Department of History
Curriculum Leader:
Miss Emily Brunger (ebrunger@stmichaels.bhcet.org.uk)
List of staff:
Miss. M Chambers (PLM of Year 10)
Mrs. C Henderson
Mr. A Robson (PLM of Year 7)
Mr M Scott (Deputy Headteacher)
Subject Background:
History students will be encouraged and nurtured in developing their God-given talents, challenging themselves to reach aspirational targets and maintaining a life-long appreciation of human creativity and achievement. As well as providing the obvious opportunity to reflect upon the actions and mistakes of others, in studying History we can also begin to understand how societies change and develop. I am passionate about leading staff to excellence because History should never simply be about memorising and recalling unfamiliar facts. Taught with distinction, History is about developing and utilising transferable skills such as analysis, evaluation and explanation and, in doing so, transforming the unfamiliar into comprehensible events, civilisations and significant individuals.
The History Curriculum aims to facilitate students in gaining a coherent and chronological accurate knowledge and informed understanding of Britain and the wider world. It is an ambitious curriculum because, as well as challenging students to memorise a vast amount of information, students then have to develop the necessary skills of analysis, evaluation and explanation in order to utilise the information. We encourage our students to think critically, ask incisive questions, understand why the past can be interpreted in different ways, appreciate the complexity and diversity of societies and reach substantiated judgements that can be communicated effectively.
Our curriculum is increasingly diverse and inclusive. Students are encouraged to reflect regularly on their journey of learning through our chronological presentation of key historical threshold concepts – such as using evidence, change and continuity, significance. These concepts are discussed frequently throughout our curriculum, which centres on understanding Britain and the wider world – for example, in Year 7 students consider the Changing Power of the Monarchy, the altering influences of Christianity and Islam; Year 8 students will discuss issues of gender and representation – for example, through discussion of the complex relationship between Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots and the engagement of historical interpretation from different voices in our topic on the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and furthermore international conflict and relations as a consequence of both World Wars in Year 9. Literacy has been a big focus recently, as we hope our students can not only engage with Historical Evidence and Sources, but with Historical Scholarship and Interpretations from Historians.
Our historical focus is driven with inclusion and diversity, as well as preparation for students to pursue History further at GCSE. In this, we focus further on International Relations (AQA Conflict and Tension: 1918-1939), Germany 1890-1945: Democracy and Dictatorship focuses on the wider implications of autocracy and democracy. Furthermore, and in line with wider world developments, we will study the History of Medicine and the influences on this development across time with a final drive towards Elizabethan England.