This term our year 9s are studying global conflict with a focus on WWII and its impact on Britain. It was under the shroud of WWII that Hitler was able put in place the systematic destruction of Jews and this unit of study investigates the steps to war, and the events that took place leading to Hitler’s eventual suicide in 1945.

The students will begin by investigating the policy of appeasement and trying to come to a decision about how much blame this policy, and Neville Chamberlain the British Prime Minister, deserve. Our year 9s will then investigate important events during the war such as the evacuation of Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain, operation Barbarossa and the Battle of the Bulge. The students will be expected to reach conclusions about the significance of these events, and come to strong decisions about where mistakes were made and successes should be celebrated.

Our year 9 students will then go on to learn about the impact of the end of WWII on Britain, investigating why there was an influx of migration to Britain after the war. They will learn about the Windrush Generation and their experiences of racism in Britain, and of campaigns for civil rights. The students also explore the impacts of Asian immigration to Britain on our culture and history.

“I really enjoy how you learn about the past and how important it is to make sure that it is not repeated in the future to stop anything bad from happening.” Tom in year 9

“History lessons are so interesting as you learn about how other countries were run in the past and how different they are now, plus learning about the wars and why they happened.” Lewis in year 9

Examples of year 9 work by Tom and Lewis