4th Form CurriculumHistory in the Fourth Form is taught in sets whose composition corresponds to their setting in English.
We follow a course of study which is largely based on late 19th and early 20th Century British History. This course is primarily intended as a preparation for the OCR GCSE Modern World course which we offer in the Remove and Fifth Form.
The course begins with a study of the Slave Trade, concentrating on problems of evidence, source interpretation and evaluation exercises. We then focus on international relations at the turn of the twentieth century, looking at the tension between the great empires in this period. This provides the context for our study of the foreign policy of the Edwardian period and the origins, course and impact of the First World War. We spend the largest proportion of time on the First World War and attempt to provide a local dimension by focusing on the War’s impact on Mill Hill School using archive materials. Pupils are introduced to the requirements of project work using the Department’s intranet site. At the end of the year we offer a project on the J F Kennedy assassination, attempting to unravel one of the great mysteries of modern history.
GCSE skills are taught and practiced throughout the course enabling pupils to distinguish between fact and opinion, bias and objectivity. They are also expected to sharpen their reasoning power, particularly in respect of analysing the processes of continuity and change, cause and consequence. In addition, it is hoped that pupils will start to become aware of the general inadequacy of simple explanations for what are often complex events.
Written assignments take a number of forms. They vary from essay writing to source analysis, from empathy exercises to project work using desktop publishing skills.
