History

The department is situated in the centre of the School in the cloisters. We currently have four teaching classrooms. There is a department library which supplements the Percival Library and which holds most of the multiple copy books used for GCSE and Sixth Form courses.

Head of History
Mr Peter Lidington BA
Teachers
Mr Charles Colquhoun BA Mr Adam Sibley BA Mr Simon Tait BA Ms Clare Smith

Teaching

Principles of Teaching and Learning History

History is important because:

it is a body of knowledge essential to our understanding of the development of the modern world.

the skills of questioning, research and analysing evidence in a logical manner, developed through the study of History, can be applied across the curriculum and in everyday life.

historical awareness encourages responsible participation in our multi - cultural society.

Exam Course

GCSE - OCR Modern World History : 20th Century British and World History course. 2007 Results: 68% A*/A grades achieved.

AS/A2 - AQA : 19th Century British History course (1815 - 1886)
19th/20th Century European History Course. There are currently over 90 students studying History in this Sixth Form.

Field Trips

1st World War Battlefields

Every Spring for the last 11 years, a group of approximately forty Year 10 students and staff have visited the battlefield sites and memorials in Belgium and Northern France. The main focus areas have been the Ypres Salient and the Somme battlefield, but many other places have been visited including Vimy Ridge, Arras and Verdun.

As well as trying to gain an appreciation of the enormity and horror of the events that took place in these areas through visiting a variety of cemeteries and memorials, we also always try to personalise each trip by trying to find the grave, or graves, of Old Cliftonians or of relatives of members of the group. Every year this trip provides a series of memorable experiences for those participating.

Sixth Form

Several trips have been arranged over the last few years, during the autumn half-term break, to the German capital, Berlin. These have been organised in association with the German Department and they have proved particularly useful for students studying German Unification and the Weimar and Nazi regimes, as well as those studying German as a language.