History

Departmental Staff

Mrs F A Gunning, MA (Oxford) Head of History & Politics
N Hughan, BA (Southampton) Assistant Head of History
Miss S J Arthur, BA (Durham) Deputy Head
Miss C Green, BA (East Anglia) i/c Politics
Dr L Goldsmith, MA, PhD (Royal Holloway) Head of Initial Teacher Training
Mrs C J Peats, BA (Nottingham) † 
G R Sanderson, MA (Oxford) Deputy Head
C D Thompson, BA, PhD (Cambridge) Deputy Head of Sixth Form and Oxbridge
Co-ordinator

History & Politics at RGS

All students study history up the Third Form (Year 9) in mixed ability groups.  From the First Form (Year 7) to the Third Form we broadly follow the National Curriculum.  The main focus in each year group is outlined below:
Year 7 (First Form)              Medieval Realms
Year 8 (Second Form)         The Renaissance and Reformation, Tudor and Stuart England
Year 9 (Third Form)             Britain 1750 – 1914, World War 1

History is the most popular option subject at GCSE (about 80% of pupils choose History) and the second largest at AS and A level, with up to six sets in each year.  Results have been excellent in recent years with over 78% gaining A or A* at GCSE and over 70% at A*/ B at A level.                          

For GCSE we follow the AQA Modern World syllabus, while in the Sixth Form we have recently moved to the AQA specification and teach a range of options within it.  At AS these currently include The Reformation, Edwardian England, and Russia 1855-1917.  At A2 we intend to teach topics on, amongst others, Elizabeth I, German Nationalism, and American Civil Rights. Teaching at A level is arranged in teams of two.

A significant number of students go on to read History, Politics, or combined honours courses at top universities. The department has also enjoyed regular success at Oxbridge, with three offers secured for 2009 to read History, and one to read Social and Political Sciences. In 2010 two students gained places to read History at Oxbridge and one student in 2011.

The department runs a variety of study visits for different year groups, including a biennial trip to Moscow and St Petersburg for the Sixth Form and an annual trip to Ypres for pupils in Year 9. It also provides a Junior History Society, whilst in the Sixth Form there is a History societies run by the students themselves. The History club involves guest speakers and presentations by both students and staff.  

For a summary of the course please click here.

Examination Boards

History

GCSE: AQA The Modern World specification B
A-level:  AQA specification with a range of options within it

Examination Results: History

Departmental activities 2010-11

History

Although the Bodiam Castle visit has been a regular trip for First Form at RGS for many years now, the medieval medicine session was new to us and there was great interest shown in the herbal remedies, amputations and practices of the time, particularly the use of leeches. The Second Form enjoyed a visit to Hampton Court in March, and they were able to put their study of Henry VIII and the break with Rome into a physical context by being in the place where so many key events had been played out.  In terms of getting close to the past there is little more moving than standing at the Menin Gate in Ypres or surveying the endless lines of graves at Tyne Cot Cemetery for grasping the sheer scale of the conflict of World War One, and that was the experience of the Third Form as the whole year group visited the Western Front of Northern France and Belgium on a damp February day. They were able to gain some sense of the lives of the men who fought and the conditions they would have faced living in the trenches. A particularly poignant moment was the poetry reading – some well known First World War poetry, and some written by the students themselves – at Tyne Cot Cemetery under leaden skies as the sun went down. The Fourth Form visited London in July, taking in the Cabinet War Rooms and Churchill Museum. They had a hands on session making sense of the origins of the Cold War, focusing particularly on the role of world leaders at that time. In previous years we have attended an exam revision conference in London with the Fifth Form, but this time we were able to bring the session to RGS and the students spent a challenging but productive day testing their knowledge and honing their exam technique.

History remains very strong in the Sixth Form, and a consequence of this has been the huge popularity of the History and Politics Society. Its meetings have ranged widely in subject and have been student led, and the standard of talk given and discussion prompted has been very impressive indeed. In addition, the Sixth Form enjoyed Dr Goldsmith’s engaging lecture in the Summer Festival. Based on the Crusades, it was thought provoking as she both took us back in time and made links to the present and connected her lecture to recent events.