History
Durham School is one of the oldest schools in the country, an offshoot of the Norman cathedral and one of the cathedral's schools that were re-founded by Cardinal Langley in 1414. (Really dedicated Old Boys, though perhaps not those who took History in the Sixth Form, will even try to locate its origins on Lindisfarne, presided over by the great Saint Cuthbert, bible in one hand and rugby ball in the other.) The present site is overlooked by the cathedral and has at its core the gentleman's residence where Sir William Cooke conducted some of his juvenile experiments into electricity. Crowning the complex is the Chapel, a memorial to those Old Dunelmians who fell in the First and Second World Wars.
In such a setting the History Department has a head start with the pupils. They are absorbing history throughout the school day, and the ghosts of ODs haunt the lessons. Are they studying the wars against Scotland in the Middle Ages? King John Balliol attended the school. Are they looking at Queen Elizabeth's persecution of the Catholics? Step forward James Young, alias James Dingle, who was ordained a priest and was tortured by Walsingham, Elizabeth's spy-master general. Are they researching slavery? Behold Granville Sharp, who helped secure one of the first judgements freeing slaves in England. Are they following the war against Napoleon? At Corunna Sir John Moore ("Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note") fell back mortally wounded into the arms of Henry Hardinge - who later fought with Wellington at Waterloo and became C in C of the British Army. Have they reached the Great War? Noel Hodgson is one of the war poets and fell on the first day of the Somme. History is truly all around them.
Yet the History curriculum is thoroughly modern. In Years 7 - 9 we follow the National Curriculum from the battle of Hastings to the death of Queen Victoria, although we are freed from its absolute constraints and can keep alive figures such as Nelson, Wellington and Nightingale who have largely disappeared from textbooks. We aim to give a sense of our country's past and to furnish the mind in its general knowledge. We eagerly await the day when an OD appears on 'Who wants to be a millionaire?' and has no need to phone a history friend. One has already figured on 'The Weakest Link' and it was not a history link that snapped! For any reader who enjoys a quiz, there is a mini-quiz at the end of this entry.
From Year 10 History is one of the optional subjects. There are generally two sets, who study AQA's Modern World B specification. This focuses on the earlier C20, from 1914 to 1963 with depth studies on 'Hitler and Germany' and 'Russia under Lenin and Stalin'. Coursework is done on topics in World War Two. The course is AQA Modern World B, 3042C, and the Group's website is www.aqa.org.uk. Go to GCSE and History for details.
In the Yr.10 Christmas term we study World War 1 (paper 1, section B) in the first half and then move to Paper 1 Section A, International Relations 1918-39 ( Treaty of Versailles, League of Nations and Hitler's foreign policy.)
Yr. 10 Easter term is spent on Paper 2 Option B, Germany 1918-39
Yr. 10 Summer term sees us finish paper 1 Section A, International Relations 1945-63 (Early Cold War)
Yr.11 Christmas term is spent on Paper 2 Option A, Russia 1917-41, and the final weeks shift to Coursework on World War 2 with two short tasks on Evacuation.
Yr.11 Easter term finishes World War 2 for Coursework with two more short tasks on the War in the Pacific, written shortly after Half term. We have time to start revision before the Easter break and we ensure that the pupils have past papers and well-organised note files for their revision.
The final half term of Yr.11 is spent on revision before the pupils go on Study Leave.
Over the past three years our pass rate has averaged 94% with 43% of the pass grades being A and A*.
Parents sometimes ask whether there is a useful Revision Guide to help pupils as the exams come close. There are a number in the bookshops, but they are designed to cover the specifications of all three Exam groups and so some chapters are irrelevant to AQA. If pupils buy one, they must ask their teacher to mark which chapters relate to our course. Personally, I prefer pupils to work from their class notes, making revision diagrams and cards. None of the guides stand out as particularly useful, and I judge them to be aimed more at the C than the A or A* candidate.
