History Curriculum Statment

Intent

At Claremont Primary School, we have a high-quality history curriculum that inspires children to want to know more about the past and to think and act as historians. We aim to deliver a broad and balanced history curriculum, to give pupils the knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world. We aim to inspire pupil’s curiosity about the past and our curriculum provides children with opportunities to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments and develop perspective and judgement.

We aim to build knowledge and understanding and key skills through age-related expectations of the 3 key strands of History:

  • Chronological Understanding – time and events
  • Contextual Knowledge and Conceptual Understanding – understanding people’s lives, changes that have happened and how they compare to our lives.
  • Historical Enquiry and Investigation – research events, ask questions, look at views and arguments and develop own ideas.

The aims of the history curriculum at Claremont are for children to:

  • Become increasingly critical and analytical thinkers
  • Possess a secure understanding of the chronology of the British Isles and other important periods of history.
  • To discover links and connections to the history they learn and the wider community and locality.
  • Further their knowledge and explanations of change and continuity over time with regards to the history of the British Isles, other societies, cultures and time periods.
  • Differentiate between source types and explain how interpretations in history may differ.
  • Draw on similarities and differences within given time frames and across previously taught history.
  • Enquire into historical-themed questions and form their own opinions and interpretation of the past.

A high proportion of our children have English as an Additional Language (EAL) so we ensure that teachers and TA’s incorporate key vocabulary and clearly model skills using visual aids, ICT and cues to enhance the learning. We ensure our curriculum includes enrichment experiences such as visiting museums and our local area to enable children to make links to their own lives and to other curriculum subjects. All children are given the opportunity to access the curriculum at their level and are provided with the resources required to enhance their understanding.

Implementation

In EY the specific area of Understanding the World – People and Communities is taught using the Early Years Foundation Stage framework and the early learning goals (ELG’s). Children are encouraged to investigate and ask questions and evidence is gathered on Tapestry

History is taught on alternate half-terms to Geography, throughout Key Stage 1 and 2. History is often taught through making cross-curricular links with Geography, when purposeful links can be made, and is taught through the framework of the 2014 National Curriculum. The curriculum is designed so that it is ambitious for all learners and key objectives are clearly outlined for each year group in a progressive way to ensure knowledge, skills and understanding are built on and extended, year upon year. This is achieved by a chronological teaching of History, as children can build upon their prior knowledge, understanding how one period of time helped shape another.

In Key Stage 1, the topics are:

  • Changes within Living Memory,
  • Significant Events from the past,
  • Significant Individuals.

Within Key Stage 2 pupils focus on:

  • British History
  • World History
  • Local History

A Knowledge Organiser is produced for each topic in History to aid teachers in planning the knowledge and skills and students in understanding the expectations by the end of the unit. Knowledge Organisers are given out before the topic begins. This enables the children to think about what they already know, what they want to find out and start to begin their own learning. This also helps children to focus on specific questions relating to the topic and coverage within each year group

We also believe that using our locality to study a period in time really helps engage the children as they are able to relate to the learning taking place. We are a member of Historic England and have collaborated with other local schools to take part in local historical projects, for example Peterloo, Suffragette movement and immigration studies.

Claremont is also a member of the Historical Association, so Teachers have access to up-to-date relevant resources, as needed. Lessons are taught using a variety of methods to engage all learners, including drama, handling artefacts, art and D&T.

Impact

We firmly believe that a meaningful history curriculum will enable children to:

  • become increasingly critical and analytical within their thinking; making informed and balanced judgements based on their knowledge of the past.
  • become increasingly aware of how historical events have shaped the world that they currently live in.
  • have a further understanding of History on a local level and on a small-scale.
  • develop enquiry skills to pursue their own interests within a topic and further questioning.
  • Where applicable, have encountered or participated in high-quality visits/visitors to further appreciate the impact of History.
  • retain prior-learning and explicitly make connections between what they have previously learned and what they are currently learning.

The impact and measure of the history curriculum is to ensure that children at Claremont Primary School are equipped with historical skills and knowledge that will enable them to be ready for the curriculum at Key Stage 3 and for life as an adult in the wider world.

Useful Documents

Curriculum Statement History            
History Subject Overview            

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