History

Intent

At Eaton Valley Primary School, we want all of our pupils to understand the past and how History will shape their future. We believe the study of history inspires children’s curiosity, encourages them to ask critical questions and enables them to have a better understanding of the society in which they live and that of the wider world. In our History curriculum, we have thought about the key threads that run through the topics chosen. These include invasion, legacy, empire, civilisation, society and monarchy.

By carefully mapping these themes across the year groups, we will help children gain historical perspective by placing their own growing knowledge into different contexts. Pupils will work as historians where they will critically analyse different sources of information. This also helps children gain a sense of their own identity within a social, political, cultural and economic background. Because of this, we feel it is important for the subject to be taught both discretely as well as incorporated within other curriculum subjects.

Implementation

At Eaton Valley, History is taught each year for two terms throughout the school year; this will be taught 1 hour per week. The key knowledge and skills that children gain and develop throughout each block have been mapped to ensure progression between year groups throughout the school. At the beginning of each new History topic, teachers refer to start/ end of unit quizzes to develop children’s understanding of the subject. This is used to check existing knowledge at the beginning of each History topic and this process informs a programme of study that is responsive to children’s interests.

Key knowledge is reviewed by the children and rigorously checked and consolidated by the teacher throughout the topic. Each topic is introduced with reference to the chronology of previous topics (including those from previous years). By the end of year 6, children will have a chronological understanding of British history from the Stone Age to the present day. They are able to draw comparisons and make connections between different time periods and their own lives. Interlinked with this are studies of world history, such as the ancient civilisations of Greece and the Egyptians. History is taught each year for two terms.

The teaching at Eaton Valley focuses on enabling pupils to think as historians. We recognise and value the importance of stories in history teaching and regard this as an important way of inspiring curiosity. History is taught through a variety of different subjects throughout our curriculum. We focus on helping pupils understand that historical events can be interpreted in different ways and that they are encouraged to ask critical questions when looking at the origins of sources.

The children are surrounded by visual representations of historic periods which not only enhances their learning, but also the teaching and planning of History. Planning is informed and aligned with the National Curriculum. Teachers have looked specifically to how greater depth will be taught, learnt and shown within each lesson, as well as how learners will be supported in inclusion. Consistent working walls in every classroom provide constant scaffolding for children. Tier three subject specific vocabulary is displayed on the working wall along with key facts and questions, and model exemplars of the work being taught.

History assessment is ongoing throughout the relevant cross-curricular themes to inform teachers with their planning lesson activities and differentiation. Summative assessment is completed at the end of each topic where history objectives have been covered; Target Tracker is used to inform subject leaders of improvements or skills that need to be further enhanced. Our historians will be given a variety of experiences both in and out of the classroom where appropriate to create memorable learning opportunities and to further support and develop their understanding.

Impact

Our History curriculum is high quality and is planned to demonstrate progression. We focus on progression of knowledge and skills. Through our curriculum, pupils learn to think critically and ask perceptive questions.