Available for G-level and A-level, an optional subject at G-level and A-level studies. Belong to Department of Humanities and Social Science.
History is the study of the past events of a particular period, country or subject. Students studying the History at SCIE will gain a sound understanding of the main events in international relations in the past, and to explore the social, economic and political changes in Russia during the early 20th Century in depth.
Course:
Although memorising information is essential to become a successful Historian, the skills that students will develop throughout G1 and G2 go far beyond simple memorisation. Students will practice how to explain ideas in essay form and develop a critical source analysis skills.
The core content studied in G1 covers the causes of the First World War and its consequences; the extent to which the League of Nations was a success; the causes of World War 2; the Cold War and the effectiveness of the USA’s attempt to contain the spread of Communism; the extent of the USSR’s control over Eastern Europe from 1948- 1989, and the reasons for the collapse of the USSR’s control over Eastern Europe.
The depth study covered in G2 will look at the reasons for the failure of the Tsar’s Regime in Russia and why the Lenin and the Bolsheviks were able to seize power. The second part of the depth study seeks to explain how Stalin rose to become a dictator, how he transformed the Soviet Union in to a modern superpower, and the human cost of this transformation.
Final International Examinations:
IGCSE History (0470) :
Course:
History is the study of the past events of a particular period, country or subject. A1 students starting in the year 2020 at SCIE will study Cambridge AS and AL Syllabus 9489 through which they will gain a sound understanding of the events in Europe during the Late Modern Period 1750- 1921, Europe during the interwar years 1919-41 and a comprehensive knowledge of the Historical interpretations of The Cold War. The skills students will develop through the study of A Level cover many of those studied at IGCSE including source analysis and essay writing. The main difference between AS/AL and IGCSE is that at AS level and A level there are no short response questions, all questions require extended writing. Moreover the A level course studied in A2 introduces Historiography, requiring students to compare Historical interpretations, of an event.
At AS Level, students will study the causes, and consequences of major events in Modern Europe 1750-1921, essential learning for an understanding of the foundations of contemporary Europe. As part of this course, students will study The French Revolution and Napoleons domestic reforms, The Industrial Revolution in Britain, Liberalism and National ism in Germany, leading to the formation of The German State and The Russian Revolution and establishment of The Soviet Union.
At A Level students will study the causes of the rise of dictatorships in Europe during the Interwar years 1919-41 and the tools they used to maintain their power. The dictatorships studied include Mussolini’s Italy 1919-41, Stalin’s Russia 1924-41 and Hitler’s Germany 1929-41. Also included is the study of Britain 1919-39, which maintained a democratic government throughout the same period. As part of the A Level course, students will study and compare different interpretations of The Cold War.
Final International Examinations:
AS-level Biology:
A-level Biology:
My essay is on the recent development of China’s mental health care system and how it can help address this question. Though, I actually parried the question raised by the prompt, and I did not in the end emphasise too much that more care should be devoted to the socially vulnerable. Rather, I intended to underscore the complexity and ambiguity in any employment of these two notions — “socially vulnerable” and “responsibility” — in the concrete working of society. Through my study I discovered that the train of legislative efforts made in the 1980s to 2000s to legally recognise, to enhance public knowledge of, and to erect new asylums for, “the mentally ill,” in fact coincided spatiotemporally with government efforts in putting new agendas of foreign policies and city development to work. Thus, the recent development of China’s mental health care, from scratch to full maturity, is not solely the consequence of “humanitarian effort,” but also of some other ulterior motives. In my conclusion, I hinted that any answer to this question would entail empirical investigation into the concrete working of social institutions, and depending on the nature of this “socially vulnerable” group, claims of “responsibility” may be leveraged as veils for other purposes.
Before starting my research I did not by then have a well-formed hypothesis, but I did have Michel Foucault’s intriguing study on madness in mind. Due to the rather peculiar nature of the object of my study, I was not able to apply the sociological theories (Marxism, Functionalism, e.g.) I learnt in class to my own research. I must thank my sociology teacher for his encouragement and provision of many textbook resources and classical studies done in the field of mental health care. In addition to that, he prepared a statement of the school for my application to conduct short interviews at a local mental health hospital — this application, however, though quite expectedly, sank into oblivion — without his help this project would be very difficult.
I made a documentary “The Definition” about the situation of elderly in Shenzhen to enter this competition. As I have some previous knowledge in filmmaking, learning from TBU studio, I though it would be meaningful if I combined my filmmaking skills with sociology knowledge. In the meanwhile, after learning the very first chapter of sociology, The Family, I found out that the situation of elderly in the UK is different from that of elderly in Shenzhen. For instance, elderly have the responsibility taking care of their grandchildren and dance in the park for entertainment is distinctive in China. Therefore, I decided to make a documentary to record the interesting culture.
I learnt a lot during the preparation for the competition. I learned a lot about how to carry out an individual primary research when I was filming “The Definition”, which helps a lot in my current sociology study. Also, I understood sociology theories better. For instance, postmodernism used to be only a vague theoretical perspective for me, yet it amazed me knowing that elderly people participate actively in public activities can be considered as view of postmodernism.
Most importantly, I realized filmmaking can make some impacts on people, portraying problems of society. Experience of BSA opened my eyes and led me rethink about my future major in college. I want use my skills and knowledge to help more people, so I will probably try a major with humanity and filmmaking combined instead of pursuing the dream of being an artist alone.
Learning sociology gives me a new perspective in seeing how the world works, and it also lets me care more about the vulnerability in the society. Thank you to my sociology teacher, Richard Driscoll, who gave me lots of inspiration such as filming the dancing in the park, which is interesting to British people, and recommenced lots of sociological books about the elderly.
By listening to his advice, “The Definition” eventually divides into two parts: one is about the elderly in nursing home and the other is about people dancing in the park. Also, there is many interviews in the documentary to give a more well-rounded perspective.
I would like to thank my Math teacher Michael Jin and my friend Franchaska, who helped me with the voice over. Also, thanks to my family members, especially my dear grandmother, who gave me lots of insights related to the issue of elderly.
I made this documentary just before the deadline, thus it’s not so perfect. I’ll probably elaborate some shots and reedit it in the future.
If you are interested, you can click the link below and watch it.
Teng Xun Video：https://v.qq.com/x/page/u0862usad2v.html
Bilibili：https://www.bilibili.com/video/av38188271?from=search&seid=10452775157822232568
