HISTORY

OVERVIEW

We aim to inspire in pupils a curiosity and fascination about history that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. A high-quality history education will enable pupils gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and of the wider world. This includes an understanding of the development of democracy and British Values with the context of an increasingly diverse Britain.

Learning about key figures in history and understanding their motives and actions enables the children to have a better understanding of the world in which they live.

INTENT

• For children to know more, understand more and remember more in history
• There will be a clear sequence and progression of historical skills and concepts, which can be transferred across the curriculum
• To inspire pupils’ curiosity to discover more about the past and to develop an understanding that enables them to enjoy all that history has to offer
• To enable all children develop a sense of the past and to develop a chronological framework for learning about life in past time
• To enable children to learn about famous historical figures, their motives and actions and how this continues to impact on our lives
• To develop children’s knowledge and understanding of the growth and development of our nation and its relationship with the rest of the world
• To enable children to know about significant events in British history and to appreciate how things have changed over time
• To know and understand how the British system of democratic government has developed and, in doing so, to contribute to a child’s citizenship education
• To understand how Britain is part of a wider European culture by studying some aspects of European history
• To have knowledge and understanding of historical development in the wider world
• To enable children understand society and their place within it, so that they develop a sense of their cultural heritage
• To develop children’s skills as historians, such as enquiry, investigation, analysis, evaluation, debate, interpretation, problem solving and presentation, to enable them to research and discover the past.

IMPLEMENTATION

• Within the EYFS, we use photographs, artefacts, visits out into the locality, and by talking to visitors about ‘then and now’.
• Within KS1, they build on their earlier work using ‘living memory’ (Guy Fawkes?), eye-witness accounts’ and the immediate environment of the school as their starting point
• Strong links are made with the teaching of English. Stories, plays and poems set in different periods of history are shared with the children
• History is a stimulus and a springboard for the development of oracy, writing and for the development of thinking and reasoning skills
• Art, design technology, drama are closely linked with history as children use these subjects to communicate what they have learnt
• On every appropriate occasion, teachers use first-hand experience, visits, visitors, artefacts, AVA and the local and wider environment to engage children’s interest and imagination
• Through their understanding of the past and of lives in different conditions, children are encouraged to develop ‘empathy’ for others
• Through their understanding of the past children are helped to develop an understanding of their identity as a British subject
• Children learn about development of democracy, our government, the Monarchy, citizenship, and the Law. They learn about rights and responsibilities, moral, social and environmental issues
• Each class has a timeline that shows each of the time periods studied throughout school.  Timelines are a starting point when learning about a new time period and are referred to throughout History lessons to ensure that children can recap previous history learning and enable children to put new learning into context of chronology
• Key subject specific vocabulary are identified and embedded in learning, through Knowledge Organisers, be displayed within the classroom and highlighted to the children at the beginning of lessons and revisited through knowledge quizzes
• The use of mind maps at the start and end of a topic will help to assess what knowledge is already known and progress within a unit of learning
• Knowledge Organisers to enable children to have access to key knowledge, languages and meanings to understand History and to use these skills across the curriculum
• Opportunities for embedding learning is provided by regular revisiting of previous and current learning at the beginning or end of a lesson
• Children learn through enquiry and develop their questioning, debating and justifying skills
• Teachers provide opportunities for deep understanding and applied learning, ensuring appropriate challenge, development of resilience and deeper learning.

IMPACT

History has a strong presence in the ethos of the school through displays, performances, music, drama and assemblies.  Pupils develop an understanding of changes over time in people, places, landscape and culture. They know about different periods in our history, people who brought about change and significant developments that changed Britain and the world.  As historians, children learn lessons from history to influence the decisions they make in their lives in the future

We focus on progression of knowledge and skills and discreet vocabulary which also form part of the units of work.

We measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:

• Assessing children’s understanding of topic linked vocabulary before and after the unit is taught
• Summative assessment of pupil discussions about their learning
• Images and videos of the children’s practical learning
• Interviewing the pupils about their learning (pupil voice)
• Subject leader monitoring of standards
• Teacher dialogue where pupil’s work is scrutinised and there is the opportunity for teachers to understand their class’s work and develop curriculum opportunities further.