Welcome to Beaumont School History Department!

History at Beaumont is a lively and popular subject where students gain an understanding of how the actions of the past have shaped our ideas, rights, and the world that we live in today.

Aims

To make the study of History interesting, exciting and enjoyable whilst introducing pupils to the skills needed to study the subject, and ensuring that they acquire a sound knowledge and understanding of the past.

Curriculum

Teaching methods are extremely varied across the key stages and include discussion and debate, essay-writing, model-making, illustrative work, role play, reading and research, tests and the use of historical sources. 

Key Stage 3 (Years 7-9)

Students will study history through the major themes of Key Stage 3 History which include: Power, Empire, Conflict and Migration.

In Year 7 they will study these themes through the Roman and Medieval periods, as well as an introduction to historical skills, and a trip to The Chiltern Open Air Museum; in Year 8 through the Early Modern period to 1900 including a depth study on the Atlantic slave trade and the fight for the vote and a trip to Hampton Court Palace; and in Year 9 through the 20th Century covering the two world wars, and the holocaust. Students are also visited by a World War I re enactor as part of a CED History morning that focuses upon the Great War.

For a summary of the curriculum in a particular KS3 school year you can download the relevant Year Course Booklet by clicking on these links:
Year 7 course booklet
Year 8 course booklet
Year 9 course booklet

History Homework Years 7, 8 and 9

Homework has undergone a revolution in History! Homework will be longer tasks that will be set once a half term. See the individual course booklets for more details. Students will be told individual deadlines and monitoring deadlines by their class teacher,  but the department will be using the blog as a means of providing extra information to students and parents to help them with their tasks outside the classroom. Click here for more details.

Key Stage 4 (Years 10-11)

The GCSE syllabus is very varied, combining a high level of interest with a great deal of relevance to our lives today. Students study several main world history topics together with elements of British History from the late nineteenth through to the latter part of the twentieth century. Coursework is an important element of the GCSE; students' final write up will be under controlled conditions.

For details of the GCSE syllabus for those students who started their GCSE course in September 2010 click on this link:

GCSE syllabus 2010-12

For details of the GCSE syllabus for those students who started their GCSE course in September 2011 click on this link:

GCSE syllabus 2011-13

You can also obtain details of the course and coursework deadlines etc from the relevant Year Course Booklet by clicking on these links:

Year 10 course booklet
Year 11 course booklet

Years 12 and 13 (Sixth Form)

Students can take their interest in History further by studying the subject in the Sixth Form at AS, A level and IB level. AS students study the War of the Roses and the Origins of the American Civil War.  At A2 students will study 100 years of Russian history from 1856 and the Conflict in Vietnam. For details of all courses on offer at Key Stage 5 go to the BeauSandVer consortium website.

Assessment

Pupils are assessed for oral and written work completed in class or at home.  Levelled assessments are given termly at Key Stage 3.  The emphasis is on positive, task-related comments with suggestions to help the pupils to progress.  GCSE pupils are set coursework (and from 2009 controlled conditions tasks) in addition to a wide range of written assignments, practice exam questions and tests.

Resources

The department is well-stocked with a wide range of textbooks, DVDS, 2 interactive whiteboards and artefacts.

Visits and Extra Curricular Activities

A successful programme of visits is well-established in the department and the department organise a range of trips to historical sites across the key stages, and feature prominently in the Curriculum Enrichment Day programme. In Years 7 and 8 there are day trips to Historical sites (Tower of London and Hampton Court respectively) and in Year 9 there is a day focussing on World War I. In the Summer there is the opportunity to visit the World War I battlefields on a residential trip as part of Curriculum Enrichment Week.  At GCSE there is there is the opportunity to visit Whitechapel in the autumn term on a ‘Jack the Ripper Tour’ and take part in an ‘America Day’ at school in the summer term. The Sixth form students also attend history conferences in London. Students visited New York and Washington at Easter 2011.

The History Team