Our History Intent
Our units are organised into two parts and will be taught through two lenses, Achievement and Significant People. These lenses were specifically chosen as they strongly link in with our ASPIRE values. We want to the children to aspire to achieve and reach their potential; we want children to have role models who also inspire them to be the best they can, to be independent and respectful and to overcome any obstacles in order to succeed.
The curriculum is designed to enable pupils to acquire a rich web of knowledge as the sequence and selection of topics builds on previous units and feeds forward towards future learning. Each unit is taught through key questions in order to develop the use of historical enquiry and will aim to focus on the acquisition and application of key subject knowledge, concepts and vocabulary throughout.
Within each unit, a range of opportunities are planned to enable pupils to communicate their knowledge and understanding of the subject. Pupils will have many opportunities to ask questions, discuss, communicate understanding and revise their ideas. Links are made within and across units to support pupils in making connections and in developing a strong overview of chronology, concepts and perspectives.
We are proud to offer a History curriculum that is ambitious, coherent and that inspires all children’s curiosity to learn more about the past. Progression is carefully planned so that children will build upon their historical knowledge and skills and develop these, year upon year. Children are taught a sense of chronology through sequenced lessons thus allowing them to understand how significant events in the past have influenced life in Britain today and to gain a more accurate historical perspective.
Children study a range of civilisations including ancient civilisations in Britain such as Ancient Egypt, The Mayans and the The Ancient Greeks. They also learn about British invaders and settlers, from the Romans to the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings. Finally, in Year 6, pupils will focus on the achievements of Britain during WW2 and they will study the local area through a significant person.
Children make use of independent research both in school and as part of their homework in order to extend their knowledge. With a strong focus on topic specific vocabulary, we enable children to articulate their learning with accuracy. Our aim is to foster a continuous thirst for knowledge of history and develop in children the skills of enquiry, analysis, interpretation and problem-solving.
Implementation- Big picture/Lens Focus New history learning is put into the context of the big picture of history learning throughout school, and a daily review of immediate previous learning in the subject.
- Knowledge Organisers Children have access to key knowledge, language and meanings to understand History and to use these skills across the curriculum.
- Subject specific vocabulary Identified through knowledge organisers and highlighted to the children at the beginning of lessons and revisited through unit. Tier 2 and 3 vocabulary displayed in class for pupils to access at any time.
- School timeline, each class has access to the history timeline in school so that they can refer to throughout their time at school. This will help put new learning in the context of new learning.
- Use of artefacts Where possible we use artefacts for children to explore and investigate. We believe that handling real objects enhanced the children’s historical knowledge, understanding and skills.
- Use of sources / bias We aim for children to recognise that bias exists in some form in all historical sources, and this needs to be accounted for in their interpretation of evidence.
- Consistent teaching sequence History lessons will follow a clear and consistent teaching sequence, including putting the learning in the big picture, placing of the History being studied in the chronological context of previous learning, using a timeline, a daily review, a brief review of learning covered in previous lesson/s, specifying key vocabulary to be used and its meaning, conduct Historical enquiry using a variety of sources and / or artefacts, pupils interpreting their findings and communicating their historical knowledge and understanding appropriately, before evaluating their learning and comparing with other historical periods studied as appropriate.
- Learning environment -The learning environment is designed to ensure children develop their history knowledge, and continue to know more and remember more. Knowledge walls and class timelines are key drivers to this, with teachers making reference to them during lessons.
- Cultural Capital - We plan termly visits, local and educational, visitors and involvement in the community provide first-hand experiences for the children to support and develop their learning.
Impact By the time the children at Thomas Harding leave our school, they will have developed: - A secure knowledge and understanding of people, events and contexts from the historical periods covered.
- The ability to think critically about history and communicate confidently to a range of audiences.
- The ability to consistently support, evaluate and challenge their own and others’ views using detailed, appropriate and accurate historical evidence derived from a range of sources.
- The ability to think, reflect, debate, discuss and evaluate the past, forming and refining questions and lines of enquiry.
- A passion for history and engagement in learning, which develops their sense of curiosity about the past and their understanding of how and why people interpret the past in different ways.
- A respect for historical evidence and the ability to make critical use of it to support their explanations and judgements.
- A desire to embrace challenging activities, including undertaking high-quality research across a range of history topics.
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