History

The study of history at Saint Felix begins in the Pre-prep department where the children learn about famous people from the past and how some events have helped to shape the world we live in today.

They learn how to place objects on a timeline and how the modern world has changed and adapted artefacts from the past. Children listen and respond to stories and pieces of evidence from the past and appreciate how sources of information and eye witness accounts help us to make sense of the changes that have taken place. Visits to historical houses and places of interest, museums and galleries help our young pupils to ask questions and comment on what they have seen.

In KS1 we encourage the children to develop an interest in events of the past and an appreciation of human achievements and aspirations. We help them understand that looking at the past can help us better understand the present. The children develop knowledge of chronology, enabling them to organise past events into the order of occurrence. Children carry out their own research and begin to understand the nature of evidence in all its diverse forms. They try to interpret primary and secondary sources, weigh them up and reach own conclusions about the perspective and motivation of people in the past.

The teaching of history in the Pre-Preparatory Department is furthered by many cross-curricular links, in particular Art where for example portraits of famous people from the past are studied and copied, and castles and houses are created. Visits to places of interest are arranged to increase learning opportunities and to help bring the subject alive for the children. Year 1 children visit the cliff top canons and Sailors Reading Room museum in Southwold, whilst children in Year 2 enjoy trips to Framlingham and Orford castles and Southwold lighthouse. All trips and outings are designed to complement history lessons.

When children enter the Prep Department they continue to build on the skills they have learned in Key Stage 1 and they extend their historical knowledge and follow topics chronologically.

Year 3 (Upper II) begin with Pre-history and then the Ancient Egyptians.Year 4 (Lower III) study the Ancient Greeks and the Romans in Britain Year 5 (Middle III) uncover the secrets of the Dark Ages studying the Anglo Saxons and Vikings. And in Year 6 (Upper III) they discover what it would have been like to be a child in Victorian Britain and similarly during World War II.

To supplement classroom lessons, visits and trips to local historic sites and museums are a firm favourite with everyone. These include Norwich Castle, Southwold Museum, Sutton Hoo and Gressenhall, a Victorian workhouse and venue for a ‘Home Front Heroes’ experience and the chance to dress as an evacuee! The topics also provide many opportunities for the teachers to read associated literature including ‘Stig of the Dump’, Greek Myths, Beowulf, and the Street Child and of course much time is often spent drawing, painting and making!

Once in the Senior Department, the Key Stage 3 curriculum gives pupils the opportunity to investigate a murder mystery, to explore medieval life during the time of the Black Death and to discover the hardships of life on a plantation in the USA during the time of slavery.

All these topics, and many more, enable pupils to develop their skills of historical analysis and to learn that evidence must not be accepted at face value.

The School is superbly situated for pupils to make off site visits to the castles at Orford and Framlingham, the wool churches at Blythburgh, Southwold and Wenhaston (to view the magnificent Doom painting) and the ruined abbeys throughout East Anglia to support the study of mediaeval realms in Year 7. Year 8 pupils have the opportunity to visit historic Tudor houses whilst Year 9 may venture further afield to the Imperial War Museum and trips are arranged to the World War 1 battlefields. The work undertaken for Key Stage 3 provides an excellent foundation for GCSE study.

At KS4, History is a popular option and we follow the OCR GCSE specification: SHP B 9-1. In Year 10 pupils take a British Thematic Study, Peoples Health c.1250- present, and a British Depth Study, the Norman Conquest. They also get to do a study of a historical site, Norwich Castle, which involves a field trip to Norwich during the summer term. In year 11 pupils undertake a World Period Study, Viking Expansion, and a World Depth Study, Living under Nazi Rule.

In the Sixth Form, pupils follow the Edexcel A level specification.

In the Lower Sixth, pupils study the German Reformation and the Tudors from Henry VIII to the end of the reign of Elizabeth I. At the end of the year pupils begin a piece of coursework which enables them to explore a historical controversy of their choice.

This is completed in Year 13 when they also do a study of British and European witchcraft. Pupils will sit an AS examination at the end of the first year. The course focuses on three learning objectives. A01 examines the ability of the pupils to produce organized, detailed and coherent arguments in the form of an essay. This largely tests their knowledge and understanding. A02 examines the ability of pupils to comprehend, assess, interpret and evaluate contemporary historical sources while A03 examines their ability to examine and evaluate interpretations that historians have provided on given historical controversies. For example, was there a crisis of government in the later Tudor period?