History and Politics

Aims for Year 7

The principal aim of the History Department is to enable boys to enjoy the study of History for its own sake, and to make it relevant to the world in which they live, beginning the building of a lifelong interest in the past as it relates to the present. Through the asking of a series of stimulating questions, and using a variety of methods, the department aims to develop the wider skills espoused by the School (the six Cs) and to put in place historical skills and understandings which will enable all boys to think like historians.

Course outline

Topic 1: Why am I at Merchant Taylors’?       

Boys will begin the year by building their own family tree going back to great great grandparents, researching their lives and their educational experiences. This will develop into a short study of the development of educational opportunity in Britain since the Middle Ages. They will also look at the history of Merchant Taylors’ School.

 Topic 2: Why do we expect to live to be a hundred years old?                                     

Boys will explore medicine in ancient Greece and Rome, Medieval understanding of sickness with a case study of the Black Death, and the impact of both the Renaissance and the Enlightenment on medicine. The impact of scientific research and government intervention, culminating in a study of the welfare state and modern medicine, will complete this topic. 

Topic 3: Why do we watch the X-Factor on Saturday nights?                                                 

This is a study of our use of leisure time. It will cover the limited leisure opportunities for ordinary people in the Middle Ages, early sports and pastimes, the development of organised sport in the 19th century, the advent of mass media in the 20^th century, popular culture, and the wide range of modern leisure.

Skills

The History Department will encourage the development of the School’s core skills of Cognition, Creativity, Curiosity, Collaboration, Communication and Confidence. For example, all the question based enquiries are designed first to stimulate curiosity and then to build cognition through study of the material and the nature of the written tasks which are set. Collaboration will be encouraged through group and pair work, and communication skills will be developed by class discussion and the requirement for boys to present their work to others through a range of media.

Skills specific to the study of History in Year 7 are:

1. Understanding of chronology – a perspective on time and the sequencing of historical events, leading to the construction of accurate historical accounts.
2. Awareness of continuity and change in history – understanding that the pace of change is not consistent.
3. Cause and consequence – the concept of events relating to each other in a complex causal linkage.
4. Use of evidence – the difficulties created for historians of studying the past through the traces it leaves behind.
5. Use of historical terminology – familiarity with terms such as parliament, peasantry, democracy, monarchy.
    

Year 8

Aims for Year 8

The History Department aims to build on the skills and knowledge which have been developed in Year 7. We will continue to build up layers of understanding of British and World History through the study of interesting questions which help boys to explain the world in which they live. In line with the School’s Year 8 theme “Beyond the Horizon” our course will explore the wider nature of society and how it has developed, through questions such as “Why do we live in a liberal democracy?” and “Why is the world threatened by terrorism?”

Course outline

Topic 1: Why do we have a police force?

Boys will explore the issue of law and order and trace the origins of how governments since the Norman Conquest have imposed the rule of law, initially through deterrent legislation and punishments, the use of military force, and then through the creation of the police service.

Topic 2: Why do we live in a liberal democracy?

Boys will study the issues at stake between Medieval kings and their people, Magna Carta, Simon de Montfort’s Parliament, the development of Parliamentary government, the Civil War, 1688 Revolution and events leading to extension of the franchise and the decline of monarchical power. We will end with a brief study of the workings of our democratic system today.

Topic 3: Why are our lives influenced by technology?

Boys will explore how the technological changes brought about by the industrial revolution in the 19^th century led to economic prosperity and a better quality of life. They will also look at the impact of technology on warfare and the devastating effects of war in the 20^th century. Finally, the importance of the digital age in transforming modern life will be examined.

Skills

The History Department will encourage the School’s six core attributes for Year 8 of aspiration, autonomy, articulacy, accountability, attachment and being active learners. The department is well placed to develop articulacy and autonomy in the sense of encouraging boys to think and speak for themselves around open-ended questions of interpretation, which form the very basis of the discipline of History.

Skills specific to the study of History in Year 8 are:

1. Understanding of chronology – a perspective on time and the sequencing of historical events, leading to the construction of accurate historical accounts.
2. Using historical terminology – familiarity with terms such as parliament, peasantry, democracy, monarchy.
3. Using ICT in History – ability to use online research tools, use of software to present work.
4. Summarising – the ability to synthesise information, condense text and re-write using own words.
5. Understanding cause and consequence – the concept of events relating to each other in a complex causal linkage.
6. Awareness of change and continuity – understanding that the pace of change is not consistent.
7. Using historical evidence – understanding that historians study the past through the traces it leaves behind.
8. Interpreting the past – Recognition that there are no definitive explanations of why history unfolded as it did.

Year 9

Aims for Year 9

The History Department aims to build on the skills and knowledge which have been developed in Years 7 and 8. We will continue to build up layers of understanding of British and World History through the study of interesting questions which help boys to explain the world in which they live. In line with the School’s Year 9 theme “Great Expectations” our course will look ahead to the challenges of GCSE History through the exploration of questions such as and “Why is the world threatened by terrorism?”

Topic 1: Why is the world threatened by terrorism?

Boys will look at the origins of the religious divide between the Christian and Muslim worlds with a special study of The Crusades. We will also look at the origins of the state of Israel and the nature of the conflict in the Middle East which has given rise to the complex tensions of the modern world. Historical threats of terrorism within the United Kingdom, such as Irish Republicanism, will also be examined.

Topic 3: Why did 200 million people die as a result of war in the 20^th century?

