At St. Sampson’s High School the History department tries to make the subject come alive and fun whilst teaching the key skills the pupils will need to take through life with them. We use a variety of teaching techniques to try enhance our lessons and make them accessible to every pupil. Lessons are interactive and entertaining, whilst challenging each pupil to be the best historian they can be.
We start Year 7 with an independent study project. This develops research skills to look beyond simply asking a search engine, moving away from being spoon fed information and starting to examine the usefulness and reliability of various information. The time periods we examine range from 3000BC Britain, through the Romans, the Middle Ages, Industrial Revolution up to modern day Britain.
After this project we study the Romans before looking at Britain after 1066. This includes the battles of 1066 and how the Normans changed England. This includes a castle making competition in which the pupils have to design a model castle. The castles are judged on their historical accuracy and effort. The standard is always excellent!
We conclude Year 7 with another project. This time it is a local study looking at the colourful and rich history contained within our own beautiful island of Guernsey. This helps encourage an interest in their home island and is able to show us home the pupils have progressed with their history skills since the project at the start of Year 7.
In Year 8 we move onto Britain between 1500 and 1750. This looks closely at the Tudors and the Stuarts. In this term there will be an independent learning project called “King (or Queen) of the castle”. The pupils will produce a project that answers the question ‘Who was the best monarch of England during the Tudor and the Stuart period?’. They will look at all of the monarchs from these historical periods, although you can focus on certain monarchs in more detail than others. In the Summer term we focus on the Native Americans.
In Year 9 we look at the Great War, the Second World War and the Cold War. This year we use debates and group discussions more often as we try to apply our historical skills to ‘real life’ scenarios. There is another independent study project, this time the pupils have to pick the topic themselves as they are asked “What was the most important event/person/invention of the 20th Century?”.