Intent
We aim to offer an exciting and engaging curriculum which will ensure children develop a love of history. We want our children to be inspired by people who have ‘felt the fear and done it anyway’ including Neil Armstrong, Christopher Columbus, Boudicca, Rosa Parks and others. We believe that our curriculum gives an understanding of events and these people from the past and how they have shaped the life we have today.
It is important to us that our children have an understanding of chronology and where people and events fit into the story of Britain and the wider world. Our pupils will recognise the impact significant people have had.
We want our children to understand historical concepts such as cause and consequence, continuity and change and similarities and differences. Our children should be able to make connections across different times, contexts and events and within these concepts we want our children to know abstract terms such as: settlement, invasion, civilisation, monarchy and power as they progress through the school.
We want our children to ‘think like a historian’ and know how evidence is used and discern how and why contrasting arguments and interpretations have been constructed. We then want our children to have the opportunity to look at a variety of sources and evaluate their usefulness.
Implementation
In EYFS, History is included in the ‘Understanding the World’ education program, which focusses on the past and present. History in the EYFS revolves mainly around first-hand experiences and visits and visitors. It is also of great importance that children’s experiences outside of school are shared and discussed as part of this. Children are then able to express their knowledge and understanding verbally, through creativity, during structured play and through continuous provision.
As the children progress through school, the curriculum is carefully sequenced to ensure that pupils build on the knowledge and skills, understand key concepts they have been taught and develop our children’s curiosity.
Substantive and Disciplinary Knowledge
Pupils are taught both substantive knowledge: names of significant people, dates and knowledge of key events.
Pupils are taught key concepts: continuity and change, cause and effect, similarities and differences and how these link across different eras.
Disciplinary Knowledge/skills:
- Collect, analyse, and communicate with a range of sources and evaluate them. Write simple accounts and answer enquiry accounts.
Impact
At Bowbrook Primary School we measure impact in the following ways:
- Pupils knowledge and understanding of each history unit is assessed at different points in the school year.
- Teacher judgment is used as the basis for assessment. This is supported by assessment of key historical knowledge using topic quizzes and extended pieces of work.
- Moderation of history will be carried out by Senior Leaders and class teachers, where pupil voice is gained to examine the knowledge and skills that children have retained.
- The subject leaders and class teachers will evaluate the impact on children’s learning through regular monitoring of books, learning walks, lesson looks and through speaking to the children themselves.
HISTORY Progression of skills
History Long term plan