Going places in History

The History Department has been busy promoting the Berlin Trip in October, the first major trip since before lockdown and we are really excited to have over 60 boys registered on what promises to be a truly insightful visit to a fascinating city. In other news we were delighted with Finn Grammaticas’s (U6f) offer to read History at Wadham College, Oxford. Finn has really shone in History throughout his time at Sherborne and we all congratulate him on his well-deserved success. Here is what Finn has to say about his Oxbridge journey with the department: 

I was quite surprised when Mr Crouch invited me to the first History Oxbridge extension group when I was in the Fifth Form. I had never really thought of myself as a potential candidate, but I thought that I’d have a go anyway and after his brief lecture on the importance of photography in documenting the Vietnam war, I was hooked. In the Lower Sixth, Mr Reynolds took over and suddenly the extension group became more challenging as I debated with other candidates on topics like “what is the locomotive of history” and the nature of relationships between slaves and masters in the French Caribbean. Lockdown was more difficult, but with a limited access to books and materials, I did most of my reading from the Kindle app on my computer. I would then discuss my findings on Machiavelli or the development of the modern world with Miss Allen on Teams from the pool on my inflatable unicorn in Kenya. 

However, the really serious preparation for my application began at the beginning of Upper Sixth, when myself and Miss Allen worked tirelessly developing a technique for answering HAT (history aptitude test) questions. It wouldn’t be long before I walked out of the Library having written a HAT question on what a folktale about little green bean people could tell us about an individual’s values in 18th century Italy. It felt like a fever dream. I was so focused I remember little of what I actually wrote. My invitation to interview came a month later as I was sitting in the library analysing the essay I had submitted. What followed was the most intense and fulfilling period of learning I had ever experienced. I researched every question I thought they could ask me, from to what extent did women leaders in the Crusaders rule through masculine conventions of power, to how the identity of a historian influences their understanding of History. The history department and I then spent hours on teams practising online interview techniques and organising external interviewers so I could gain some practice, for all of which I am extremely grateful. The December day where I sat in Mr McGuire’s drawing room awaiting the call to join the interview seems far away now, but it is an experience I will never forget.   

Charlotte Allen, Head of History