History curriculum statement

Our school vision

The Lord says, ‘I will instruct you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.’ Psalm 32:8

We live our vision with three dynamics at the heart: Living, Learning & Flourishing together.

We live as role models and advocate good choices

We learn in all we do with a loving eye upon us

We flourish in the way we go, within school and into the world beyond

Our five Core Values are: Kindness – Koinonia – Compassion – Responsibility – Forgiveness

Through a positive, caring environment, we provide the opportunity for every child to reach their full potential. We embrace Christian values and ensure all children are ready for their next steps. This statement sets out how we do this in History.

INTENT

At Great Massingham and Harpley Primary Schools Federation, we are committed to providing all children with learning opportunities to engage in history. This policy sets out a framework within which teaching and non-teaching staff can work, and gives guidance on planning, teaching and assessment. It has been developed through a process of consultation with school staff and governors.

History is about real people who lived, and real events which happened in the past. History is concerned with sequence, time and chronology and is the study of evidence about the past; it gives us a sense of identity, set within our social, political, cultural and economic relationships. We are dedicated to ensure that children LIVE History and that it fires the children’s curiosity about the past in Britain and the wider world and plays an essential part in preparing us for living and working in the contemporary world. Pupils consider how the past influences the present, what past societies were like, how these societies organised their politics, and what beliefs and cultures influenced people’s actions. As they do this, children develop a chronological framework for their knowledge of significant events and people. They see the diversity of human experience, and understand more about themselves as individuals and members of society. What they LEARN can influence their decisions about personal choices, attitudes and values. In history, children find evidence, weigh it up and reach their own conclusions. To do this they need to be able to research, sift through evidence, and argue for their point of view – skills that are prized in adult life. This is of paramount importance in supporting our children to FLOURISH in the next stages of their learning. 

IMPLEMENT

The children undertake a broad and balanced programme that takes account of abilities, aptitudes and physical, emotional and intellectual development. Through history the children learn a range of skills, concepts, attitudes and methods of working. We approach RE, History and Geography through the enquiry process:

The bulk of each enquiry process is captured in a floor book but children will also have opportunities for extended writing.

History is taught in Reception as an integral part of the topic work through child-initiated and adult led activities. The children are given the opportunity to find out about past and present events in their own lives, and those of their families and other people they know. In the Foundation stage history makes a significant contribution to developing a child’s understanding of the world through activities such as looking at pictures of famous people in history or discovering the meaning of new and old in relation to their own lives.

During Key Stage 1, pupils learn about people’s lives and lifestyles. They find out about significant men, women, children and events from the recent and more distant past in Britain and the wider world. They listen, and respond to stories and use sources of information to help them ask and answer questions. They learn how the past is different from the present.

During Key Stage 2 pupils learn about significant people, events and places from both recent and more distant past. They learn about change and continuity in their own area, in Britain and in other parts of the world. They look at history in a variety of ways, for example from political, economic, technological and scientific, social, religious, cultural or aesthetic perspectives. They use different sources of information to help them investigate the past both in depth and in overview, using dates and historical vocabulary to describe events, people and developments. They also learn that the past can be represented and interpreted in different ways.

The school uses a variety of teaching and learning styles in history lessons. Our principal aim is to develop the children’s knowledge, skills and understanding in history and we use a variety of teaching and learning styles in our history lessons. We believe in whole-class teaching methods and combine these with enquiry-based research activities. We believe children learn best when:

• They have access to, and are able to handle artefacts
• They go on visits to museums and places of interest
• They have access to secondary sources such as books and photographs
• Visitors talk about personal experiences of the past
• They listen to and interact with stories from the past
• They undertake fieldwork by interviewing family and older friends about changes in their own and other people’s lives
• They use drama and dance to act out historical events
• They are shown, or use independently, resources from the internet and videos
• They are able to use non-fiction books for research
• They are provided with opportunities to work independently or collaboratively, to ask as well as answer historical questions.

We recognise the fact that we have children of differing ability in all our classes, and so we provide suitable learning opportunities for all children by matching the challenge of the task to the ability of the child. We achieve this through a range of strategies including scaffolding through resources as well as providing extra support from peers or adults.

History is taught through a theme approach alongside Design & Technology, Geography and Art. Our curriculum is carefully planned over a cycle to engage and excite all our learners. Our long-term and medium-term plans map out the skills and themes covered each term for each key stage. These plans define what we will teach and ensure an appropriate balance and distribution of work across each term.

IMPACT

Through formative and summative assessment, we continuously monitor pupils’ progress 

We will know our History Curriculum is having the desired impact on our children when:

• they can talk enthusiastically about their History lessons and can remember key knowledge and apply it in other contexts;
• pupils can explain the key vocabulary and use it appropriately in lessons;
• termly assessments show children make good progress in History;
• through History, we apply higher-level skills, such as enquiry, analysis, interpretation, evaluation and reflection to deepen our understanding of knowledge and the impact of the past on the world leading to high attainment.