Last week, students in Years 7, 8 and 9 participated in the first ever National History Day at YCIS Chongqing.

This was an opportunity for students to demonstrate their independent learning, critical thinking and research skills. They were given the theme of Leadership and Legacy and were asked to present on any topic that matched this in a variety of ways.

We were really impressed to see some cross curricular learning taking place with students creating websites, documentaries, performances, creating exhibits and writing essays on areas that interested them the most.

Students had the opportunity to share their work with Year 5, 6 and Year 10 students as well as many teachers and members of SLT.

This gave students the opportunity to express their thoughts on their research and gave them an opportunity to explain why they felt their person or object was significant and why they had chosen it.

Many wonderful historical arguments were presented looking into a variety of topics; leaders from Korea, China, WW2, Ancient Generals such as Alexander the Great were explored as well as legacies such as Charlie Chaplin and his impact on the film industry, the Terracotta Warriors and Jian ware, ancient Chinese pottery that we still use today.

History is often thought to be about remembering dates, but this opportunity really highlighted to our students that understanding humans and their actions is the key outcome of a historian. It teaches us how to avoid repeating mistakes and allows us to see the world through multiple perspectives making us more globally minded and 21st century students.

Although students received prizes for first and second place, all students were acknowledged with medals for the effort they have gone to in researching leadership and Legacy. We hope this opportunity and the skills they have learned stay with them for their future studies.