History

History

‘A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots’ Marcus Garvey

Intent

The intention of our History curriculum helps pupil to make sense of where they fit into their world and to develop secure chronological knowledge. This enables them to identify the cause and effect of world, national and local events in the distant and near past. Pupil will be exposed to a range of historical sources and experiences. Through our curriculum we intend to develop pupil curiosity and enjoyment in learning about the past.

The national curriculum for history aims to ensure that all pupils:

  • Know and understand the history of Great Britain as a coherent, chronological narrative, from the earliest times to the present day. The pupil learn how people’s lives have shaped this nation and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world.
  • Know and understand significant aspects of the history of the wider world, such as ancient civilisations, characteristic features of past non-European societies and achievements of mankind.
  • Gain and deploy a historically-grounded understanding of abstract themes and subject specific terminology.
  • Understand historical concepts which allow them to compare and contrast significant events and eras.
  • Understand the methods of historical enquiry, including how evidence is gathered and used to make historical claims.
  • Make connections between local, national and international history and culture.

Implementation

At St Francis CE Primary School, History topics are planned to be stimulating, engaging and relevant to the pupils. We regularly organise whole school encounter day experiences to enrich the pupils learning.  Visits are thoughtfully planned within a sequence of lessons in order to have the most impact upon learning. Our History curriculum is designed to progressively develop pupil’s skills in historical enquiry and knowledge of historical events, people and time periods. Through block teaching, pupil are exposed to enjoyable and stimulating experiences and a variety of historical sources. We block teach history in order to immerse the pupil in the topic which enables them to retain key vocabulary and knowledge and deepens their understanding of the time period/event.

Impact

We strive to ensure that our pupil’s attainment is in line or exceeds their potential when we consider the varied starting points of all our pupil. The teaching and learning of History ensures that pupil are accessing work at age related expectations, with regular opportunities to be challenged through higher-level objectives. 

At St Francis CE Primary school, attainment, engagement and enjoyment in History is monitored by subject leaders throughout the school using a variety of strategies such as book looks, learning walks, staff discussions and pupil voice.  Feedback is given to teachers in order to continue to ensure that we have an engaging and effective curriculum. Leaders use the information gathered to assess whether the pupil retain and can apply historical skills and knowledge. As a staff ideas regularly shared to ensure relevant and current practice.

At the end of each block all pupil write an extended piece of writing linked to the topic. This is to assess the knowledge and vocabulary learnt. It is also used to assess whether block teaching is successful for each particular topic.  When written evidence is not apparent in pupils’ books, a floorbook, photographs or displays will show the learning that took place.