Ash Manor School

Ash Manor Blog

Humanities Blog Post

We have had a wonderful year so far in the History, Ancient History, and Religious Studies department.

This term, some of our Year 9 Historians were able to visit the Imperial War Museum as part of their studies on the Holocaust. These visits were soon after Holocaust Memorial Day and was an incredibly impactful experience for both our students and staff.

Miss Capper stated: “Taking our Year 9 students to the Imperial War Museum was a moving and enriching experience. After a powerful introductory talk on the Holocaust, the students explored the Holocaust gallery in groups of three, using iPads to stimulate their discussions and help them engage more deeply with the testimonies, artefacts and personal stories on display. It was inspiring to watch them pause at different points, debating what they’d discovered and reflecting on the human impact behind the history. 

We later came together for a thoughtful group reflection before heading off to the First and Second World War exhibitions. Unsurprisingly, the recreated trenches proved to be the standout highlight for the students—an immersive and sobering glimpse into the realities of wartime life that left a real impression on them.”

This experience also proved to be impactful on our students, one of whom wanted to add: “I thought I already knew a lot about the Holocaust as we’ve studied it as school and I’m really interested in History. However, being able to see the scale of it - all of the objects and stories - left me feeling really emotional and helped me understand the importance of it far more than before.”

Our GCSE students have also been busy preparing for their GCSEs whilst finishing their respective courses in their studies of Nazi Germany (History), Periclean Athens (Ancient History) and Buddhism (Religious Studies). At the end of December, Mrs Ewart and her Year 11 Religious Studies students were able to benefit from visiting a local church and Buddhist temple. One Year 11 stated, “It was a fantastic experience and really helped me to put what we have learnt in class into context. I came away with lots of new ideas which I am looking forward to showing off in my exams.”

Further, our GCSE students have been experimenting with different ways to revise. For example, some of our ancient historians have been utilising comic strips to help make sense of long and complicated events, whereas our modern historians have been experimenting with ways to utilise their Knowledge Organisers to help with their revision.

In the Autumn Term Key Stage 3 students in both History and Religious Studies were also able to produce some superb project work that required them to independently research a variety of topics and produce a ‘final piece’. Topics covered included creating their own stained glass windows, designing historically themed video games, as well as investigating Diwali and the Qing Dynasty. The level of detail and effort included by our students was a joy to see! One particularly impressive ‘Tudor Religious Rollercoaster’ was even made out of metal and had a working car; others chose to create a rollercoaster on Minecraft to show the twists and turns in Tudor Religion. It was a real challenge to decide which students had earned an Excellence Core Value and we are very much looking forward to seeing what our students produce for their remaining projects this year.

  

Previous Blogs - 2025/26

Maths Blog - Feb 2026
PD Day 2 - Jan 2026 
Geography Fieldwork - Dec 2025
Culture Day - Nov 2025
Library Blog - Nov 2025
MFL Blog - Nov 2025
Personal Development Day - Oct 2025
Silver DofE Training Expedition - Oct 2025 
English Blog - Sept 25

    

Academic Year 2024/2025

 



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