STYLE OF ASSESSMENT

Three written examinations:

British History – The People’s Health and The Elizabethans (40%) – Exam 1 hour 45 minutes

History Around Us - the study of a local site in its historical context (20%) – Exam 1 hour

World History - The Making of America, 1789-1900 and Living under Nazi Rule, 1933–1945 (40%) – Exam 1 hour 45 minutes

OVERVIEW OF COURSE

Students will study 5 units:

1. ‘The People’s Health, c250 to present’ including topics such as: What does the Black Death tell us about medieval public health? Was there a ‘Gin Lane’ in every town and city during the Renaissance? Why did the Spanish Flu kill more people than the Great War?
2. ‘The Elizabethans, 1580-1603’ including topics such as: Was Elizabeth I the best ‘Spin Doctor’ in History? Why was Mary Queen of Scots executed? Were the poor treated harshly in the Elizabethan age? Was it really ‘Merry England
3. History Around Us – Glastonbury Abbey- a study of a local site including a field visit. Students will consider: What are the strengths and weaknesses of physical remains as evidence of its past? How do artefacts, images, documents and oral testimony provide further evidence about the site? How does the site fit in the wider historical story of the area?
4. ‘The Making of America, 1789-1900’ including topics such as: Why did America want slaves? How did the Indians survive on the Plains? What really caused the Civil War? Who was Jim Crow? Did the lives of African American lives improve by the end of the 19th century?
5. ‘Living under Nazi Rule, 1933–194’ including topics such as: How did Hitler achieve total power in 1934? What was the machinery of ‘Terror’ in Nazi Germany? Was living in Nazi Germany always terrifying? What was life like in Nazi occupied Europe?

 

LEARNER REQUIREMENTS

Any student with a curiosity about the world in which they live will enjoy History GCSE. If you are interested in finding out how people’s lives have changed and how people in the past may have thought differently to us, you could do well at History GCSE. If you like to solve problems and would like to find out why there are sometimes different, but equally valid, points of view on the same subject then History may well be the subject for you. History students will also need to have an interest in reading and should enjoy extended writing.

 

EXTRA-CURRICULAR OPPORTUNITIES

• Site visit to Glastonbury Abbey
• Day visit to London for units 1 and 2, including the London Dungeon and Tower of London

 

FURTHER STUDY AND CAREER CONNECTIONS

History GCSE is a highly valued academic qualification, it leads directly into any A Level History course at any establishment and is a popular A level option at Huish Sixth. History is also considered to be an indicator of academic ability and students with a top grade are usually considered to be literate with good critical analysis skills. It is good preparation for all literacy based further and higher education courses.