Introduction from Julia Browne

Team Leader for History and Politics

Email Julia Browne

History is a dynamic and everchanging subject which gives students a vital foundation for understanding their world, whilst equipping them with the essential skills to negotiate their place within this world.

We have developed an exciting thematic curriculum at Key Stage 3 which covers a wide range of local, national and international units that enable students to understand how our past is formed and interpreted and why History is so relevant to the world today. As such, we encourage students to make links across time as well as develop the six core historical skills which are necessary to interpret the past successfully. Then at GCSE, students have the opportunity to develop these skills further through a range of units such as the Cold War or Migration through time. Finally, our students can specialise even further through A Levels in History or Politics where they can expand and challenge their knowledge of our world and how it has formed.

Our Department is committed to fostering our students’ skills in communicating ideas and presenting information in sustained responses which evaluate and analyse. We also work to enhance the problem-solving abilities of our students through their use of historical sources and their understanding of how historians have created different versions of the past. Crucially, we aim to maximise the opportunities for students to develop successful working relationships with others, through discussion, group activities and role play, as well as reinforcing their skills of resilience, confidence and independence. Most of all we want students to develop their sense of curiosity about their world, whilst being encouraged to learn more about a diverse range of global histories.

GCSE specification: Edexcel

A Level History specification: OCR

A Level Politics specification: Edexcel

Team members:

Julia Browne - Curriculum Team Leader History & Politics

Michael Carver

Andrea Howard

James Thedham