History
Teaching staff at St Catherine’s are passionate about their subject. We are so fortunate to teach a subject which never fails to inform and excite. History is a rich tapestry unfolding with every passing day. It is a subject which allows pupils to use their skills of judgement, analysis and evaluation to their fullest extent.
Staff List
Miss Gianella Negrotti
Head of Department & Politics teacher
email: gianella.negrotti@stcatherines.info
Joined St Catherine’s September 2024. Gianella has been a Head of History and Humanities and Assistant Headteacher at previous schools. She studied History at University where she focused on German and United States history, nineteenth century British politics and the Holocaust. As part of her MA, she aligned her passion for the academic subject of History with that of her interest in educational research, to develop a better understanding of how students can learn from the subject. While initially a more enthusiastic historian of Modern History, Gianella has more recently enjoyed teaching and reading more about the reign of Elizabeth I. As a historian she loves making connections between the past and the present, and as a history teacher recognises the importance of the subject in providing students with the skills to navigate the excess of information available in the modern world. Reading, theatre and travel are what occupies her spare time.
Mrs Angelique Burns
Second in Department
email: angelique.burns@stcatherines.info
Joined St Catherine’s in 2012 having taught previously in both the state and independent sectors, including three years as Head of History at a girls’ school in Croydon. Although specialising in Tudor and Victorian History at University, her academic interests go far beyond that and are ever-changing as friends and family buy her new books. She has a keen interest in Russian History, particularly the Stalinist period, and has a current obsession with the Stasi in East Germany - sparked by a recent visit to Berlin. For bedtime reading, ‘Horrible Histories’ is preferred!
Mrs Isabel Cook
History / Russell Baker Housemistress
email: isabel.cook@stcatherines.info
Joined St Catherine’s in September 2017. Isabel has had a varied career working across Independent and State Sectors. She has also delivered training to teachers and worked within Senior Management. Most recently, she was Head of History in an independent girls’ school in Hampshire. It was here that she completed a Masters of Education from the University of Buckingham. Isabel loves all History! At university she studied a wide variety of options from Crusading Warfare to Vietnam. More recently, following a trip to Russia, she has become fascinated by all things relating to Soviet Russia. Beyond the classroom, Isabel is the Russell Baker Housemistress. When she is not in school she enjoys spending time with her loved ones, travelling and cycling. Being half French, she enjoys the odd glass of wine too!
Mrs Nicole Fenning
History teacher
email: nicole.fenning@stcatherines.info
Joined St Catherine’s in September 2022. Nicole has experience working in both the state independent sectors, teaching both internationally as well as in the UK. Most recently she was Head of Sixth Form at an independent girls’ school in Ascot. She has combined her love of travel with teaching, living in both Mexico and Abu Dhabi. Nicole has a strong interest in Modern History with a focus on international relations. When she is not working she spends time with family and friends and is kept busy by her young son.
Curriculum - A Level
Examination Board: AQA
Why study History?
History is a fascinating subject which provides you with a number of extremely transferable skills. You will learn to analyse, debate and argue; your knowledge and understanding of the world today will be further enhanced through studying past events and the great ‘movers and shakers’ who have left their mark. History sits extremely well with both arts and science subjects.
Course Content
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Breadth Study: A Level 1C The Tudors: England, 1485–1603
You will study government, foreign relations, society, economy, intellectual and religious changes and the role of key individuals. -
Depth Study: A Level 2Q The American Dream: reality and illusion, 1945–1980
The course encompasses some of the major events of the twentieth century and gives an insight into political, economic, social and cultural change inside one of the post-war Superpowers. - Historical Investigation - NEA
3,500 – 4,500 words (non –exam assessment). A piece of independent research using primary and secondary sources, which focuses on the fascinating history of Russia over the course of 100 years 1855-1953.