In the Sixth Form we avoid what has been called the 'Hitlerisation of History' and retreat into the past to look at less familiar periods.
From September 2008 we shall follow the Edexcel specifications 8HI01 (AS) and 9HI01 (A-level) . Detailed information can be found at www.edexcel.org.uk, , going to 'GCE from 2008' and History.
Yr.12 Christmas term: we start with AS Unit 2 (Option A1) on Henry VIII , which will be examined in January.
Yr.12 Easter term and Summer half-term before Study Leave: Unit 1 moves forward to the later C18 for two themes, the loss of the American colonies (Option C2) and the campaigns against the slave trade and slavery in the West Indies (Option C3). These are examined in May/June.
Yr.13 all year. The A2 modules are the USA, Boom and Bust, 1917-54 (Unit 3, Option C3) and a coursework unit on the Unification of Italy 1800-1900 (Unit 4, CW35). The two units are taught in parallel for half the fortnightly lesson cycle each. Unit 4 allows pupils to escape from exam pressures and write two pieces free from time and memory constraints. Unit 3 is examined in June, and Unit 4's individual deadlines are issued for the two Coursework pieces during the year. Parents are notified of these.
All these modules are concerned with Change in societies and power structures and with how the authorities responded to the shifts. Pupils will become familiar with a variety of periods but have the coherence of an underlying concept binding the modules together.
Over the past seven years we have had a 100% pass rate at A - D, with 53% gaining grade A.
The Staff
Mr Derek Best
Mr Derek Best is Head of the Department. Originally from Belfast, he graduated in History with First Class Honours from Queen's University, Belfast and took his PGCE at Oxford. He first taught at Norwich School where he became Housemaster of the middle boarding house for seven years. He arrived at Durham School in 1983 as Head of History and soon became Director of Studies. In 1988 he was appointed Deputy Headmaster.
His daughter and twin sons have been pupils at the school, two of them taking History in the Sixth Form. This has refreshed his teaching with frequent and frank lesson appraisals. In spare moments he is researching the Poor Law in Durham City as a leisure interest, although it overlaps with two of the current A-level modules.
Contact: d.best@durhamschool.co.uk
Mrs Lucy Hewitt
Mrs Lucy Hewitt is second in the Department. She is a History graduate of Bedford College, London and subsequently took an M.A. while teaching. She joined the staff as Housemistress of Pimlico House in 1990 and retired from the House in the summer of 2005. She takes day-to-day responsibility for the medieval and Tudor/Stuart courses in Years 7 and 8, and her personal interests lie in social history.
Mr Jon Williamson
Mr Jon Williamson was one of Mr. Best's first Sixth Formers, who went on to study Economic History at York before moving into the business world in London. His great passion is Rowing, at which he gained personal distinction by winning a gold and a silver medal in the Commonwealth Games and a silver in the World Championships. In 2003 he made a career switch to the teaching world so that he could coach rowing full-time. He teaches History to the junior forms and has taken a teaching qualification while he does so.
Test your own memory of History
- Name William the Conqueror's great tax survey of England.
- How many of Henry II's knights attacked Archbishop Beckett in Canterbury cathedral?
- Who was Elizabeth I's half-brother?
- Who is popularly thought to have brought tobacco and the potato to England?
- Who was Charles I's wife?
- Name Robert Clive's great victory in India.
- Who was second-in-command to Nelson at the battle of Trafalgar?
- What did a young 'trapper' do down a mine in the early C19?
- Which Prime Minister took Britain to war in 1914?
- Was the number of civilians killed in Britain during World War II nearest 60,000 or 135,000 or 400,000?
Scroll down for answers...
Answers
- Domesday Book;
- Four;
- Edward VI;
- Sir Walter Raleigh;
- Henrietta Maria;
- Plassey;
- Admiral Collingwood;
- Opened ventilation doors as wagons of coal came past;
- Asquith;
- The first number.
Humanities
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