Welcome to the Magherafelt High School History department homepage.

The History Team strives to encourage students to enjoy their study of History, through a wide ranging curriculum that balances knowledge of historical episodes with an enquiry into the importance and relevance of those episodes today. 

Students should investigate how the past shapes the present, and examine how past decisions, have had an immense impact on the Modern World. 

History is linked specifically to Citizenship Education in Years 8, 9 and 10. 

Aims

Through studying History:

• should be able to understand and connect the contexts studied
• should move beyond recall to a deeper understanding of History
• should investigate and question their own values and beliefs
• should become effective independent learners
• should ask questions about the material and analyse critically
• should examine why stereotypical views arise
• should use effective ICT to enhance their learning in History
• should obtain valuable skills for future careers

Curriculum

KS3

Year 8

• What is History?  Why is it important?
• Changes in Popular Culture – Woodie Guthrie to Lily Allen
• Historical Investigators
• Chronology
• The African American Story
• The Norman Impact and Norman Society
• The Black Death
• The Normans in Ireland

Year 9

• The Importance of the Reformation
• Henry V111 and His Wives
• The Trouble with Mary Queen of Scots
• Case Study on the Spanish Armada and Importance in Irish Archaeology
• Colonization to Plantation – Local Events in Magherafelt
• The Troubles in Northern Ireland
• The Williamite Wars

Year 10

• Revolutionary Paths + 1798 Rebellion
• The Industrial Revolution
• Famine as Genocide
• The Holocaust and Genocide Study
• The Home Rule Crisis and the Partition of Ireland
• The First World War

KS4

The CCEA Specification is followed at GCSE

There are four elements to the course:

• Nazi Germany
• Changing Relationships between Northern Ireland, Britain and Eire between 1920-1949
• The Cold War
• Coursework Element

A/S and A2

The CCEA Specification is followed at A-Level

There are four elements to the course:

• Weimar to Nazi Germany (AS)
• Revolutionary and Stalinist Russia (AS)
• Partition of Ireland (A2)
• Clash of Ideologies (A2)