History

Looking Back

The History Department recaps the past three academic years (2019-22):

Lockdown came as a shock to the History department as we have long prided ourselves on being able to take pupils to sites of historical interest. Nevertheless, we have made the most of the technology available to us and hosted a number of virtual events during the pandemic. The first was a meeting for current and incoming students of A-Level Politics with Mark Logan MP, who was elected to the constituency of Bolton North East in 2019. Mark talked about his new job as a constituency MP, as well as his role on the House of Commons Science and Technology committee. Freed from the pressures of A-Level exam revision, the Sixth Form History class of 2020 took park in some independent study and a debate on the Israel-Palestine conflict. The debate was hosted by Parallel Histories, an education charity set up by Mr Owen’s former History teacher, Michael Davies. It provides opportunities for pupils to debate contested histories and competing narratives. Our four budding undergraduates (Amelia Doherty, Lima Assi, Charley Wakefield and Lauren Pursey) examined the source evidence and debated alternative interpretations with two other schools, via Zoom, before coming to their own view. Zoom provided further opportunity for enrichment via Historical Association (Bolton Branch) lectures. Fortunately, our 2019-21 lectures concluded shortly before lockdown. In 2020-21, we managed to arrange three lectures, held entirely on Zoom. ‘Guests’ from as far away as the Republic of Ireland listened to talks on the Palace of Versailles, Benjamin Franklin and the history of slavery in Barbados. In 2021-22, lectures returned to school in hybrid format, meaning that guests could attend in person or online. This years’ topics included the peace settlement of 1919, medieval Jewry and several lectures related to our A-Level studies on the Stuarts and the American Civil War. We were fortunate, in the midst of the omicron wave, to host a heat of the Historical Association Great Debate competition, welcoming Altrincham Grammar School for Girls and Priestnall School, Stockport. Well done to Nicola Shaw in Year 11 for her entry, which involved speaking about the huge changes seen during the 70-year reign of Elizabeth II. In Politics, pupils have continued to benefit from the large range of virtual seminars offered by the UK Parliament. In 2020-21, the Year 12 Politicians took part in an event called ‘Learn with the Lords’, where they were able to engage in a Q & A session with a serving member of the House of Lords, Lord Knight. They also took part in a virtual workshop on the First Past the Post electoral system. More recently, the return of trips has enabled the same group to visit Westminster in person, where they toured Parliament and made our usual stop off at the UK Supreme Court. Politics Club has continued its connection with Bolton Youth Voice. At the start of 2020-21, the Youth MPs visited in order to talk about various initiatives including #bekindtomymind and the ‘Make Your Mark’ campaign. The ‘Make Your Mark’ campaign is the biggest vote of its kind involving 11-18 year olds nationwide. The results are used to determine the agenda of the U.K. Youth Parliament. Pupils felt most strongly about ‘Health and Wellbeing’, with this issue topping the poll across the senior school.

In other years, we have welcomed the return of trips in 2021-22. Year 11 have been reacquainted with their Year 10 topic ‘Health and the People’ during our visit to the fantastic, recently refurbished Thackray Museum of Medicine in Leeds. Year 9 travelled to Liverpool, where they consolidated their understanding of black history with a tour of the International Slavery Museum. Finally, at the time of writing, Year 8 are eagerly awaiting where their post exam summer trip will take them. Mrs Pritchard’s lower school Historical Craft club continues to provide much excitement to younger pupils, as did our annual castle building competition, which tested the creative skills of everyone in Year 7. Lego, loo rolls, you name it – they built with it! Looking ahead to 2022-23, the department is eagerly anticipating the excitement of residential trips once again. If you will be in Year 10 or above from September, watch this space!