This is the first thing I say to girls when they sit down in History for the first time at Queenswood. It’s a little daunting but like everything else at Queenswood, it’s empowering as well.

When girls first arrive at Q they are thrust immediately into the bloody world of British History with a study of the Norman invasion and the death of the last English King. We then race across the centuries taking in a few notable murders, monarchs, rebellions, wars (one Cold); a couple of dictators and atomic bombs to arrive at the end of Year 9 with the assassination of Kennedy.

Having been suitably excited, with the ground well prepared, those who choose GCSE History will find themselves studying four of the economic superpowers of the world today as we look at Germany (1919-45), The Russian Revolution, The USA and Civil Rights and the History of China up to 1980. Given that these four nations will probably dominate the world our girls will go off to work in, it seems useful to arm them with an understanding of some of their background.

Those girls who choose to continue with History in the Sixth Form take the Cambridge Pre-U course. Grades here are worth about 10-15 more UCAS points in University applications than their A level equivalent and the qualification is highly regarded. History at this level is quite skilled with an in-depth study of the life of Lenin, US political and economic history with assessments of Presidents up to and including Obama. We also study the Tudors and meet the first women of any real power in England with a study of Mary I and Elizabeth I. We see England change from a small insignificant nation on the edge of Europe as Henry VIII takes the throne to one that has defeated Europe’s greatest power in the Armada and is visibly on the cusp of the jump to empire and global domination.

On top of this girls get to choose to do a piece of coursework on any topic they choose and they have been as varied as assessing the influence of James I on witchcraft to the impact of the Wall Street Crash and the depression on non-western nations.

Dr Suzannah Lipscomb at Queenswood

Essay competitions

We really try to encourage girls to do their very best at every opportunity; they are bought numerous books and any trip or lecture they want to go to is totally funded by the department. Girls are also provided with individual tutoring for entry to numerous essay competitions and we strongly recommend that they try to enter some. The essays are 4,000 words long and require degree level research and referencing on topics as varied as ‘Why does Machiavelli’s The Prince continue to be so controversial?’ or ‘Was there a crisis of masculinity in the Victorian age?’ More than anything it helps develop their skills.
In the last three years we have had commended entries for Corpus Christi College, Oxford and two from Peterhouse College, Cambridge. These are national competitions with many hundreds of entries, so to achieve this so consistently is a real credit to the school.

Trips

In the junior school here at Queenswood we provide a History trip every year for Years 7-9. Hampton Court, Rochester Castle, Hendon aircraft museum and the Black Country industrial museum are our usual destinations. In the Middle School we try to take advantage of our proximity to London and have in the past been to exhibitions on Propaganda, the Chalke Valley History Festival and study days on Nazi Germany.

The Sixth form are offered a trip to the USA to visit Washington DC and when we go they gain access to Congress, the Supreme Court, visit the Lincoln memorial, Arlington Cemetery and a host of other sights.

Breadth of resources

We have a vast range of resources in the History department. We are forever buying books of all variety. We subscribe to numerous magazines and societies, The Historian, Hindsight, All About History, BBC History magazine and History Today as well as several academic journals. Girls are given books, articles, podcasts, DVDs and access to the University of London’s research engines. We are as a school members of the Historical Association, giving access to an enormous back catalogue of podcasts and pamphlets, and Mr Daughton, the Head of History, was elected a Member of the Royal Historical Society last year. They certainly do not want for anything in their studies; the door of the History office is literally always open and girls know they can come and ask for help at any time and no one is ever turned away.

Results

So what is the result of all this effort and provision? Well, apart from making girls who might well astound you in conversation and intellect by the time they leave us we have some impressive results that are rising year on year.

At GCSE last year 85% of girls gained an A/A* grade. This puts us well up the national table for results in History. In recent years national results for A* in History have fallen from 11% to 8% as the exams process has been toughened up, but here at Queenswood are bucking the trend in a tremendous manner as last year we increased our A* strike rate for the third consecutive year to a stunning 41% of entries.

This growing success is continued at Sixth Form where girls are really stretched but results continue to shine. Last year 89% of girls sitting the Pre-U gained the equivalent of an A*/A grade putting us at the very pinnacle of national results at this level. This gives girls the confidence that they could not go anywhere else and expect to do better.

University destinations

All of this naturally pays some dividends, as several girls choose to do History at University each year. We regularly send girls to study History at Cambridge, Oxford, Kings, Exeter, York and Warwick, all of which are in the top 10 places to study History at University in the country.

Plans

But we are not done there. Academic masochists that we are, there are always plans afoot for more. We are looking to gain accreditation from the Historical Association for high standards in History delivery. This is a nationally inspected award conducted by the Historical Association and we feel we can achieve it. We also plan a History print magazine to showcase some of the highly interesting student essays on various topics they choose. So look out for that coming soon. I am certain you will find it impressive and intimidating to see the capabilities of the girls who arrive playing computer games trying to win the Battle of Hastings in Year 7 and leave to study History in some of the finest academic institutions of the land.
When see what the girls are capable of, you will feel persuaded that here at Queenswood they can achieve the very best…and usually do.