Curriculum spotlight

History

Mr Copeland Head of History

According to the civil rights campaigner Marcus Garvey, “a people without knowledge of their past history are like a tree without roots.” As historians it is our job to try and understand the world in which live, how we got here and who we are. No matter how obscure the stories we cover are they all contribute to culture, society and politics right here and now. To that end we are tailoring a curriculum that provides excitement, intrigue and mystery (as well as the odd murder or two!) that helps our students engage in current debates over the removal (or not) of statues, how best to respond to pandemics, or the origins of ongoing debate in the world.

It’s not all highbrow though. I must admit that we have cherry picked stories of individuals, societies and moments in the past that fascinate and inspire us as teachers. Whether it be Mr Rodgers discussing Peter the Great and his war against beards, or myself banging on about how crates of wine nearly derailed the Russian Revolution, we’ve tried hard to find stories that excite, as well as inform.

We are working hard to update our curriculum and bring it into line with modern social developments. Our core focus remains on ‘this island story,’ with year 7 analysing the impact of the Normans, life in Medieval England and the impact of Henry VIII. In year 8, we study the British Civil Wars, Britain’s development as a global, imperial power and life in the 19th Century. Year 9 focuses on the earthshattering events of the world wars, the horrors of genocide and how Britain became a multi-cultural nation. Britain isn’t our sole focus though; each year features at least one ‘global study’ to try and broaden students understanding of other cultures and societies. Our favourite (and bloodiest!) example of this is our year 7 study of Genghis Khan.

Finally, we firmly believe that the past is not agreed upon - just look at Edward Colson; he went from a ‘local boy done good’ to a ‘monster’ whose statue was dumped in the Severn! If we’re honest with ourselves, historians are argumentative so-and-sos. We’ve embraced this and work hard to ensure debate and discussion are at the heart of our lessons, allowing students to weigh the evidence, views of historians and views of their peers before coming to their own conclusions about the past. After all, as the American writer Elbert Hubert put it “History is gossip well told.”