“Man is a history-making creature who can neither repeat his past nor leave it behind.” W.H.Auden
“A historical education achieves a number of goals at once: it trains the mind, enlarges the sympathies and provides a much needed historical perspective on some of the most pressing problems of our time.” John Tosh
The History Department at Chigwell aims to encourage an appreciation of the past, promoting the enjoyment of its rediscovery. We encourage our pupils to embrace the study and understanding of all aspects of past human experience, individual and collective.
Through its teaching style, the History Department encourages full participation by pupils in lessons, whether in debates, class discussion, group work or occasional rôle-plays. The focus of class and homework ranges from short-answer responses to essay-writing, with a common emphasis on handling source material. We teach students how to work independently and then to present the results of their study to others. Chigwell students are encouraged to question: Do we know for sure? How do we know? Where is the evidence? Can the evidence be interpreted differently?
The department provides all the core resources students require, including textbooks and handouts. Our History rooms have interactive whiteboards, DVD players and VCRs, and extensive use is made of these. In addition, to ensure students' potential is fulfilled and the best grades are achieved, we encourage pupils to use the School's developing Chigwell Online resources network, where notes, articles from history journals, past questions and mark schemes can be found. Similarly, the School library houses many texts that cannot necessarily be covered in class time but form essential wider reading.
From the Third Form through to Removes we cover the following topics: What is History?; Medieval Realms; Islamic Civilizations; Tudors and Stuarts; the Industrial Revolution including empire and slavery; events of the 20th century including World War 1; and aspects of World War 2 including the Holocaust.
| |
At GCSE, students follow the Edexcel Modern World syllabus investigating: Germany 1919-39; International Relations 1929-69; The USA 1945-70; and Changes in British Society 1955-75.
At A Level, pupils follow the AQA syllabus studying: Henry VIII and the Reformation; Elizabeth I; France in Revolution 1774-1815; and they conduct an independent investigation into an aspect of Russian history between 1850 and 1950.
We believe in stretching our pupils academically, for example Lower Sixth students are encouraged to attend lunchtime lectures and discussion groups on topics beyond the curriculum. For example, recent sessions have been held on Marxism; the Whig interpretation of the past and the rise of the TV Don. Advice and guidance is offered for prospective undergraduate historians and mock interviews for Oxbridge candidates are held.
The department organizes many activities beyond the classroom, including trips to medieval castles, museum visits and overnight visits such as those to Ypres and the Somme, Normandy and Berlin. Sixth Form students attend A Level conferences in central London.
|
?