Assessment
- Breadth Study: exam 2 hours 30 mins, three questions 40% of A level
- Depth Study: exam 2 hours 30 mins, three questions 40% of A level
- Independent Investigation: 3500-4500 words, 20% of A Level, marked by teachers, moderated by AQA
Curriculum - IGCSE
Edexcel IGCSE Specification
The IGCSE History course will allow you to develop and extend your knowledge and understanding of key periods and events in Twentieth Century Modern World History. It allows you to engage in historical enquiry and to develop as an independent learner and as a critical and reflective thinker. Alongside studying the facts of the course, you will develop the ability to investigate issues critically and make historical claims by using a range of sources in their historical context. History provides you with numerous transferable skills and you will learn to organise and communicate historical knowledge and understanding in different ways, and reach substantiated conclusions.
Paper One: Depth Studies
- Germany: development of dictatorship, 1918–45.
The establishment of the Weimar Republic and its early problems; The recovery of Germany, 1924–29; The rise of Hitler and the Nazis to January 1933; Nazi Germany 1933–39; Germany and the occupied territories during the Second World War.
- A world divided: superpower relations, 1943–72.
Reasons for the Cold War; Early developments in the Cold War, 1945–49; The Cold War in the 1950s; Three crises: Berlin, Cuba and Czechoslovakia; The Thaw and moves towards Détente, 1963–72.
Assessment - Paper 1:
One hour and 30-minute examination comprising a mixture of extended writing and essay-based questions, based on the selected depth studies.
Paper Two: Investigation and Breadth Studies
- Russia and the Soviet Union, 1905–24
Tsarist rule in Russia, 1905–14; Opposition to Tsarist rule 1914–17: the impact of war and the February Revolution; Provisional Government and the Bolshevik Revolution; The Bolshevik consolidation of power and the Civil War; War Communism and the New Economic Policy (NEP).
- Changes in medicine, c1848 – 1948 Progress in the mid 19th century; Nightingale, Chadwick, Snow and Simpson; Discovery and development, 1860–75; Lister and Pasteur; Accelerating change, 1875–1905; Ehrlich, Koch and chemistry; Government action and war, 1905–20; Advances in medicine, surgery and public health 1920–48; the NHS
Assessment - Paper 2:One hour and 30-minute examination comprised of two sections, with a mixture of extended writing and essay-based questions. Section A is based on the selected historical investigation and Section B on the breadth study in change.
Curriculum - KS3
The History Department at St Catherine’s is committed to studying a wide range of experiences from the past across the middle-school (KS3) curriculum and incorporating diversity into schemes of work as part of a wider narrative. This includes (but is not limited to) diversity of race, nationality, religion, gender, social class, voting status and age. The department is committed to exposing pupils to as wide a range of ‘voices from history’ as possible in the 60 mins per week allocated for History, believing that these intertwining stories give pupils a deeper understanding of the past.
U3 (Yr7) 1066 -1485
In Upper 3, the girls will evaluate the methods used by William the Conqueror to consolidate Norman rule and consider how much the Norman Conquest changed England. They will study the importance of the medieval Church and investigate the problems faced and decisions taken by a series of medieval monarchs identifying key themes such as struggles with the Church, conflict with the barons and the methods used to maintain control. They will also look at the role of women in the medieval world.
L4 (Yr8) 1509- 1900
The year begins with an analysis of the religious turmoil of the Tudor period. As part of this course students examine recent research carried out by Miranda Kaufmann into diversity in Tudor society (Black Tudors: the untold story). A unit on 'the changing power of the monarchy' in Britain between 1603-1800 investigates the causes of the English Civil War and subsequent shift to constitutional monarchy. To conclude the year, students industrial and political changes on the lives of the people in Britain.
U4 (Yr9) Aspects of 20th Century History
In Upper 4, girls continue their chronological study of Britain’s political and social changes with a focus on the extension of the franchise to the working classes and the struggle for female suffrage by the suffragists and suffragettes. Causes and events of the First World War follow where we cover topics such as causes of the War, propaganda and recruitment, fighting in the trenches and the importance of soldiers from across the Empire and the essential role played by women in the war. To conclude the year we investigate the post war world to compare the impact of war on the development of dictatorships and democracies across the world. In addition, the girls will have a series of lessons about the Holocaust and the historical roots of antisemitism. Upper 4 students also take part in a two-day residential trip to the Battlefields of Ypres to support their knowledge and understanding of the First World War and bring history 'to life' beyond the classroom.
