The History Department is proud of its emphasis upon academic excellence and care for the individual, and is committed to achieving outstanding examination success and ensuring the general intellectual and personal fulfilment of its students.  The aim is to provide an environment that is friendly, helpful, stimulating and adult, while remaining structured, challenging and highly purposeful.

General Aims

1. To train the mind by disciplined study and, specifically, to inculcate and develop the historical skills of logical analysis, argument and proof.
2. To extend pupils to the limits of their academic ability, so that they achieve the greatest possible success in public examinations.
3. To introduce pupils to key elements in other cultures as well as their own and, in doing so, to equip them with the ability to form humane and intellectually rigorous perspectives on human affairs.
4. To stimulate and encourage interest in the past for its own sake.
5. To foster the broader social development of pupils by encouraging a sympathetic, mutually respectful and happy learning environment.

GCSE History

A level History

Teaching and Learning

Teaching within the department aims to ensure that pupils should maximise their enjoyment while simultaneously achieving the highest possible academic standard in the subject.  CRGS pupils have a great deal to offer and, therefore, a balance of formality, trust and flexibility is needed to realise their full potential.

Teacher-led presentations will provide the normal format for lessons, but these will always involve active pupil input in the form of individual questions and answers, class discussions, independent written exercises and, where appropriate, sessions of group work.  Presentations by pupils and structured role playing sessions can also be usefully employed occasionally.  Pace and variety are considered crucial ingredients of successful lessons and primary source, video and artefact material should be fully utilised in the course of everyday teaching.  The department is also committed to the effective exploitation of the local environment in the delivery of its syllabuses and emphasises the importance of trips further afield as a means of reinforcing topics covered in lessons.  The deployment of Information Technology facilities as a means of enhancing individual research programmes etc, is a departmental priority.  Pupils are encouraged at all times to make full use of the school's excellent library facilities.

Homework assignments are considered to be crucial to the development of good study habits, as a means of building and expanding upon topics dealt with in class, and as a key factor in monitoring pupils' progress.  With all work, pupils should know what they are trying to achieve and marking should indicate clearly whether they have achieved it or not.  The department encourages one-to-one contact between staff and pupils experiencing problems, and operates its own early concern procedures to identify and deal swiftly with any such difficulties.

A-Levels and Beyond

Expectations are high and standards are rigorous, as the department’s A-level results demonstrate.  Between 2002 and 2009 more than 85% of students have received an A grade in History:

Students grades for 2009 were: 

The department expects students to be committed, but the emphasis is always upon support, encouragement and positive thinking from teachers.  Up to eight written assignments are usually set each term and regular testing occurs to ensure that students are in confident control of factual detail and key concepts.  All written assignments are marked in depth and, where appropriate, individuals receive one-to-one attention and structured programmes of additional work.  Essay writing and source analysis are delivered as taught skills and, throughout the course, a programme of specific lessons is devoted to explaining the main principles of answer techniques. 

The History Department organises a careful programme of progress monitoring.  Early concern procedures are designed to identify any students experiencing difficulty and, where appropriate, one-to-one sessions after school and individualised additional study programmes may be organised.

It is considered crucial that parents are kept fully appraised in such instances and, indeed, close communication between the department and parents is considered to be a key factor in guaranteeing the success of all students.

As examinations approach, candidates receive extensive help with revision and special sessions are scheduled for those students requiring extra help.  All candidates are supplied with comprehensive printed revision notes, produced ‘in-house’ by staff, and specifically tailored to enhancing students’ performance under timed conditions

The subject is an excellent intellectual training for all types of work which involve complex decision-making, rigorous logical thinking and articulacy. History graduates emerge from university with powerful analytical, communication and research skills which turn them into successful candidates for many careers.  A-level History is also perceived by universities as a first class qualification for a wide spectrum if degree courses, such as Law.

Almost all careers, except those which demand specialised technological or scientific qualifications, are open to the suitably qualified student of History.  The subject provides an appropriate training for banking, journalism, public service administration and trainee management posts. History graduates often take up management-track posts in every aspect of industry and commerce.  Historians also enter the Army and the Churches, while some embark upon postgraduate training in law and accountancy and others opt for journalism and television.