Our Curriculum Intent

Subject Leader: Mr Ellis

Our History curriculum aims to give pupils:

A lasting knowledge of:

• People, events, situations and developments
• Chronology and characteristic features
• A wide range of historical vocabulary

An ability to:

• Engage in historical enquiry
• Organise and communicate their knowledge and understanding effectively

A deep understanding of:

• Evidence (sources)
• Different interpretations
• Cause and consequence
• Change and continuity
• Similarity and difference
• Significance

Through our teaching we aim to:

• Help pupils to develop a moral understanding of our past
• Inspire pupil’s curiosity
• Motivate pupils to want to study History - nurturing a lifelong engagement with the subject
• Give our pupils a sense of identity

How is our History curriculum planned?

Early Years Provision

Activities and experiences for pupils are planned according to the areas of learning and development, as outlined in the latest DfE EYFS Framework. All activities will adhere to the objectives set out in this framework. In particular, history-based activities will be used to develop pupils’ knowledge and understanding of the ‘Past and Present’.

Years 1 to 6 Provision

History is taught as a discrete subject, although links are made with other subjects wherever possible (click here to view these links in our Curriculum Overviews). Each class covers three topics per year (see our topic overview below). Each topic includes enquiry questions focusing on specific disciplinary knowledge and encouraging the children to think like historians (please see our progression of knowledge and skills document below). When planning, all teachers consider the needs of the pupils in their class, including those with SEND, and they make adaptions to their teaching based on these needs. Our History planning reflects our local area and considers the backgrounds of our pupil cohort.  Pupils' learning is enriched through termly visits, visitors, history walks and educational workshops, inspiring pupils' curiosity to want to find out more about the past. We also provide opportunities for flexibility in relation to pupils' interests and also in response to current events and anniversaries.

Pupils are given Knowledge Organisers for each of the History topics they study and they are asked to stick these into their exercise books. These organisers include 'sticky knowledge' that we want pupils to remember from each unit of work. They also include a list of key vocabulary that will be covered in lessons. 

 

TEACHING APPROACHES

• All topics start with a ‘hook’: This includes enquiry questions, visitors, visits, looking at artefacts, photographs etc.
• All planning uses an enquiry approach, encouraging pupils to think and work like a historian and turning learning into a puzzle to be solved. This includes using primary sources and artefacts to answer historical questions.
• Teachers plan one visit, or visitor, every term to consolidate and enhance learning (click here for our Visits and Visitors overview).
• Teachers routinely recap previous content covered to help pupils retain key substantive knowledge. This includes the use of low-stakes quizzes on each topic.
• All pupils complete summative assessments and quizzes at the end of their unit of work. This helps inform ongoing teacher assessments of attainment.