History

History Curriculum Statement

Intent

At Brentnall Community Primary, we believe that high-quality History lessons should inspire pupil’s curiosity to want to think and act as historians in order to explore the past. The intent of our History curriculum is to deliver lessons that are accessible to all and that will maximise the outcomes for every child so that they remember and understand more, gaining a love and enjoyment for the subject. We want to help children gain a sense of their own identity within a social, political, cultural and economic background by gaining knowledge and skills, not just through experiences in the classroom, but also with the use of educational visits.

Through the teaching of History we endeavour to teach children to understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups as well as the challenges of their time. We hope to nurture a culture where children are curious about all aspects of history, with teaching that should equip pupils to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments and develop perspective and judgement. We hope that these skills will then be transferable throughout all subjects and life.

Implementation

As a school, we maintain strong links to the National Curriculum guidelines to ensure all aspects, knowledge and skills of History are being taught across all year groups. We use progression grids, knowledge mats and vocabulary spines to ensure there are clear skills, knowledge and language progression throughout school. Children are given a knowledge organiser at the start of each topic which details some key information, dates and vocabulary. This is not used as part of an assessment, but to support children with their acquisition of knowledge and is used as a reference document. Woven within our curriculum are our threads. These are specifically chosen historical concepts which the children revisit throughout KS1 and KS2. As the children revisit each historical concept, they build on previously taught learning, developing their understanding and knowledge of each thread, whilst observing how they change throughout time.

History is taught every other half term, once a week and by the end of Year 6, we hope that children will be secure in drawing comparisons and making connections between different time periods and their own lives. They will gain a good sense of chronological understanding of British History from the Stone Age to the present day. Where appropriate we use historical artefacts, visitors, workshops and visits to excite and intrigue our children to find out more about events and people from the past. We aim to give our children as much understanding as possible about what is was like to be around at a particular period in history by having practical and experiential lessons where possible. Children are also given the opportunity to display their knowledge at the end of each topic by completing a project that is presented to their class.

Impact

The impact of this curriculum design will lead to good progress over time across key stages relative to a child’s individual starting point and their progression of skills. Children will therefore be expected to leave Brentnall reaching at least age-related expectations for History. Good historical questioning helps pupils to gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past as well as the wider world. Through our curriculum, pupils learn to think critically, ask perceptive questions and evaluate evidence. Pupil voice shows that pupils are confident and able to talk about what they have learnt in History using subject specific vocabulary. Pupil voice also demonstrates that pupils enjoy the subject and are able to recall their learning over time.