This topic will build on knowledge about technology to look at the major conflicts of the 20^th century – the 1^st and 2^nd World Wars, wars in Asia (e.g. Vietnam War), and the Middle East (e.g. the Gulf Wars). It will be linked to attempts to create international organisations such as the UN which try to preserve world peace.

Skills

The History Department will encourage the School’s six core attributes for Year 9 of expectation, enterprise, enthusiasm, empowerment, expertise and effort. The department is well placed to develop enterprise in the sense of encouraging boys to think and speak for themselves around open-ended questions of interpretation, which form the very basis of the discipline of History. The attribute of expertise can also be encouraged by deep exploration of topic areas.

Skills specific to the study of History in Year 9 are:

1. Understanding of chronology – a perspective on time and the sequencing of historical events, leading to the construction of accurate historical accounts.
2. Using historical terminology – familiarity with terms such as economy, social class, ideology.
3. Using ICT in History – ability to use online research tools, use of software to present work.
4. Summarising – the ability to synthesise information, condense text and re-write using own words.
5. Understanding cause and consequence – the concept of events relating to each other in a complex causal linkage.
6. Awareness of change and continuity – understanding that the pace of change is not consistent.
7. Using historical evidence – understanding that historians study the past through the traces it leaves behind.
8. Interpreting the past – Recognition that there are no definitive explanations of why history unfolded as it did.

The department follows the Edexcel 9-1 GCSE Specification which provides an exciting range of breadth and depth options and a stimulating range of topics.

Paper 1

Thematic Study and Historic Environment

Thematic Study: Warfare and British Society, c. 1250 – present

Historic Environment: London and the Second World War, 1939-45

1hr 15 minutes
52 marks
30% weighting
16 weeks teaching

Paper 2

Period Study and British Depth Study

1hr 45 minutes
64 marks
40% weighting
21 weeks teaching

Period Study: Superpower relations and the Cold War, 1941-91

(Period Study: 32 marks, 20% weighting)

British Depth Study: Anglo-Saxon and Norman England c.1060-88            

(British Depth Study: 32 marks, 20% weighting)

Paper 3

Modern Depth Study

Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918-39      

1hr 20 minutes
52 marks
30% weighting
15 weeks

Course Structure2015 Edexcel Specification

Year 12

Hi12A History

Route D: Challenges to the authority of the state in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries

Paper 1 – 1D: Britain, c1785–c1870: democracy, protest and reform (SPS)

Paper 2 – 2D.2: The unification of Germany, c1840–71 (JCH)

Hi12C History

Route B: Religion and the state in early modern Europe

Paper 1 – 1B: England, 1509–1603: authority, nation and religion (CVT)

Paper 2 – 2B.1 Luther and the German Reformation, c1515–55 (EJC)

 Year 13

Paper 3

39.1: Civil rights and race relations in the USA, 1850–2009

Coursework:

Historians have disagreed about nature of Hitler’s dictatorship. What is your view about the debate between structuralists and intentionalists?

With reference to three chosen works:

• Analyse the ways in which interpretations of the question, problem or issue differ
• Explain the differences you have identified
• Evaluate the arguments, indicating which you found most persuasive and explaining your judgements. Students may choose to divide their assignment into sections or complete it as a continuous essay, and should make use of supplementary reading as appropriate.

We have endeavoured to create a balanced course which will give boys the opportunity to study a wide range of historical topics. In Year 12 L6B will follow Route D and L6C will follow Route B. In Year 13 all students will study the same courses: Civil rights and race relations as the examined unit and a coursework topic focused on the Nazi regime.

N.B. Students will not sit external exams at the end of Year 12. Those wishing to drop to AS study may decide to do so at the end of Year 12 and sit the exams at the end of Year 13.

All students are entered for A Level Politics in Year 13

Component 1: UK Politics (Component code: 9PL0/01)

Written examination: 2 hours
33⅓% of the qualification
84 marks

Content overview

1. Political Participation, students will study: democracy and participation, political parties, electoral systems, voting behaviour and the media.

2. Core Political Ideas, students will study: conservatism, liberalism, socialism.

Assessment overview

Section A: Political Participation

One 30-mark question from a choice of two (each question uses a source) – students must complete one of these. Plus one 30-mark question from a choice of two – students must complete one of these.

All questions assess AO1, AO2 and AO3.

Section B: Core Political Ideas

One 24-mark question from a choice of two, which assesses AO1, AO2 and AO3.

Component 2: UK Government (Component code: 9PL0/02)

Written examination: 2 hours
33⅓% of the qualification
84 marks

Content overview

1. UK Government, students will study: the constitution, parliament, Prime Minister and executive, relationships between the branches.

2. Non-core political ideas, students will study: one idea from the following: anarchism, ecologism, feminism, multiculturalism, nationalism.

Assessment overview

Section A: UK Government

• One 30-mark question from a choice of two (each question uses a source) – students must complete one of these. Plus one 30-mark question from a choice of two – students must complete one of these.All questions assess AO1, AO2 and AO3.

Section B: Non-core Political Ideas

• One 24-mark question from a choice of two, which assesses AO1, AO2 and AO3.

Component 3: Comparative Politics (*Component code: 9PL0/3A)

Written examination: 2 hours
33⅓% of the qualification
84 marks

Content overview

For USA (3A), students will study:

• the US Constitution and federalism, US Congress, US presidency, US Supreme Court and civil rights, democracy and participation, comparative theories.

Section A

• One 12-mark question from a choice of two, which assesses AO1 and AO2.

Section B

• One compulsory 12-mark question focused on comparative theories, which assesses AO1 and AO2.

Section C

• Two 30-mark questions from a choice of three, which assess AO1, AO2 and AO3.