History

Greensward Academy’s approach is based on delivering excellence in teaching and learning. As a History department, our focus is to provide inspirational teaching and learning for our students, and to inspire and impassion students to have a lifelong interest in history.

As a department, we are incredibly dedicated to giving our students extra-curricular opportunities. 

We run regular successful trips to Krakow, Ypres and Berlin. The Year 11 Krakow trip includes a tour of Auschwitz. Students find the guides at both Auschwitz 1 and Birkenau incredibly informative, and they feel that their understanding of the persecution of the various groups, in Germany and occupied Europe, has progressed considerably. We have also run two successful trips to Moscow for our A Level cohort in 2010 and 2013, and hope to run another one soon. The KS4 Berlin trip takes in many historical, social and cultural aspects of the city. We take students on three guided tours: a Third Reich guided walk, a tour of Sachsenhausen concentration camp and a guided excursion named ‘Behind the Wall’, where students get to experience what life was like when Berlin was a divided city. At KS3 we also offer a battlefields trip to Ypres. Students visit the cemeteries of the opposing sides, go to the trenches and Canadian Memorial at Hill 62, visit the Flanders Fields Museum in Ypres and perform a ceremony, reading poems and leaving a wreath as a symbol of respect for the fallen soldiers.

As a department, we have experienced some exceptional AS and A Level results, placing us as one of the top providers in the country for History, and into the much respected ‘red zone’ on the ALPs thermometer. We have a strong intake at AS, achieving two classes worth of students each year. We involve our Sixth Formers in a Sixth Form History Society and over the past few years, many of them got involved in a programme to mentor Year 11 students.At GCSE, we recruit exceptional numbers of students which is testimony to the excellent teaching in the department and to students’ enjoyment of their lessons.

We have a History Society for years 7 to 11, where students lead sessions on topics outside of curriculum provision. We have had some wonderful presentations, notably on Waterloo and on the Victorians. The boy who presented on Waterloo was taken to St Paul’s earlier in the year as part of the ceremony to commemorate the battle. Students also get to go on additional trips as part of their membership to the society. Last year we went to see the HMS Belfast, Churchill War Rooms and the Houses of Parliament. It is wonderful to see students show intellectual curiosity and to embrace history in such an interested and enthused way.

Greensward Academy is a co-educational 11-19 comprehensive independent academy with DfE designated Specialist School status.