History

History

Intent

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. History 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.

The aims of history are:

• To instil in the children a curiosity and understanding of events, places and people in a variety of times and environments.
• To develop an interest in the past and an appreciation of human achievements and aspirations
• To understand the values of our society
• To learn about the major issues and events in the history of our own country and of the world and how these events may have influenced one another
• To develop a knowledge of chronology within which the children can organise their understanding of the past
• To understand how the past was different from the present and that people of other times and places may have had different values and attitudes from ours
• To understand the nature of evidence by emphasising the process of enquiry and by developing the range of skills required to interpret primary and secondary source materials
• To distinguish between historical facts and the interpretation of those facts
• To understand that events have a multiplicity of causes and that historical explanation is provisional, debatable and sometimes controversial

Implementation

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.  At Swanland, our History lessons focus on 7 key concepts that are carefully woven into our curriculum in a progressive way.  These concepts are: Chronology; Culture and Characteristic Features; Cause and Consequence; Representation, Perspective and Interpretation; Historical Enquiry; Reasoning, Organisation and Communication; Continuity and Change.

Early Years

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.

Key Stage 1

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. They learn about significant places, people and events in their locality and how they have shaped the area they live in.

Key Stage 2

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.

Teaching and Learning

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 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 have access to the Swanland Heritage Centre
• 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 which are differentiated by task, expected outcome and/or support from peers or adults.

History curriculum planning

At Swanland Primary School history is carefully planned to engage and excite all our learners. Our progressive 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 the high quality first teaching of History taking place we will see the impact of the subject in different ways.

Through pupil voice children will be able to talk about the skills and knowledge they have acquired. Children will be engaged in History lessons and want to find out more. Children will complete research independently through projects and homework and to further their own enjoyment about the subject or topic.

Work will show that a range of topics is being covered, cross curricular links are made where possible and differentiated work set as appropriate.

The school environment will be history rich through displays, resources, vocabulary etc.

As historians, children will learn lessons from history to influence the decisions they make in their lives in the future. Assessments and monitoring will show standards in History will be high and will match standards in other subject areas.

Assessment and Recording

At Swanland Primary School assessment is an integral part of the teaching process. Assessment is used to inform planning and to facilitate differentiation. The assessment of children’s work is on-going to ensure that understanding is being achieved and that progress is being made. Feedback is given to the children as soon as possible, and marking work will be guided by the school’s Marking Policy.

Monitoring

Monitoring takes place through sampling children’s work, and teacher planning, through book scrutiny and learning walks.

History knowledge progressive curriculum update 2022