‘An excellent, happy school, where we enjoy learning’
In history we aim to give all children experiences of things in the past and how they have shaped the world that we live in today. This links closely with our values.
The breadth of our History curriculum is designed with three goals in mind:
Our Values in History
Collaboration | Respect |
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Aspirations | Positivity |
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Implementation - How Do We Deliver the History Curriculum?
Our History Curriculum design is based on Chris Quigley Essentials Curriculum. Underpinned by the curriculum drivers, our history curriculum sets out:
A clear list of breadth of topics that will be covered.
This includes the areas of history that we cover. At early years, this is rooted in the children’s everyday experiences. As they move into Years 1 and 2, they start to look at famous people, such as Emmeline Pankhurst and historical events, for example, The Great Fire of London. As they progress into KS2 (Year 3-6), they look at periods of history, for example, The Roman Empire.
The road map gives you a really good overview of our topics from nursery to Year 6.
The ‘threshold concepts’ are what pupils should understand. In history, these are returned to again and again across all year groups, they are what develops us as historians. These include:
• Investigating the past and interpreting evidence
• Develop and overview of world history
• Understanding chronology
• Communicate historical information
This returning to the same thing again and again is called interleaving.
The detailed progression can be found in the document below.
Year 1 and 2 Planning Overview | ||||
Cycle A | Emmeline Pankhurst
Who was Emmeline Pankhurst? How did she change things for women?
| Robert Clive
Who was Robert Clive? How does he link to Market Drayton?
| Tim Berners-Lee
Who was Tim Berners-Lee? How has his work changed our lives today? | The Great Fire of London
When and where was the Great Fire of London? How did it change things? |
Cycle B | Neil Armstrong
Who was Neil Armstrong? Why was he so important?
| The Space Race
What was the space race? How did it change things and what does it mean today? | Josiah Wedgewood
Who was Josiah Wedgewood? How does he link to Stoke on Trent?
| The Industrial Revolution
What was the Industrial Revolution? When was it? How did it change lives?
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Special Educational Needs and History
How do we ensure all children can access history lessons?
Although a child may have been identified as having a special educational need, they may not have a special educational need in history. Effective quality first teaching is the key to enabling all children to participate and develop their historical knowledge and skills. Differentiation within lessons is a vital component to ensure that a balance of support and challenge are achieved for all abilities. This is the same in every subject and differentiation is adjusted as expectations of individual pupils rise through progress.
Challenge and support specific to history may include:
• varying the types of sources and artefacts used
• first hand experiences
• some pre-teaching as well as using more advanced vocabulary
• providing picture clues and definitions for those needing more support
• pupil knowledge organisers
Pupils not secure within a lesson sequence are noted and adjustments made to the differentiation or level of support given. Similarly, added challenge is given if pupils are identified as requiring it. This may be noted by the teacher through questioning or the use of written work. Using an interleaving approach means that pupils continually revisit their learning, gradually building a deeper understanding.
Links to other subjects
Subject | How History may be linked |
English | Stories: Often used to give a context for the children. Communication: Children learn to communicate their historical knowledge. Vocabulary: Historical vocabulary is taught to the children and this helps them to develop what we call tier three vocabulary, for example, chronology, evidence. Writing: As children progress through school, they will start to communicate what they have learnt in writing. Some of the content for history may be used to stimulate writing in English. |
Maths | Chronology: Using the knowledge of place value is really important in the application of chronological understanding, enabling children to use things such as a simple timeline. |
Science | Historical figures: Whilst we do not study a scientist in history, the children may touch on historical figures such as Charles Darwin when studying animals. Learning from history: The space race and Tim Berners Lee are an excellent example of STEM learning. |
Geography | Market Drayton: When studying Market Drayton in geography they start to realise how it has been shaped by history and over time. India: This links in with Robert Clive, who is also local to Market Drayton and helped to make it the home of gingerbread. Stoke on Trent: Josiah Wedgewood is from Stoke on Trent. |
Art | Clarice Cliff – Another famous resident from Stoke-on-Trent, allowing links across the subjects. Van Gogh – The children look at Van Gogh and Camille and the Sunflowers in English. |
Design Technology | Cookery: The children make gingerbread. This links together history, Clive of India, and the Spice Trade linking into the development of gingerbread. Construction: The children look at a range of houses on their walk around the town and this links in with the discussion about construction and how houses are built. Historically, Market Drayton has its own Tudor buildings. |
Homework and Home Learning
Parents are made aware of the work being studied in History through the homework packs that are sent home from school. These packs contain what is being covered each week, and clearly outlines the progression of skills in each lesson.
Parents are also directed to the pupil knowledge organisers that contain further information, including key vocabulary should they wish to discuss this at home as a pre-teaching activity, or a follow up activity after the lesson at school.
Impact - How Do We Help Children Get to a Deep Level of Understanding?
Through the explicit teaching of the History skills, both the teachers and the pupils assess their learning continuously throughout the lesson. To help children get to a deep level of understanding we use quizzes and knowledge maps that we return to again and again. This is known as interleaving. The knowledge maps outline what we want the children to know by the end of a block of work. These can be found in the planning cycle higher up the page.
Children develop each concept over time and it takes a two-year period to get to a deeper level of understanding at the appropriate age. For example, in Year 1, children will have a basic understanding of chronology at an age appropriate level, but by revisiting this they should have a deeper level of understanding by Year 2. Summative assessments are carried out towards the end of each year.
A lot of historical work will be practical and hands on. We use 'floor books' which record the learning the children have done in history, as well as giving the children the opportunity to record individually, particularly as they move towards the end of Year 2.