History Geography department

Curriculum overview

We teach the French national History-Geography curriculum in English and cover a breadth of interesting topics including the world wars, totalitarian regimes and the cold war in History. In Geography we cover many key human geography issues including development studies, urbanisation, demographics and globalisation. In addition, we do also build in British modules and complement the standard French curriculum with our own examples and case studies to develop the bi-cultural element of the subject.

Our approach to teaching History-Geography is very pupil-centred, so pupils will be engaging in activities which develop their ability to think critically and produce substantiated judgements. Therefore, decision-making exercises, source analysis, historiography and historical debates are amongst the many thinking activities pupils do with us.

Assessment and qualifications

Whilst pupils are in the collège they are working towards obtaining the French Brevet (Option Internationale) which is done in 3ème. In the Lycée, they will be working towards the l’Option Internationale du Baccalaurèat which involves an A-Level equivalent exam administered by Cambridge International Exams. Both formal exams also entail an oral element which involves the answering of an analytical style question where pupils must develop their own arguments related to an important key issue.

Our internal assessment very much reflects the skills required in these formal exams and we strive to develop pupils’ ability to write analytical essays, and present arguments orally, from a young age.

Homework and learning resources

Homework is set regularly, and pupils have access to the VLE (virtual learning environment) where they can find a wealth of resources for support.