History
INTENT
At the Holt Primary School, we aim for a high-quality History curriculum which should inspire in pupils a curiosity and fascination about their community, Britain's past and that of the wider world. Our teaching equips pupils with knowledge about the history of Britain and how it has influenced and been influenced by the wider world; to know and understand about significant aspects of the history of the wider world like ancient civilizations and empires; to describe changes in living memory and beyond living memory; to learn about the lives of significant people of the past; to understand the methods of historical enquiry and to be able to ask and answer questions. We want children to enjoy and love learning about history by gaining knowledge and skills, not just through experiences in the classroom, but also with the use of fieldwork and educational visits.
'We are not makers of history. We are made by history!' Martin Luther Kind Jr
IMPLEMENTATION
Many of our topics are driven by a History or Geography focus. Topics like History provide an opportunity to learn about historic events, people and places in our location as well as globally, nationally. We specifically teach a range of skills including chronology, significance, similarities and differences, interpreting history, and causes and consequences of events. Our topics are carefully selected and planned to be age appropriate and inspirational across the age groups. In both KS1 and KS2, we use the history of our locality to support the children’s learning about events that have shaped our community. Knowledge organisers, which outline the knowledge and vocabulary for all children to master, are shared with both parents and pupils. Topic overviews are included within this document to demonstrate some of the key knowledge and skills covered, links to other parts of the curriculum, trips, visitors and key experiences as well as the quality outcomes children will produce during the unit. We aim to include Art, Music, English, British Values, PSHE, RE and where appropriate Mathematics and Science to enhance the topic.
In all History lessons we will reinforce our school’s characteristics of good learning:
Respect. Reflective. Responsible. Resourceful. Resilient. Reasoning.
IMPACT
Our History Curriculum is high quality, well thought out and is planned to demonstrate progression. By the end of the primary journey, we aim to have developed for all our pupils a historical mind of enquiry, considering what history might tell them about the past and the ability to make connections between events and the impact they had on the present and possibly the future.
If children are keeping up with the curriculum, they are deemed to be making good or better progress. In addition, we measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:
- A reflection on standards achieved against the planned outcomes
- A celebration of learning at the end of a unit
- Pupil discussions about their learning
The impact of our history curriculum will be measured by assessment procedures which allow us to measure outcomes against statements outlines within our progression documents.
Assessment procedures
Teachers will use ongoing assessment for learning techniques to support the development of vocabulary and the acquisition of new knowledge. A range of information gathering activities such as learning flashbacks and progress pauses will be used to ascertain how well children are learning within this subject and what they need next to support their understanding.