History
A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.
- Marcus Garvey
Curriculum Statement
At Blackthorns, the history curriculum develops children’s knowledge of historical periods, events and significant individuals. We have designed our curriculum to support children in thinking and talking like a ‘Historian’, to be ‘History detectives.’. Children learn key facts and concepts alongside skills such as chronological understanding, analysis and evaluation of historical evidence, empathy with people from different eras and how to compare and contrast life in different periods. Through exposure to a range of cross-curricular activities including visits and visitors, workshops and artefact handling, we hope to inspire the next generation of critical thinkers. Blackthorns children will aspire to consider and question evidence and to form considered opinions about the past that can help them make educated predictions about the future.
Our curriculum intent for history:
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For children to be armed with the knowledge and skills to think and talk like a historian.
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For children to gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world.
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To provide opportunities that stimulate children’s curiosity to know more about the past.
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For children to appreciate history in a chronological context.
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For children to be encouraged to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments, and develop perspective and judgement.
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To begin to understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups, as well as their own identity and the challenges of their time.
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To develop the use of historical language, and enrich their vocabulary to support their understanding of the world in the past.
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To think and talk like a historian.
Children in the Foundation Stage are taught the historical elements of the Foundation Stage document through the Early Years Curriculum, specifically the ‘Understanding the World’ Early Learning Goal.
By the end of EYFS we aim for pupils to:
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remember and talk about significant events in their own lives and in lives of family members
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be able to order and sequence events which are familiar to them
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be able to use everyday language related to time and when talking about the past
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recognise similarities and differences (including between families, traditions and communities) between themselves and those around them and recognise changes which have taken place.
Implementation
At Blackthorns, teachers are passionate about history and in bringing the history curriculum to life. Children are engaged through a range of exciting themes and a variety of stimuli, including key texts, studies of famous historians, historical artefacts and events, workshops and school trips. We also utilise the Now Press Play immersive audio resource, allowing children to experience historical events through drama and sound. As a staff, we incorporate an enquiry-based approach to children’s learning about key historical events and people. Each year group has detailed planning setting out the substantive and disciplinary knowledge to be taught and this is mapped carefully to show progression and continuity. Focus Questions are developed for each topic area which are constantly referred to throughout the exploration of this topic. Children respond to the focus questions which helps to demonstrate their knowledge of the key assessment end points.
We place great emphasis on the importance of children knowing what it means to be a historian and have developed labels for books outlining the key disciplinary knowledge which shows what is needed to be ‘A History Detective’ (EYFS and Key Stage One) or ‘A Historian’ (Key Stage Two).
Our medium-term plans draw on historical themes in the termly topics, making links with other subjects wherever possible but always ensuring that the subject knowledge and disciplinary skills are taught specifically within history lessons. Long-term plans identify individual historical units taught across the year group phases. A planned progression of skills built into the history curriculum, means that the children are increasingly challenged and build upon their prior knowledge as they move through the school.
Impact
The impact of our history curriculum will clearly be seen in the children’s history books where a love for the subject and a strong understanding of key knowledge, skills and recurring themes is demonstrated by our pupils. It is also evident in pupils’ writing portfolios, where the crossover of using historical enquiry as a prompt for high quality writing is demonstrated. Talking to pupils about history also elicits a great deal of insight into how much they know and how much they enjoy the subject.
How do we assess history?
Children’s learning is assessed informally in each lesson using assessment for learning strategies and reviewing the children’s outcomes. Teachers adjust their planning responsively based on the children’s learning and build in time for recapping activities to consolidate knowledge. Our planning outlines the main objectives that the children will explore and focus questions are developed to encourage the children to think about key aspects of each history topic.
At the end of a topic, children demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways, based on our focus questions. These tasks are carefully designed and require the children to recall their knowledge about the unit and to apply it in a way that demonstrates what knowledge has been learned. At the end of each term, class teachers then use a variety of sources of evidence, including the child’s verbal contributions and recorded work, to make a judgement as to whether each child is working at the expected level.
You have to know about the past to understand the present
- Carl Sagan