History

We want our students to be able to participate fully in the world when they leave us, to understand how fragile the rights and freedoms some enjoy today are so that they can play a part in shaping our society in the coming years for the better. We want our students to have developed skills of research, analysis and communication that will set them up for life and they will use long after they have forgotten the dates and names. We want our students to develop to be the best historian they can. If we do all of this then they will not only become good at History but a by-product will be they achieve excellent examination results. We firmly believe that examinations are a measure of how well we are teaching students to be good historians rather than the end in itself. Therefore History is at the heart of what we do, not examinations.

Students should be taught in Years 7 to 9 the story of how we ended up where we are so that they can see where we may end up. They do this through looking at topics in depth in lessons and by building up their understanding of bigger stories over the three years. If our philosophy for Years 7 to 9 is correct, and we believe based on the research from around the world that we have seen it is, then why should our teaching of examination classes be any different. Whilst the contents of lessons is shaped by the set curriculum, we do not just teach students just to pass the exam. Rather we want to continue to develop their ability to research, analyse, evaluate and argue so that will thrive in the future. With the support of the Department of History at the University we hope History at UoBS will empower our students to become people who will go out into the world confident and compassioned citizens who will shape our future for the better after we have all long gone.