then continue to take History for the next two years. Partly this must be to do with the enthusiasm within the school for subject and the ethos of high achievement that accompanies it.

The GCSE syllabus has been chosen to provide students with a diverse experience of History; both in terms of time and place, and in the development of a range of historical skills The period study allows students to analyse an unfolding narrative of events over time.

In the depth studies (both British and World) students engage with complex issues over a short time period. The British depth study also incorporates a focus on a specific local historical environment (building or other location) which students will relate to people and events of the period. The thematic study enables students to understand change and continuity over a long sweep of history. A range of exam question formats will assess students’ knowledge, understanding, analysis and explanation skills. Students will also be required to analyse primary sources and historians’ interpretations.

Course Assessment

50% 1 hour 45mins exam Paper 1 Understanding the modern world

  • Section A Period study: America1920-73 Opportunity & Inequality
  • Section B World depth study: Conflict and Tension 1918-1939

50% 1 hour 45mins exam Paper 2 Shaping the nation

  • Section A Thematic study: Britain, Migration, empires & people c790 to present day
  • Section B British depth study: Elizabethan England c1568-1603

History is an extremely popular option at A Level, with many students opting to study it as one of their core A Level choices. The study of history provides the opportunity to investigate the dramatic political, social and cultural changes that have made the modern world. It provides an insight into the past, but also helps develop an understanding of the present. Moreover the study of history equips students with a broad general knowledge background that stands them good stead for the future.

Currently our chosen exam board is AQA. Both their AS and A-level History qualifications have been designed to help students understand the significance of historical events, the role of individuals in history and the nature of change over time. This will help students gain a deeper understanding of the past through political, social, economic and cultural perspectives. The engaging topics available to them throughout the course will provide them with the knowledge and skills they require to succeed as AS and A-level historians.

Component 1

  • The Age of the Crusades, c1071–1204
  • Spain in the Age of Discovery, 1469–1598
  • The Tudors: England, 1485–1603
  • Stuart Britain and the Crisis of Monarchy, 1603–1702
  • Russia in the Age of Absolutism and Enlightenment, 1682–1796
  • Industrialisation and the people: Britain, c1783–1885
  • Challenge and transformation: Britain, c1851–1964
  • Tsarist and Communist Russia, 1855–1964
  • The British Empire, c1857–1967
  • The making of a Superpower: USA, 1865–1975
  • The quest for political stability: Germany, 1871–1991

Component 2

  • Royal Authority and the Angevin Kings, 1154–1216
  • The Wars of the Roses, 1450–1499
  • The Reformation in Europe, c1500–1564
  • Religious conflict and the Church in England, c1529–c1570
  • The English Revolution, 1625–1660
  • The Sun King: Louis XIV, France and Europe, 1643–1715
  • The Birth of the USA, 1760–1801
  • France in Revolution, 1774–1815
  • America: A Nation Divided, c1845–1877
  • International Relations and Global Conflict, c1890–1941
  • Italy and Fascism, c1900–1945
  • Wars and Welfare: Britain in Transition, 1906–1957
  • Revolution and dictatorship: Russia, 1917–1953
  • Democracy and Nazism: Germany, 1918–1945
  • The Transformation of China, 1936–1997
  • The American Dream: reality and illusion, 1945–1980
  • The Cold War, c1945–1991
  • The Making of Modern Britain, 1951–2007
  • The Crisis of Communism: The USSR and the Soviet Empire, 1953–2000

Component 3

  • Historical Investigation
Key Stage 3

All students study the subject through Year 7, 8 and 9, when they make their choices for GCSE subjects, and many will then continue to take History for the next two years. Partly this must be to do with the enthusiasm within the school for subject and the ethos of high achievement that accompanies it.

Key Stage 4

The GCSE syllabus has been chosen to provide students with a diverse experience of History; both in terms of time and place, and in the development of a range of historical skills The period study allows students to analyse an unfolding narrative of events over time.

In the depth studies (both British and World) students engage with complex issues over a short time period. The British depth study also incorporates a focus on a specific local historical environment (building or other location) which students will relate to people and events of the period. The thematic study enables students to understand change and continuity over a long sweep of history. A range of exam question formats will assess students’ knowledge, understanding, analysis and explanation skills. Students will also be required to analyse primary sources and historians’ interpretations.

Course Assessment

50% 1 hour 45mins exam Paper 1 Understanding the modern world

  • Section A Period study: America1920-73 Opportunity & Inequality
  • Section B World depth study: Conflict and Tension 1918-1939

50% 1 hour 45mins exam Paper 2 Shaping the nation

  • Section A Thematic study: Britain, Migration, empires & people c790 to present day
  • Section B British depth study: Elizabethan England c1568-1603
Key Stage 5

History is an extremely popular option at A Level, with many students opting to study it as one of their core A Level choices. The study of history provides the opportunity to investigate the dramatic political, social and cultural changes that have made the modern world. It provides an insight into the past, but also helps develop an understanding of the present. Moreover the study of history equips students with a broad general knowledge background that stands them good stead for the future.

Currently our chosen exam board is AQA. Both their AS and A-level History qualifications have been designed to help students understand the significance of historical events, the role of individuals in history and the nature of change over time. This will help students gain a deeper understanding of the past through political, social, economic and cultural perspectives. The engaging topics available to them throughout the course will provide them with the knowledge and skills they require to succeed as AS and A-level historians.

Component 1

  • The Age of the Crusades, c1071–1204
  • Spain in the Age of Discovery, 1469–1598
  • The Tudors: England, 1485–1603
  • Stuart Britain and the Crisis of Monarchy, 1603–1702
  • Russia in the Age of Absolutism and Enlightenment, 1682–1796
  • Industrialisation and the people: Britain, c1783–1885
  • Challenge and transformation: Britain, c1851–1964
  • Tsarist and Communist Russia, 1855–1964
  • The British Empire, c1857–1967
  • The making of a Superpower: USA, 1865–1975
  • The quest for political stability: Germany, 1871–1991

Component 2

  • Royal Authority and the Angevin Kings, 1154–1216
  • The Wars of the Roses, 1450–1499
  • The Reformation in Europe, c1500–1564
  • Religious conflict and the Church in England, c1529–c1570
  • The English Revolution, 1625–1660
  • The Sun King: Louis XIV, France and Europe, 1643–1715
  • The Birth of the USA, 1760–1801
  • France in Revolution, 1774–1815
  • America: A Nation Divided, c1845–1877
  • International Relations and Global Conflict, c1890–1941
  • Italy and Fascism, c1900–1945
  • Wars and Welfare: Britain in Transition, 1906–1957
  • Revolution and dictatorship: Russia, 1917–1953
  • Democracy and Nazism: Germany, 1918–1945
  • The Transformation of China, 1936–1997
  • The American Dream: reality and illusion, 1945–1980
  • The Cold War, c1945–1991
  • The Making of Modern Britain, 1951–2007
  • The Crisis of Communism: The USSR and the Soviet Empire, 1953–2000

Component 3

  • Historical Investigation

Additional Information

History is taught not simply as a series of facts and dates, but as an engaging narrative through which we can develop an understanding not only of what happened in the past, but how history relates to the world today and to our futures. It is also presented seriously as an academic discipline that helps develop the skills and approaches that benefit many other subjects.