History Department

The main aim of the History Department at Trinity School is to combine academic excellence with enjoyment of the subject for its own sake. Teachers in the department place a strong emphasis both on ensuring that all students reach their full potential in terms of examination results and also on the many exciting opportunities for personal enrichment that History can offer. Trips to the First World War Battlefields, Totnes Castle, Buckfast Abbey, Buckland Abbey and Bovington Tank Museum are all part of the curriculum.

By its very nature, History contributes more to the spiritual, moral and ethical development of the individual student and to their awareness of citizenship than almost any other subject in the curriculum. The centrality to success as an historian (at any level) of being able to understand and respect different points of view provides an invaluable "life skill", helps to combat bigotry and intolerance, and is central to the teaching of Trinity School students of all ages.

A study of the past enhances students' understanding of these issues in relation to their lives in the Twenty-First Century. The History Course at Trinity School is specifically designed to give opportunities for these issues to be confronted in all year groups by studying topics that require them to think and make judgements in all these areas.

• Results at both GCSE and Advanced Level have been consistently high over the last few years, with the vast majority of students at Advanced Level obtaining grades A to C.
• The skills taught in History lessons leave students well placed to succeed in the wider world, including the fields of law, business and the media.
• Students develop their skills in ICT and information retrieval, have wide experience of a range of writing and spoken presentation and become increasingly well-motivated, independent learners.

Departmental Trips

The Department has worked hard over the last two years to introduce a programme of educational visits for different years groups. This year we are hoping to achieve an even more ambitious programme: