Our History curriculum is designed to cover all of the knowledge and understanding as set out in the National Curriculum. To ensure that children develop a secure knowledge that they can build on, our History curriculum is organised into a progression model that outlines the knowledge, skills and vocabulary to be taught in a sequentially coherent way.
The teaching of History at our school is based around five concepts:
- Where and When
- Society and Settlement
- Beliefs, Activities and Cultures
- Significant People
- Causes, Changes and Consequences
We provide rich and varied learning experiences so that pupils will understand these historical concepts and use them to make connections, draw contrasts, analyse trends and create their own structured accounts. All children learn the methods of historical enquiry by discussing how interpretations of the past have been constructed. All pupils develop critical thinking and curiosity as essential tools for understanding and evaluating significant people and events of the past, supporting them to process change, understand the diversity of societies and therefore become knowledgeable, resilient citizens motivated to succeed in the world they live in.
Core Elements of History Teaching
- Engaging and inspiring lessons that promote critical thinking and curiosity.
- High quality instruction and questioning with teachers providing carefully planned sequenced lessons that build on historical knowledge, skills and understanding.
- Retrieval of previous learning and explicit links through concepts that connect new learning with what the children already know.
- Carefully chosen primary and secondary sources and focussed discussion on the validity of sources and viewpoints.
- Timelines supporting the understanding of chronology and the building up of deeper knowledge.
- Enriching learning experiences through artefacts, trips, workshops, visitors and high-quality texts.
- A focus on ambitious vocabulary used in context.
- High quality talk providing children with opportunities to discuss, debate, and learn how to challenge and disagree respectfully.
- Carefully chosen and planned lessons and activities that are scaffold and adapted to ensure all children meet the intent of the History curriculum.
Curriculum
Our EYFS follows the Early Years Foundation Stage framework. ‘Understanding the World’ involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community through opportunities to explore, observe and find out about people, places, technology and the environment. Children use books and storytelling to develop their understanding of the past through settings, characters and events. Children begin to build early schema which relate to chronological concepts such as ‘the past’ or substantive concepts such as ‘king’.
In Key Stage 1, pupils begin to study specific events and people of historical significance and in Key Stage 2 pupils begin to place periods they have studied in time and know broad developments across periods.
In order to build on and nurture children’s prior learning and experiences, our curriculum is structured through half termly plans that progress across year groups and key stages. This is evidenced in knowledge organisers for each unit of work that also include subject knowledge for teachers and the intended learning for pupils.
Cultural Capital
Children are offered a wide range of enriching and engaging experiences which are designed to develop their knowledge and understanding of the world around them and the concepts taught within History. Book corners are well-resourced with high-quality and engaging texts and a wide variety of artefacts are used to spark imagination and develop a deeper understanding of abstract concepts.
Cross-curricular learning experiences provide a variety of opportunities to practise and explore the same skills and understanding in different subject areas. Educational trips, workshops and visits are carefully mapped out, including making the most of local history (Hackney Museum), but also the museums and landmarks that London offers.
Enrichment weeks and months such as World Week and Black History Month are celebrated annually. Strong links with the local community are also utilised where guests are invited in to share real-life experiences.
Accessibility for all children
Our expectation is that the majority of children will move through the programmes of study at broadly the same pace through supporting children with additional inputs, interventions, peer support and resources.
The ambitious and inclusive nature of the curriculum allows a range of access points that ensure all children, including those with special educational needs, succeed, regardless of their circumstances, with high expectations set for everyone.
For more information on our approach to teaching History, please look at our coffee morning timetable for the next available session or make an appointment in the school office to speak with our Humanities subject leader.
