Wolsey Hall is a registered online Cambridge International School.
The benefits of studying Lower Secondary International History
Our new Lower Secondary International History course invites students to roam both the centuries and the globe! This is a course for those ambitious for discovery and exploration, who want their history to cross borders, and who are excited by cultural and religious variety.
For those with an appetite for new knowledge and who relish the challenge of thinking with breadth and agility, this is a rich and endlessly stimulating course. We all know that through contact down the ages our national stories intersect. We all know that history can be seen from many perspectives. Our International History course makes those principles an educational reality.
Key topics covered
Year 7: Sets off for the Ancient World, opening up the sophisticated ancient civilisations of Egypt, India, China, Greece and Rome, with opportunities for cultural comparison as well as the chance to evaluate the ongoing legacies of these civilisations across the world.
Year 8: Asks how the Ancient World became modern, forging a new path through the Medieval period by looking at the Christian and Islamic world side by side and delving into societies as diverse as the Vikings, Japan, and the Khmer, Mongolian and Ottoman empires, with a final pause to consider Spain and South America.
Year 9: Turns to the twentieth century, building on the historical understanding gained in Years 7 and 8 to ensure students emerge with skills in source analysis, knowledge application and essay writing needed.
The syllabus and hours of study
- Our Lower Secondary International History homeschooling course assumes no prior knowledge.
- Allow for up to 3 hours per week of study time for your child to complete each year of Lower Secondary International History plus additional time for completing assignments.
- We find that most children can complete the course in 9 months.
- Year 7 and 8 use a digital book (that can be downloaded as a pdf) this is due to the global nature of our students and availability of paper copies. Notes and bookmarks can be added to the digital books along with access to a searchable online dictionary and downloadable glossaries. Year 9 uses a paper copy of a textbook with access to a digital book.
Course Fees
Paula Byles
Lower Secondary History
Our Secondary History homeschooling course will help students develop a chronological overview and to make connections within and across different periods and societies. History fires children’s curiosity and imagination, moving and inspiring them with the dilemmas, choices and beliefs of people in the past. It helps them develop their own identities through an understanding of history at personal, local, national and international levels.
Lower Secondary Geography
The study of our Secondary Geography homeschooling course (English National curriculum Key Stage 3) helps young people make sense of a complex and dynamically changing world. It builds on your child’s own experiences to enable them to investigate places at all scales, from the personal to the global.
Lower Secondary Global Perspectives
Our new Global Perspectives course is a skills-based course which will enable your child to develop skills of research, analysis, evaluation, reflection, collaboration and communication. There is particular focus on developing the ability to think critically through captivating and exciting global topics such as the environment, education, cultural identity and human rights.
Lower Secondary English
By studying our Secondary English homeschooling course (English National Curriculum Key Stage 3), your child will develop the skills in speaking, listening, reading and writing that they will need for study at IGCSE and beyond. Your child will learn to express themselves creatively and imaginatively and to communicate with others confidently and effectively.
Lucy is really enjoying the Year 9 courses, they really suit her and she’s learning how to use the material and tutor feedback to best advantage. It’s great timing that she’s having this year to get used to this new way of working before starting the IGCSE courses (never mind the fortuitous timing regarding the global pandemic!). So much better than “ordinary school“, much bigger focus on learning and less on testing. I hated all the testing to give the school data for Ofsted and league tables, not in the children’s best interests at all! All she ever got was a score, no chance to learn from her mistakes which is all part of the assignment process at Wolsey Hall. We’ll definitely be signing up for IGCSE’s with Wolsey Hall.
Catherine Merryweather -Secondary Homeschooling Parent
UK
This course has made me enjoy History in a way that I would never have thought possible, since I am usually more interested in subjects like Maths and Physics. But the exercises chosen for the assignments really allowed me to think about various issues (like the nuclear bombs dropped in Japan), and encouraged me to analyse them, and form a confident opinion about them. My Tutor’s feedback has been amazing, and I can really see an improvement from my first assignment, and my latest ones. But most importantly, I enjoyed every single thing I learned and wrote about. I did not come close to having such an experience with History while I was in school.
Cezara Cornea – Secondary Student
Romania
I compared several homeschooling providers and decided on Wolsey Hall Oxford because I felt confident about the help and care my daughter Aeshya would receive. The support we receive is excellent, and the Tutors are very patient. I would recommend Wolsey Hall to parents who care, not only about grades, but about the study experience as a whole. Students receive the respect they deserve and they get the encouragement to move forward despite sometimes having difficulties.
Dr Rose Haque, Secondary Homeschooling Parent
Malaysia
I appreciate the fact that the needs of my childrens’ learning experience are a priority at Wolsey Hall. The course materials are well designed; staff are committed to homeschooling and my children can study at a pace which suits them.
Veronica Williams – Secondary Homeschooling Parent
Malaysia
Contact us
If you’re thinking of enrolling your child at Wolsey Hall Oxford and you’d like to know more about what we do or how to enrol, please get in touch. We’re ready to enrol new students throughout the academic year.