HUMANITIES (Berlin)
Capital of Germany, Berlin is a major centre in European politics, culture and media and its rich and complex history reveals to us vast issues to study, particularly with regards to how society is organised, develops and changes.
After the Thirty Years’ War which concluded in 1648, Berlin had lost half of its population and a third of its housing. Frederick William, ‘Great Elector’ of Brandenburg, initiated a policy of immigration and religious tolerance, drawing immigrants and offering asylum from many parts of Europe including France, Bohemia, Poland and Salzburg, their multicultural influence having a dramatic effect on the city. Centuries later, with the end of World War II, Berlin had become a very different city. Divided into two states, tensions between the Communist east and the Democratic west culminated in the construction of the Berlin Wall with movement between the two severely restricted. The fall of the wall in 1989 has become an international symbol of freedom in modern times: a barrier broken by a common cause.
At Henry Beaufort School, Berlin embodies Humanities and includes Geography, History, Media Studies, Religious Education and Sociology. For more information on these subjects, click on the links above.
Specialist School Status
Following its success as a Technology College, Henry Beaufort School was awarded the status of a Humanities College in 2007. This special designation recognises the school’s aim to encourage students to examine their own values and attitudes as individuals in a post-industrial, global and interdependent society. The school plays a key role in educating students of human values and different value systems, promoting an understanding and appreciation of the richness and diverse range of cultures represented in Britain today.
As part of this designation, Henry Beaufort School was granted the opportunity to create a state-of-the-art Media Suite. This room, dedicated to video and sound production, was refurbished and redecorated specifically for this purpose and serves as a creative work environment for the Media courses and as a shared curricular resource.
With all classrooms equipped with interactive whiteboards and projectors, one full ICT suite of thirty and a separate mini-suite of eight computer workstations, Berlin offers students all the resources needed to research and investigate Humanities and its subsidiary subjects.
