History

All Ockbrook student in Years 7 - 9 enjoy History for a double lesson every week.  History studied includes:

Year 7	The Roman Empire and  Medieval Britain
Year 8	Britain 1500 to 1750 and The Black Peoples of the Americas
Year 9	Britain 1700 to 1900 and World History 1900 to the present day

In Years 10 and 11, students choose to do History as part of their GCSE options. At present there are two groups doing two double periods a week in Years 10 and 11.  Our GCSE students follow the OCR specification in Twentieth Century World History.

Trips
In May 2008 Year 7 visited Tutbury Castle in Staffordshire. Helped by a medieval re-enactment group, they dressed up in Fourteenth Century costumes and learned a lot about Medieval Britain. In the afternoon they had great fun exploring the castle site.

 

In March 2008 Year 8 visited Baddesley Clinton, which is a moated, medieval manor house in Warwickshire. They had guided tours of the house and looked into the priest holes which used to protect the Roman Catholic occupants from the pursuivants.

In October 2008 Year 9 went to Kedleston Hall and Erewash Museum. They had guided tours of  the hall, and at Erewash Museum they did the laundry using Victorian scrubbing boards, dolly tubs and mangles. They also tried hard to identify an assortment of Nineteenth Century household items.

Other recent History trips have been to the D.H. Lawrence Museum at Eastwood, the Workhouse at Southwell, and Quarry Bank Mill in Cheshire.

English and History Day
Each year everyone in Years 7 - 9 enjoys an English and History Day organised jointly by the two departments. In 2008 the theme was a murder mystery, set in the 1920s. The girls had to use their skills of deduction to work out who was responsible for the murder, as well as investigating the 1920s.  Among other topics they learned about fashion, music, and literature in the 1920s, the General Strike, and how to dance the Charleston.

A Level
At A level the AQA specification is followed at Ockbrook School.  Students enjoy three double periods of History each week studying units on Louis 14 of France 1661 to 1715, Peter the Great of Russia 1689 to 1725, Britain 1642 to 1689, and a Historical Enquiry.