Lead Teacher – Miss H Millward

(hannah.millward@selston.ttct.co.uk) 

As part of The Humanities Department at Selston High School History develops pupils’ understanding of the world around them. 

The combination of History, Religious Studies and Geography allows students to consider the world around us, the impact we can have on the world and one another. We also consider the spiritual and moral decisions that people make whilst also consider the impact this has had on the history of the world. 

In Key Stage 3, History is taught as discrete subjects in Years 7, 8 and 9 with one hour per week for each subject. Throughout the key stage a variety of teaching and learning techniques are used to encourage independent and critical thinking and enquiry. These include video news reports, presentations, model making, newsroom simulations, source exercises, fieldwork both in and out of school and leaflet making. 

In History we cover topics on the Middle Ages in England, the Kings and Queens of the Tudor and Stuart Period, the life and conditions of workers in the Industrial Revolution to the Slaves living in the Americas, the causes of World War One, the conditions for soldiers during the war and the end of the war with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. We then look at the interwar years leading to rise of the Nazis and the start of the Second World War. We finish of KS3 with the events and reasons behind the Holocaust. We prepare for GCSE History by embedding skills and questions into our year 9 work to prepare for the for the GCSE course by using knowledge and sources in order to answer a variety of source and knowledge questions in the similar style of GCSE questions. 

In Key Stage 4, History is a very popular option subjects offering six hours over a fortnightly period. GCSE History helps us to understand how and why we got to where we are today.  

Extra-curricular activities within Humanities: 

We incorporate a number of trips within our curriculum in order to further develop students’ understanding and love of Humanities. These include students visiting Beth Shalom to try and begin to understand the horrors of the Holocaust and the Thackray Museum in Leeds which charts the appalling conditions of bad Public Health in the Industrial Revolution to the developments of modern medicine. We also participate in a number of Coursework trips to Cromford Mill, Nottingham City Centre and the Holderness Coast in the East Riding of Yorkshire. Students are beginning to look at different places of worship including the local church in Selston and Mosques in Nottingham/Leicester in order to fully comprehend the different ways in which people worship, as well as understanding different places of worship. Students also experience the local community in order for them to understand the Geographical area of Selston and the surrounding villages, to really understand how everything they learn has an impact on where they live.