The history teachers at Harlington have a passionate belief in the importance of history in the curriculum. Perhaps most importantly, history enables students to develop key transferable skills, notably the ability to read, select and apply relevant information to solve complex questions. Recognising what is accurate and reliable has huge benefits in the modern media rich world; history provides students with the critical skills relevant to dealing with both the opportunities and challenges of a world which is rapidly changing.

By its very nature the study of history requires students to be able to read and write to a good standard as well as the ability to remember key information and sequence events in chronological order. History is a strong academic subject which is why universities see it as a facilitating subject.

Studying History is often a gateway to a lifetime of interest and enjoyment in a subject where there is something for everyone: whether you enjoy military or social history, kings and queens or political history. School should not be all about exams and grades, though they are important, but also about inspiring a pleasure and curiosity in learning. We hope that our history students will leave Harlington with an interest in history which goes beyond the school curriculum.

Within the confines of the new curriculum we have selected a specification which we hope provides students with an interesting and diverse course of study. The topics we will be studying are:

• Period Study and British Depth Study – Anglo-Saxon and Norman England, c1060-88 and Superpower Relations and the Cold War 1941-91.
• Modern Depth Study – Weimar and Nazi Germany.
• Thematic study and historic environment – Medicine in Britain 1250 – present.