Should I take History? GCSE

SO, what exactly will you study???? USA BRITAIN THE COLD WAR THE INDIVIDUAL

The British Depth Study 1 How did British Society Change ? 1 hour 30 minutes exam, worth 30%, Jan 2012 Source based & structured questions

International Relations 2 The USA and The Cold War hour exam summer 2013 Source based & structured questions

The role of the individual 3 One controlled assessment worth 25% Winston Churchill

Employers and Universities The skills that are taught within the subject are very useful in work, study and life. Value History very Highly.

When studying history you will: Use information effectively – this can help shed light on a particular problem or issue confronting an organisation or individual. Weigh conflicting factors carefully before taking critical decisions. Be analytical and critical when considering information presented to you.

Understand how and why humans behaved as they did – and may behave in similar circumstances again. This can be vital in relations with the most complex factor in any job – your colleagues! Learn the arts of oral debate and expressing a clear personal point of view – invaluable skills at job or university interviews.

YOU ARE TAUGHT TO THINK AND THEN MAKE UP YOUR OWN MIND !!!

Independent thinkers. Open-minded. Disciplined. Good at problem solving. Able to pick out the essential from the trivial. In this rapidly changing world employers want people who are:

‘historians are regarded as having had an education that trains their minds to assemble, organise and present facts and opinions and this is a very useful quality in many walks of life and careers…history is an excellent preparation for very many other jobs’

name Go on then, some people who have studied history and have made it to the top of their chosen field!

Business Lord John Sainsbury CEO Sainsbury’s (Oxford); Howard Springer CEO Sony America (Oxford); Martha Lane-Fox Founder of Lastminute.com (Oxford); Clara Freeman, OBE Chairman of Opportunity Now Anita Roddick, founder of Body Shop (Bath Spa); Gerald Corbett ex CEO Dixons, Railtrack, Woolworth (Cambridge); Julia Cleverdon Chief Executive of Business in the Community (Cambridge); Patrick Gillam ex CEO BP, Standard Chartered Bank (LSE); John Varley Chairman of Barclays Bank (Oxford); Helena Stride Head of Education at Imperial War Museum; Anthony Hudson Former chairman of ICI (Birmingham); Charles Miller Smith Current CEO of ICI (St Andrews); David Montgomery former CEO Trinity Mirror PLC Sarah Tyacke Keeper of the National Archives (London).

Entertainment Louis Theroux (Oxford); Simon Thomas Blue Peter (Birmingham); Simon Mayo Radio DJ (Warwick); Conan O'Brien US talk show host and Simpsons writer (Harvard); Michael Palin presenter and Python (Oxford); Suzanne Warner Deputy Chair of the Broadcasting Standards Commission; Chris Martin of band Coldplay (UCL); The Chemical Brothers DJs and dance music band (Manchester); Nicky Wire Manic Street Preachers (Swansea); Neil Tennant Pet Shop Boys (N London); Sting former History Teacher! Sacha Baron Cohen creator of Ali G - studied History at Oxford.

Politics, Unions and Law Gordon Brown Prime Minister Neil Kinnock former leader, Labour Party (Cardiff); John Prescott MP (Hull); Diane Abbott MP first black woman MP, (Cambridge); Mike Mansfield QC top barrister (Keele); John Scarlett Head of MI6 (Oxford); Frances Crook, Director of the Howard League for Penal Reform (Liverpool); Chris Patten European Commissioner and Oxford Chancellor elect (Oxford); Dr John Reid MP (Stirling); Paul Murphy MP (Oxford); John Monks Gen Sec TUC (Nottingham); Anna Blackstock Dir Gen DTI (Oxford); Alex Salmond MSP Scottish National Party (St Andrews); Seb Coe former athlete and MP (Loughborough); Michael Portillo MP (Cambridge); Alan Milburn MP (Lancaster); Tim Yeo MP (Cambridge)

Of course, history wasn’t the only thing that ensured the success of these people, but certainly the life skills gained from the subject would have played a big part!

Studying the people of the past can give you real insight into people alive now. It will help you understand how and why humans behave as they do when confronted with the crises of today. Unless you become a lighthouse keeper or a hermit you’ll need to understand other people with all their complexities. Knowledge of people is the greatest asset of all.

“ Students of history will be less likely to believe large lies – or small ones! The broad mass of the nation will more easily fall victim to a large lie than a small one. ” Adolf Hitler, 1925

Are you inquisitive? Do you like finding the reasons why something might have happened?

prepared to become an investigator and research topics for yourself? Are you

like to form your own opinions, even if they might be different from those of your friends - or teachers? Do you

Well, is….. GCSE History

H I S T O R Y ard but rewarding work. nteresting! tudy of real people in a living past! opical! f real value in employment! elevant! makes us ask why, why, why!