We follow a roughly chronological approach during Years 7 and 8. In Year 7 pupils look at the big questions of why the Church was so important in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Era and why Charles and Parliament fell out. We also complete a project on the History of Farnborough Hill where the pupils  become ‘expert’ tour guides of the Old House.

In Year 8 we continue this chronological approach but we broaden our view beyond the history of the UK by looking at issues of empire, colonialism, slavery and abolition. We then move on to look at the causes and events of the First World War, the rise of Nazism and the Holocaust.

We begin Year 9 with an in-depth study into one of the most formative events of the 20th Century: the Second World War.  We take a particular focus on the Blitz and its impact on London.  This means we continue a largely chronological approach, picking up where Year 8 leaves off.  During our Blitz study we look at the desperate position Britain found herself in at the start of 1940 and debate the question of how close Churchill’s government came to surrendering.  We look at a range of exciting contemporary source material including posters, diary entries and even Farnborough Hill’s own archives, to find out what it was like to be a wartime Farnborough Hill girl. 

This puts us in an excellent position to introduce the GCSE course in the second term of Year 9.  We begin with Paper 1 of the Edexcel GCSE which is a study of Whitechapel, using those same skills developed in the first term.  Our initial focus is on the appalling living conditions for many of the poorest in society in inner city London and the tensions that alcoholism, immigration, anti-Semitism and crime produced.  This leads on to a study of crime, policing and, the section of the course that pupils most look forward to, the Jack the Ripper murders.  We find out why the killer was never discovered.

Examining Board: Edexcel

By the time our pupils arrive in Year 10 they have already completed the majority of the Edexcel Paper 1 specification. We then move on to complete the Paper 2 topics which are Superpower Relations and the Cold War, 1941-1991 and the Reigns of Richard and John. In Year 11 we complete Paper 3 which is a study of the struggle for Civil Rights in the USA in the 1950s and 1960s and the impact of the Vietnam War at home and overseas.

Examining Board: AQA

We offer options on the Tudors 1485 - 1603 and Weimar and Nazi Germany 1918 - 1945. The NEA is started in the summer term of the Lower Sixth and completed in the Upper Sixth. We teach an overview of Russia between 1855 - 1964 and students are encouraged to select a question on a topic of their own interest from within this period.

Examinig Board: Edexcel

In the Lower Sixth, students study UK Government and Politics and begin their study of the political ideologies of Liberalism, Conservatism, Socialism and Nationalism. The Upper Sixth focuses on a comparison of UK and US politics.

Model United Nations (open to Year 10 and above).

• Model UN (hosted by Magdalen College School, Oxford)
• Whitechapel Walking Tour (Year 10 Historians)