Ms G Swainston (Head of Department)

Miss J Bowden

Miss C Toland    

Mrs C Morgan

Mrs P Philpott

At Key Stage 3, girls follow the National Curriculum. They study units such as The Romans, Medieval Realms, The Rise of Islam, The Making of the UK, Britain 1750-1900: Expansion, Trade and Industry and 20th Century World.

For GCSE, girls study the WJEC’s Modern World Course. This includes a Depth Paper on Germany 1918-45 and Russia 1905-24 and an Outline Paper on the USA 1929-90. Two pieces of coursework are on WWI: the Home Front in Britain and the conduct of officers and men on the Western Front. To assist with this, in the Autumn Term of Year 11 girls go on a departmental Battlefields Trip to Ypres and the surrounding area.

At AS and A2 Level, the girls study the WJEC’s course based around 16th and 17th Century History:The Great Rebellion, 1637-58 as the Depth Topic and Europe 1490-1621 as the Outline Topic. The former focuses on The English Civil War, Cromwell and The Protectorate, the latter includes Martin Luther and the German Reformation 1517-55, The Wars of Religion in France 1562-98 and Spanish history from 1516-1621.

For those Year 10 girls who are gifted and talented at History, there is the department’s Fast Track option. Instead of doing GCSE, girls study the AS course. Two modules are completed in Year 10, one in Year 11. This gives these girls the option of finishing their full A2 History in the Lower Sixth before applying to university. There are currently 13 Year 10s,14 Year 11s and 10 Lower Sixth doing this option. 85% of these Accelerated Learners achieved an A grade at AS level, which is an excellent indication of the success of this programme. Able pupils in the Upper Sixth are able to take Edexcel’s Advanced Extension Award.

We are an outstanding department at all examination levels. In 2006 - based on 2005 results- this Department was the highest achieving History Department at A level in England in The Good Schools Guide, and in 2005 we won the Royal Historical Society's Frampton Prize. In October 2006 the BBC featured the Department in a film on the programme 'Inside Out'. In 2007-based on 2006 results-we again achieved a Good Schools Guide award, this time for the best results at A Level for girls taking History at any Selective State School. The success of the Department is strongly rooted in a traditional academic approach to the subject and by the work done as examiners by the members of the department. This disciplined and technical approach is complemented by lively and active teaching and learning. Consequently, take up of History is high at GCSE and A Level. We currently have over 80 students studying AS/A2 History, many of whom will go on to read History, or a related subject, at university.