Head of Department

Miss L Matthews, BA (Hons) QTS

Statement of Intent 

History at DHSG will provide students with a comprehensive understanding of purposefully selected historical events, cause and consequence, and resonance to the modern day in line with the National Curriculum.  

The diversity of the content also acknowledges the narrative of marginalised groups, which challenges and provokes curiosity to be developed through debate. This is delivered in harness with the development of core history and historiographical skills centering on analysis, evaluation, interpretation, and significance.  

We interleave the curriculum across the three key stages to provide students with a sound understanding of the world in which they live, carefully developed transferable skills which are monitored and delivered with intent by subject experts.    

A Level Course Outline

The course is designed to offer students the opportunity to develop as independent learners in readiness for degree studies and the workplace. The Personal Study provides students with a chance to investigate a period of 100 years of their choice. Students must cover a period of 200 years of study overall including the taught units.

The legacy history study programme focuses on political, economic and social developments in the period c 1783 – 1885.  From September students will study The Tudors: England, 1485–1603 when England arguably transitioned from a medieval to a modern state.

This period contrasts with the dramatic era in Germany from 1918-45, which witnessed the collapse of an autocratic state in 1918, the revolution of 1918, the transition to a democratic Republic, the rise of the Nazis followed by the collapse of democracy in the wake of the world depression and the establishment and consolidation of the Nazi Dictatorship

AS Level Course Outline

The AS course covers the same material as the A-Level, but the scope of the examinations covers a briefer period and the question types are designed as a means of transitioning from GCSE to full A-Level. The  British unit covers British History from c1783 - 1832 and explores the early industrial revolution and social and political developments.  The German unit covers the period 1918 - 33 and focuses on the origins of the Weimar Republic, the development of democratic institutions and its eventual collapse and the rise of the Nazis and appointment of Hitler as Chancellor. 

Higher Education and Career Opportunities

History is a well-respected academic subject which provides a good foundation for many careers. Archaeology, Conservation and History Teaching are amongst those directly related to the subject, but there are many other careers where historians excel: Architecture, Banking, Economics, Journalism, Law, Marketing and Publishing, all of which draw on historical skills such as analysis and the ability to form judgements based on scrutiny of the evidence.

Course Content