History at Leckford Place

History at Leckford Place is about much more than learning lists of dates and facts about obscure kings, queens and battles! Our aim is that students should learn to enjoy the imaginative leap into different cultures and eras: in years 7 to 9 students cover a wide range of historical periods, from the Romans to the twentieth century, investigating the problems and issues of the times and seeking to gain an empathetic insight into the values, thought-patterns, blind spots and achievements of different societies and cultures.

One emphasis is on developing an analytical and questioning approach to historical evidence. Historical research can be compared to a detective investigation, weighing sources for accuracy and meaning and seeking to synthesise the best historical explanation from the evidence offered. We also encourage our students to develop an understanding of key concepts in history, such as causation (why do events happen? What different types of causes are there and how do we prioritise them?); success and failure (what criteria should be used for making these types of judgement?); continuity and change (where are the key turning points? Does everything change in revolutionary times?) etc.

We hope students will enjoy increasing their knowledge of the past and in the process will acquire important skills of research, analysis, fair-minded argumentation and strong communication skills. Whilst the study of history is inevitably primarily based on reading and writing, we use a range of learning methods, including role play, debating and even construction (visitors may well see, around the buildings at Leckford Place, a variety of Anglo-Saxon villages, Norman castles etc.!).

During their time at Leckford Place students will enjoy a number of History-related trips, such as visits to Warwick Castle and the Black Country Museum in years 7-9 and a very popular, three day trip to the World War One battlefields of the Somme and Ypres in years 10/11.

History at GCSE.

Students are entered for the OCR specification in Modern World History. This is the most common specification nationally and the one which is invariably most popular amongst students. They will study key aspects of the twentieth century, including international relations from the First World War to the Second World War and beyond. They also study the inter-war history of the USA in some depth, as well as producing coursework on Lenin, Stalin and the Bolshevik revolution in Russia. Finally, there is a focus on British society from 1906 to 1918, incorporating the beginnings of the welfare state, the women’s suffrage movement and the British home front during World War One. History is a very popular GCSE subject at Leckford Place and results have been consistently good, with students regularly opting to continue History through to AS/A Level in the sixth form.