There are three distinct topics studied in Year 9; the Second World War, aspects of British History 1750-1900 and, after the summer exams, the Causes of the First World War (as preparation for the GCSE syllabus we start in Year 10)
The main subject areas are drawn from the following:
The Second World War
- The causes of the Second World War (especially the arguments for and against Appeasement)
- The fall of Poland and the ‘Phoney War’ September 1939-April 1940
- Blitzkrieg in the West; the fall of Norway, Denmark, The Netherlands, Belgium and France May-June 1940
- The Battle of Britain July-September 1940
- The War in the East June 1941 onwards
- The Battle of the Atlantic
- Strategic Bombing
- The war in North Africa, the Mediterranean and Italy 1940-1945
- The attack on Pearl Harbor December 7th 1941
- D-Day and the end of the war in Europe
- The Atomic Bomb and the end of the war in the Pacific
All boys in Year 9 will also go on a curriculum visit to Duxford Air Museum in Cambridgeshire and produce an individual project on an aspect of local or family experience in the Second World War.
British History 1750-1900 – A selection from the following topics:
- The Atlantic Slave Trade
- Significant Inventors and Innovators of the Industrial Revolution
- The growth of factories and the issue of child labour
- Life in the industrialised cities
- The Transport Revolution
- The development of seaside resorts
Boys should develop and consolidate the following skills over the year:
- Provide reasoned and detailed responses to open ended questions
- Develop debating skills to use within an atmosphere of formal debate
- Write lengthy, well-developed and detailed essays which are capable of reaching rationalized conclusions.
