History
Head of Department: Mr MP Ince – mpi@barneyschool.org.uk
Teacher of History : Mr D S Gorman
Introduction
The IGCSE course follows the Modern World History syllabus covering issues in the history of the 20th Century and thus complements the topics covered by the end of Year 9.
Course/Exam board: IGCSE CIE 0470
Specification at a glance
- The peace agreements at the end of the First World War
- The actions of the League of Nations in the 1920s and 1930s
- The causes of the Second World War, including Hitler’s aggressive foreign policy
- Germany, 1918-1945: principally the rise of Nazism and the nature of Hitler’s regime
- The USSR, 1905-1945: the Communist Revolution and Stalin’s regime
- The origins of the Cold War and superpower relations, 1945-1990
Your route through the syllabus and assessment
There are two compulsory examination papers covering all topics and combining the uses of sources with factual knowledge and analysis. There is also a coursework element which constitutes 27% of the final mark.
The course is taught through a series of printed notes and worksheets which form the basis of class work, supplemented by textbooks. The department has an excellent range of audio-visual material for this period as well as access to IT applications.
What history can do for you
The course is not factually based but encourages pupils to interpret the past, form their own views and come to individual conclusions based on an understanding of the evidence, which develops their critical thinking and analytical skills. The topics are all directly relevant to the world in which pupils will take an increasing part and are therefore of immediate interest and importance.