Reading Lists & Websites
U3 (Y7) : Medieval History Focus
Historical Fiction
- The Seeing Stone – Kevin Crossley-Holland
- The Secret Diary of John Drawbridge: Medieval Knight in Training – Philip Ardagh
- The Wool Pack – Cynthia Harnett
Non-Fiction
- The Silk Roads – Illustrated Edition – Peter Frankopan
- Femina: A New History of the Middle Ages – Janina Ramirez
- A Little History of the World – E.H. Gombrich (general reference)
L4 (Y8) : Tudors, Stuarts Empire & Enslavement & Industrial Revolution
Historical Fiction
- Thief! (Elizabethan Mysteries) – John Pilkington
- The Last Tudor – Philippa Gregory
- The Secret Diary of Thomas Snoop: Tudor Boy Spy – Philip Ardagh
- The Ravenmaster's Boy – Mary Hoffman
- Coram Boy – Jamila Gavin
- Copper Sun – Sharon Draper
- Sugar – Jewell Parker Rhodes
- The Ruby in the Smoke – Philip Pullman
- 12 Years a Slave – Solomon Northup
Non-Fiction
- Bury the Chains – Adam Hochschild
- Liberty’s Dawn: A People’s History of the Industrial Revolution – Emma Griffin
U4 (Y9): 20th Century Conflict, Civil Rights, Social Change
Historical Fiction
- Private Peaceful – Michael Morpurgo
- War Horse – Michael Morpurgo
- To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
- The Lions of Little Rock – Kristin Levine
- Opal Plumstead – Jacqueline Wilson
- The Cure for Dreaming – Cat Winters
- The Diary of Anne Frank – Anne Frank
- Warriors Don’t Cry – Melba Pattillo Beals
- The Book Thief – Markus Zusak
- When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit – Judith Kerr
Non-Fiction
- Rise Up, Women! The Remarkable Lives of Suffragettes – Diane Atkinson
- Black and British: A Short, Essential History – David Olusoga
A Level
General Historical Fiction & Enrichment (All Years)
These books enrich students' understanding across multiple time periods and global perspectives:
- Carrie’s War – Nina Bawden
- Someone Named Eva – Joan M. Wolf
- Last Train from Kummersdorf – Leslie Wilson
- A Moment Comes – Jennifer Bradbury
- Half of a Yellow Sun – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- I Am Malala – Malala Yousafzai
- The Family Romanov – Candace Fleming
- The Conquest Series – James Aitcheson
- Countdown (The Sixties Trilogy #1) – Deborah Wiles
- The Silver Sword – Ian Serraillier
- The Eagle of the Ninth – Rosemary Sutcliff
General History Books
- A Little History of the World – E.H. Gombrich
- Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind – Yuval Noah Harari
- Homo Deus – Yuval Noah Harari
- A Short History of Nearly Everything – Bill Bryson
- Wild Swans – Jung Chang
- Wheels of Change – Sue Macy
- Animal Farm – George Orwell
- 1984 – George Orwell
- Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy – John le Carré
- Pachinko – Min Jin Lee
Useful Resources & Websites
- Historical Association – Fiction List
Historical Association Reading Suggestions - BBC Bitesize KS3 History
BBC Bitesize History - Crash Course World History (YouTube)
Crash Course History Playlist
At St Catherine’s, we believe History is more than the study of the past—it is a powerful tool for understanding the present. Our teaching embraces academic rigour and curiosity, rooted in the belief that a diverse and inclusive curriculum helps pupils make meaningful connections between past and present. We challenge students to think critically, weigh evidence, and reflect on whose stories are told. With each generation, our view of history shifts—reminding us that the past is never fixed.
"History is not about the past, it’s about arguments we have in the present about the past." – David Olusoga