History

The new GCSE course gives opportunities to study history from a variety of perspectives, including social, economic, and cultural, thereby helping students to appreciate the diversity of the societies studied and the experiences of the people in those societies. It is a wide ranging course allowing you study in depth across a range of periods and topics. If you have enjoyed history in years 7-9 there is no reason to doubt that you'll enjoy this new GCSE course. You will continue to develop the historical skills which you have already been using: looking at sources, dealing with bias and propaganda, and collecting and organising information. The course is about helping us to understand the world we now live in and is essentially about people - what they did and why they did it.

There are a number of periods studied:

Paper 1 - Thematic study and historic environment Written examination of 1 hour and 15 minutes. (30% of the total marks)

Medicine in Britain c1250-present day and the British sector of the Western Front 1914- 1918: injuries, treatment and the trenches or crime

Paper 2 - period study and British Depth study Written examination of 1 hour and 45 minutes. (40% of the total marks)

Early Elizabethan England 1558-1588 and The American West

Paper 3 - Modern Depth Study Written examination of 1 hour and 20 minutes (30% of the total marks)

Weimar and Nazi Germany 1918-39

In GCSE History we make use of a variety of Historical resources that include newsreels, films, photographs, cartoons, written primary sources as well as the very latest textbooks approved by the AQA exam board. Work is presented through essays, oral presentations, role play, group and individual projects, wall charts and there is plenty of opportunity to use I.T There is also the opportunity to visit and study historical events and places first-hand through the trips arranged by the History Department. GCSE History is an extremely valuable and highly respected qualification for further training in all areas of education and employment. It combines well with both arts and sciences at A Level and is appropriate and relevant to a range of careers. The skill set that the subject provides you with; critical thinking, analytical approach, the ability to communicate effectively and efficiently are highly prized by further education institutions and employers.

GCSE Germany - here are some resources that will be useful for your studies:

9th November 1918: Wilhelm II abdicates as Kaiser of Germany 

18th January 1919: The Paris Peace Conference begins

21st June 1919: The German fleet is scuttled at Scapa Flow

11th August 1919: Weimar Republic established after constitution signed

12th September 1919: Hitler joins the German Workers Party

13th March 1920: Start of the Kapp Putsch in Berlin

26th September 1923: Weimar Germany ends the strikes in the Ruhr

15th October 1923: Rentenmark introduced in Weimar Germany

8th November 1923: The Beer Hall Putsch begins in Munich

1st April 1924: Hitler found guilty of treason for the Beer Hall Putsch

20th December 1924: Adolf Hitler released from Landsberg Prison

4th April 1925: Adolf Hitler orders the establishment of the SS

18th July 1925: Hitler publishes first volume of Mein Kampf

27th August 1928: The Kellogg-Briand Pact is signed

30th January 1933: Adolf Hitler appointed Chancellor of Germany

30th June 1934: Nazi party purged on Night of the Long Knives

2nd August 1934: Hitler becomes Führer following Hindenburg's death

26th February 1935: Hitler formally establishes the Luftwaffe

15th September 1935: 'Nuremberg Laws' introduced in Germany