History at TBOWA
It is my firm belief that History is the best subject in the school curriculum. A true and unending soap opera – how can it fail to be fascinating? In view of this fact, History teaching at The Bishop of Winchester emphasises the excitement of the subject, whilst learning centres on the enjoyment of History. There are several school trips, including a three-day trip to the WWI battlefields of France and Belgium for Year 9, and a visit to the Tank Museum at Bovington.
The content of lessons is designed to appeal to all students, and learning activities are varied to account for students’ differing abilities and learning styles. From their first to their last days at TBOWA, students are led through a timeline of events & periods that incorporates British, European and American history from the days of Rome to the final decades of the twentieth century.
Year 7
In Year Seven, students take in the drama and danger of Rome and Roman Britain, followed by the mystery of the Dark Ages, King Arthur, and the violent upheavals of the Saxon, Viking and Norman invasions. Students end their first year by exploring the bloody end of the Middle Ages in England with the Black Death, the Peasants’ Revolt, and the Wars of the Roses.
Year 8
In Year Eight, students look in more detail at life for the rich, poor, and poorest peoples of Britain between 1500 and 1750. The overriding importance of Christianity in everyday life is investigated, and forms the context of a deeper analysis of the English Reformation when Henry the Eighth rejected the Catholic faith in order to marry Anne Boleyn. After this, students are asked, Just how ‘bloody’ was Bloody Mary; Was Elizabeth the First a good Queen; and Was the 1605 Gunpowder Plot really a government conspiracy? British History is rounded off before the end of the year when the focus shifts to America. Here students are encouraged to evaluate the noble aspirations of ‘The American Dream’ against its ignominious and inglorious foundations in the slave trade and early settlers’ displacement of the native population. There may also be an opportunity to visit the American Museum in Bath.
Year 9
In Year Nine, students who have elected to study for a GCSE in the best subject in the school curriculum will begin the first of four units that make up this modular course. The units or ‘modules’ have been carefully chosen from the Edexcel Spec. B SHP course because they form a holistic, chronological and highly relevant analysis of a very pertinent topic: war. Unit 1 is titled The Changing Nature of Warfare, and examines the history of war from the Roman era to the present day. The focus of this unit is DEVELOPMENT, which means the evolution of war in terms of the tactics, leadership, organisation and culture of armies and their military campaigns over the centuries. This unit is taught over the full year with a 1 hour 15 minute examination in June, which means that by the end of Year Nine, History students will have completed ¼ of their GCSE. There will also be the opportunity to visit the Tank Museum at nearby Bovington, as well as an extended three-day trip to the WWI battlefields of the western front in France and Belgium.
Year 10 (Units 2 & 3)
In Year Ten, students begin Unit 2, in which they look in depth at the Effects of World Wars One and Two on British society. While the backdrops to this unit are the cataclysmic global conflicts of the twentieth century, the analytic focus is firmly on the ‘Home Front’ – how ordinary people of all ages and social classes coped and pulled together to get through the war years. Recruitment and conscription, women at war, National Defence, The Blitz, and ‘Make Do and Mend’ are just some of the areas of interest in this fascinating module, which is assessed through a 1 hour 15 minute examination at the end of the year. In the latter part of Year 10, students will also begin Unit 3, which looks at World War Two from a different perspective: from the viewpoint of those living in Germany Between 1919 and 1945. Through careful analysis and criticism of historical sources, students learn how Adolf Hitler’s prejudices and vanity gave rise to a political creed of racism backed up by pseudo-scientific ‘evidence’, and how this led to the near extermination of entire social and ethnic groups and, ultimately, the greatest conflict the world has ever seen. This unit is assessed by a 1 hour 15 minute examination in January of Year 11.
Year 11 (Units 3 & 4)
In Year Eleven students finish off Unit 3 on Nazi Germany, taking their exam in January, and in February begin the final unit of their GCSE course. In Unit 4 they will assess the cultural aftermath of modern warfare on national identity, culture and society by focusing on Post-War America between 1945 and 1974. This era saw the dawn of the Cold War, the Civil Rights Movement of Martin Luther King, and the anti-war and Student Movements of the ‘hippies’. This unit will be assessed through two ‘controlled assessments’ undertaken during school hours, marked by me and audited by Edexcel.
These units link together to make up a comprehensive, chronological and varied analysis of war as one of the most emotive, controversial and constant features of human existence. Through each unit, moreover, war is examined from the perspective off different people living in different times and in different countries. The intention is not to revel in the glory of war, nor even indulge in the adventure of war stories, but also to ask meaningful questions regarding the morality of war: whether war can be justified, the effects of war on ordinary men, women and children, and also the after effects of conflicts in shaping new ideas about politics, society and what is right. Throughout this course, students will be required to draw on and improve skills of historical analysis, from the critical evaluation of types of evidence to the requirements of intelligent debate.
Dr J Hall
History Teacher
TBOWA
History – Course Breakdown in BriefYear 7
In year seven, students will look at the Romans and Roman Britain, followed by the Dark Ages, before completing a major unit on Medieval Britain. The year begins with a unit on Historical Skills and Terminology (chronology, source evaluation etc.) and students will be encouraged to practise these skills in their interpretation and analysis of historical periods, events, and key individuals.
Year 8
In year eight students will continue to develop the analytical skills they were introduced to in year seven. They will examine early modern Britain from the reign of Henry VII to the Act of Union between England and Scotland in 1707. They will then move on to explore the emergence of the United States of America, with a particular focus on the history of the displaced Native American people.
Years 9, 10 & 11 – History GCSE
Years 9 and 10 will study the Edexcel SHP Syllabus.
This course consists of four separate units, each with a slightly different analytical focus. The units are organised and taught so that they follow a chronological order; so that, in short, they tell a ‘story’.
Unit 1 looks at the development of warfare from the Romans to the present day; Unit 2 examines the impact of World Wars One and Two on British Society through the analysis of historical sources; and Unit 3 is a depth study, which explores the rise of Naziism in German society and politics between 1919 and 1945. Finally, there will be two controlled assessment pieces on the post-war period in American society, culture and politics from 1945-1974.
These topics have been selected for their relevance to young people today, their emotive content, and for the moral and ethical questions they raise for scholars of modern history.
This course offers the opportunity for a three-day field trip to the WWI Battlefields of France and Belgium, and a day trip to the Tank Museum at Bovington.