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History

 

History Curriculum Statement of Intent

 

To develop children’s experiences, understanding, historical skills and vocabulary.  We teach a creative and chronological History curriculum to inspire and ignite children’s interest and curiosity about the wider world, giving them the vital tools and cultural capital to become active and reflective members in the world.

 

Intent

  • To build a History curriculum that develops learning and results in the acquisition of new knowledge and skills so that children will know more, remember more and understand more.
  • This new historical knowledge includes constructing the past and sequencing the past.
    The historical concepts that are studied include change and development, similarity and difference, cause and effect, significance and interpretations.
    The historical enquiry skills that are developed include planning and carrying out a historical enquiry and using sources as evidence.
  • We aim to not only cover but also to exceed the depth and breadth of the National Curriculum.
  • To provide an interesting and varied curriculum that interests our children and meets the needs of all backgrounds, cultures and abilities. 
  • To create meaningful opportunities to link History to other subjects.
  • To ensure units are taught in a logical sequence where children build on prior, core knowledge. This will allow children to make connections to different concepts such as trade and empire.
  • Staff will follow their curriculum maps to ensure there is progression throughout the school and lessons follow a sequence that is pertinent to the topic.
  • To fulfil the duties of the National Curriculum whereby schools must provide a broad and balanced curriculum. We promote the spiritual, moral, social, cultural, development of pupils and prepare them for their responsibilities for later life.
  • We will monitor progress regularly through book looks, evidence of work and discussions with the pupils. 
  • We will ensure that all staff are kept informed of any changes within the History curriculum and that best practice is shared. 

 

Implementation

  •     Rising Stars Scheme
    We use and adapt the Rising Stars scheme. Subject leader has listened to feedback from teachers whilst ensuring complete National Curriculum coverage. The scheme helps equip teachers with expert subject knowledge.
  •     Knowledge Organisers
    Children have access to key knowledge, language and meanings to understand History and to use these skills across the curriculum. 
  •     Knowledge/display walls
    History on Knowledge Walls throughout school focus on key knowledge, vocabulary and questions and exemplify the terminology used throughout the teaching of History, British Values and SMSC, enabling pupils to make links across the wider curriculum
  •     Chronology and class timelines
    British History is now taught in a chronological manner throughout the school. Each class has a timeline that follows them throughout school. This records all previous history learning and enables children to put new learning in the context of previous learning. This also includes the wider curriculum such as artists and composers that have been studied.
  •     Recap prior learning
    At the beginning of each unit, teachers and pupils recap previous knowledge and skills learnt in prior modules to help them make connections and build on prior knowledge. At the beginning of each lesson, teachers and pupils recap prior knowledge, highlighting core knowledge and relevant fingertip knowledge.  
  •     Big picture and lesson review
    New history learning is put into the context of the big picture of the history that they have learnt through out the school and their big question/line of enquiry in their current module. Children are taught to compare periods in History. We include significant people studied in other subjects such as composers and artists in our timelines. 
  •     Subject specific and content specific vocabulary
    Identified through knowledge organisers and knowledge wall displays and highlighted to the children at the beginning of lessons and revisited through class assemblies and ‘Quiz Its’ and ‘Check Its’. 
  •     Assessment via Check Its, Quiz Its and Target Tracker
    In Years 1-6, children complete a ‘Check It’. This is an interim assessment against age expectation targets using the Rising Stars example statements to help assess. This assessment informs teaching for the rest of the unit to help ensure key knowledge and skills are learned. Children also complete a 'Big Finish' at the end of their topic to showcase the key knowledge and skills they have learned through out. These assessments are then inputted onto Target Tracker, our progress tracker system and moderated by subject leader and SLT. Children also complete ‘Quiz Its’. A ‘Quiz It’ is completed the term after that particular module finished to help children recap knowledge and to teacher assess what knowledge has been remembered. Children go through the quiz after its completion. Assessment information is then analysed by teachers, subject leads and SLT to improve children’s future learning. 
  •     Provision in EYFS
    EYFS new Framework 2021 - Reception curriculum is also included in our progression framework and carefully planned for to ensure there is a combination of progression and revisited learning between Reception and Year One. Reception children are given a secure grounding in the Prime Areas of learning, ensuring they have a good foundation on which to build through the specific areas, including ‘Understanding The World’. Areas of provision are enhanced to ensure children are exposed to vocabulary and they are able to develop their understanding of the past, present and the difference between the two.
  •     Use of artefacts
    Where possible we use artefacts for children to explore and investigate. We believe that handling or viewing real objects enhances the children’s historical knowledge, understanding and skills.
  •     Use of sources / bias
    We aim for children to recognise that bias exists in some form in many historical sources, and this needs to be accounted for in their interpretation of evidence. 
  •     Cultural Capital 
    We plan visits, visitors and involvement in the community activity to provide first-hand experiences for the children to support and develop their learning. This is often linked to History. While educational visits may have been temporarily suspended due to COVID 19, we actively explored other ways to bring cultural capital to our children, for example through the internet, using virtual tours of museums and virtual lessons to help teach during Black History Month and at-school visits such as a Dick Whittington pantomime.  
  •     Learning environment 
    The learning environment is designed to ensure children develop their history knowledge, and continue to know more, remember more and understand more. Knowledge walls and class timelines are key drivers to this, with teachers making reference to them during lessons and at other regular times during the week.
  •     Outdoor learning
    We will give the children the opportunity to explore the local area through fieldwork, visits from significant individuals and research. 
  •     Themed weeks/days with a History focus
    In order to implement our intention of exceeding the National curriculum we schedule themed weeks where the whole school focuses on an aspect of History to ignite our children’s curiosity while meeting the needs of all backgrounds, cultures and abilities. This includes celebrating; Black History Month, British Values Week, World Cultural and Heritage day and History Week (where we learn about the History of our school and local area through different periods). 
  •     Staff CPD
    We have informative CPD that develop the skills and knowledge of teaching staff. Where appropriate, this is shared with other schools within the borough, any knowledge gained from such meetings is brought back to the school. Staff also have membership to the Historical Association, providing valuable subject knowledge, including informative podcasts. These short podcasts allow teachers to build on their specific subject knowledge in a time-effective, engaging manner while taking staff workload into consideration. 

 

Impact

  •    Children will know more, remember more and understand more about History.
  •    A culture of high expectations where pupil’s love of History can flourish. 
  •    The school timetable is sequenced to allow for deeper learning, while minimising cognitive overload. 
  •    The large majority of children will achieve age related expectation in History. 
  •    Children will build their knowledge of historical strands including; historical knowledge (constructing the past and sequencing the past), history concepts (change and development, cause and effect, significance and interpretation) and historical enquiry (planning and carrying out a historical enquiry and using sources as evidence).  
  •    As historians, children will learn lessons from history to influence the decisions they make in their lives in the future as active and responsible citizens. 
  •    Children’s cultural capital will increase to help improve their life chances.