History

Mercat Tours International

The department has a long standing relationship with the , Edinburgh based, tour company. Mercat have facilitated out highly successful trips to the WW1 Battlefields of Belgium and France giving pupils a truly ‘hands on’ experience of one of the most emotive and thought provoking periods in history.

Scottish Association of Teachers of History (SATH)

SATH have been very active in organising competitions and virtual communities to support distance learning for History students. Many of our pupils have been excited to enter the most recent reflective essay competition.

Bannockburn Heritage Centre

Our Higher pupils have visited the Bannockburn Heritage Centre each year to support their learning in their ‘Wars of Independence’ topic. Working with the centre’s staff pupils engage in seminars, planning of battle strategies, weapons handling and a reenactment of the Battle of Bannockburn.

The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, Canberra, Australia

Elspeth Grant from the trust visited the department to exchange views and resources and talk to our young people about their perception of historical study. The project Elspeth undertook took her across the globe to investigate how other places with a strong sense of regional identity incorporate their histories into curricula. It is hoped that this link will allow the department to discover innovative pedagogical approaches that engage young people with historical narrative from an international perspective.

Historic Environment Scotland and Illuminate

S2 and local primaries worked with Historic Scotland and Illuminate to create a dramatic historical piece ‘The Curse of the Stuarts’ examining the tragic story of our most famous monarchs. – A link to the series of films they produced is here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4lKTpFYXwc

Modern Studies

Pupils have been on guided tours round the Parliament to enhance their National 5 and Higher Modern Studies learning. Pupils watched Parliament at work, spoke to MSPs and gained a number of resources to help further their studies.

Lochranza Field Centre, Arran

We have taken senior pupils to Lochranza for many years. It provides the pupils with the opportunity to develop their Geographical and data collection skills which allows them to collect data that they can use towards the completion of their Higher assignment. It also develops their team building skills.
The centre provide us with the qualified staff and equipment to carry out work that we wouldn’t otherwise be able to do.