History (Y10-13)

GCSE History

GCSE History at Chester International Studio will offer an exciting and varied course. Students will explore periods of history as diverse as the 11th and 20th Centuries, in regions as diverse as medieval England, and the wild west of the United States.

Students will cover five units of study including: Crime and Punishment, Whitechapel, Weimar and Nazi Germany, Early Elizabethan England, and the American West. This selection of units ensures that students engage with British history, but also the history of the wider world; our outlook goes beyond the UK: the history of Europe and the world is our point of reference, since that is the only way to correctly evaluate the history of your own region or country.

We teach history as an active process of analysis rather than as a set of knowledge to be passively memorized and regurgitated. While analysing the past can be thrilling, it is also important that your story is well defined and presented professionally. For this reason, it is essential that you understand the importance of improving your writing skills and are willing to give presentations to small groups.

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	Term 1a	Term 1b	Term 2a	Term 2b	Term 3a	Term 3b
Year 10	Crime and Punishment		Historic Environment: Whitechapel	Weimar and Nazi Germany
Year 11	Early Elizabethan England		American West		GCSE Exams

The study of history allows one to really wonder "How do we know what we know?" In order to understand how historians "connect the dots" using reason the course will start with an in depth study of historical method.

Is knowledge of the past ever certain?
Why do accounts of the same historical event differ?
Whose history do we study?
What determines how historians select evidence and describe/interpret or analyze events?

We prioritize depth of understanding rather than breadth; the goal is expertise rather than familiarity. We teach history as an active process of analysis rather than as a set of knowledge to be passively memorized and regurgitated. Students learn and practice the skills of historians. You desire to learn as much as possible about the past, but you don’t want to be limited to listening to stories and analyses. We teach out students in their first year to search for information independently and to evaluate critically.

While analysing the past can be thrilling, it is important that your story is well defined and presented professionally. For this reason, it is essential that you understand the importance of improving your writing skills and are willing to give presentations to small groups.

The globalisation of the world also has consequences for science, which is why much of the literature you will be reading is sourced from international academic publications. Hence, you will be abreast of the latest scientific data and views. Furthermore, our outlook goes beyond the UK: the history of Europe and the world is our point of reference, since that is the only way to correctly evaluate the history of your own region or country.

Year 12/13 IB

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	Term 1a	Term 1b	Term 2a	Term 2b	Term 3a	Term 3b
Year 12	Civil Rights Movement in the United States	Apartheid South Africa	Life before 1400 Feudalism and its decline Exploration of east and west Growth of mercantilism Colonisation of America and westward expansion Population Native America Othering Transatlantic trade Slavery	Fall of Constantinople Renaissance Gutenburg printing press Scientific Revolution Native Americans Art in America Enlightenment Individuals	Spanish Inquisition Protestantism Stability of religion Heresy Matthew Hopkins Pilgrim fathers - Religion in the new world Missionaries and conversion attempts	Slavery in the Americas
Year 13	US Civil War	Social Movements in the US : feminism, race movements, youth culture, etc.	Industrialisation in Britain	Industrialisation in the US	Exams