History

History at Portland Place School

Head of History

Lisa Hunt

lisa.hunt@portland-place.co.uk

We aim to foster a fascination with history; challenging our historians to develop key skills such as deduction, source analysis and causation, as well as undertake project work. History is compulsory up to Year 9 and is always a popular choice up to A Level.

Year 7 study English history from 1066-1603, while the Year 8s cover Stuart and Georgian England focusing on the development of Government and the role of the empire, Victorian fight for suffrage, and Britain and the First World War. Year 9 focuses on the Twentieth Century World with topics on WWII, the Holocaust, and the US Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s.

At GCSE students cover Modern World History B (OCR). This encompasses International Relations 1919-39, Germany 1918-45 (Depth Study), Britain 1906-18, and the Arab-Israeli Conflict 1948-present (controlled assessment).

At A level students complete two modules in the first year and two in the second. AS Topics include England under Elizabeth 1558-1603 focusing on religion, issues of succession and foreign policy as well as the USA and the Cold War in Asia 1945-1975 with an examination of US foreign policy during the Korean and Vietnam Wars. A2 Topics include a controlled assessment unit with one part on the Russian Revolution and the second part a special study on a topic of the students choosing. The second unit examines US Civil Rights 1860-1992 with a focus on African America, Native American, Women and Trade Union rights.

Please feel free to view the outlines of work for each year and exam group. If you have an questions please contact the Head of History, Lisa Hunt – lisa.hunt@portland-place.co.uk

School visits range from the Tower of London (Year 6) Hampton Court and Mount Fitchet (Year 7), Portsmouth Dockyards and Kew Palace (Year 8) the Imperial War Museum (Year 9), Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey (Year 11) to the First World War Battlefields in France and Belgium (Year 11). The Sixth Form visits a different international place each year, this year it will be New York and Washington (please see sample itinerary). Trips to Egypt, Turkey and Boston are currently being considered.

Battlefields Trip 2012 (4 images)

Year 11 Battlefields Trip Year 11 took part in a week long cross-curricular tour of Belgium and France. The focus was on the impact of the First World War, but looked at through the lens of History, English Poetry, Geography, Classics, Art and Science. Staff gave talks throughout the week and students took part in memorial ceremonies at Polygon Wood, Menin Gate and Tyne Cot. Luckily the weather was beautiful and the students bonded well as a group making it an interesting and thought-provoking week.

Created: 20 Sep 12 13:32 | Last modified: 3 Oct 12 11:20

Year 10 Historical Workshop (13 images)

Created: 23 Jun 12 22:03 | Last modified: 23 Jun 12 22:06

Year 9 Imperial War Museum (20 images)

Created: 23 Jun 12 21:49 | Last modified: 23 Jun 12 21:53

Year 11 Trip to Westminster Abbey and Houses of Parliament (7 images)

Year 11 Trip to Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament Year 11 visited two historic London landmarks as part of their GCSE course. Two students give their views of the trip. Westminster Abbey, one of Britain's greatest and well-known Protestant churches. Even though it appears small on the inside, it is a place of truly majestic architecture that took hundreds of years to complete. Our tour guide showed us the history of Westminster Abbey through the famous people who are buried there. That includes Elizabeth I, Sir Winston Churchill, Handel and William Shakespeare. It was an interesting experience that taught me that this is one of Britain's greatest treasures. John Sperling I enjoyed the trip to Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament because I have never been to either before. I preferred the Houses of Parliament because we got to see how new laws were passed, met the MP of Westminster and got to go through a secret passage. The architecture in both buildings was phenomenal. In Westminster Abbey we got to go to the tomb of Edward the 1st which is normally closed off to the general public. This was an unexpected surprise. Phoebe Rowe

Created: 25 Nov 11 10:45 | Last modified: 25 Nov 11 10:47

Year 5 Outline