Please find below information on how we teach history at St William's.
Intent
History is all around us; in our families with their unique backgrounds, cultures and traditions and in our local and wider communities. Our intent, when teaching history, is to stimulate pupil’s curiosity about the past, and to develop their knowledge, skills and understanding of why people interpret the past in different ways.
We aim to offer a high-quality history education that will help pupils develop a passion for learning and gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world.
Our History curriculum is designed to develop children’s knowledge, understanding and curiosity of Britain’s past and that of the wider world.
At St. William's, we intend for children to:
- Be enthusiastic Historians: developing a love for learning, curiosity about the times and events that shaped the modern world.
- Be equipped with the skills of thinking critically, considering evidence, asking perceptive questions and making judgements.
- Understand the complexity of peoples lives and the process of change.
- Recognise the diversities of societies and relationships between different groups
- Understand their own identity and challenges of their own and others times
Implementation
As a school within Bishop Hogarth Catholic Education Trust, we teach a scheme of work designed by a transition team of our primary school staff working with subject specialists from our secondary schools. This means our curriculum has been designed to ensure clear progression, in the acquisition of knowledge and for key skills, building on pupil’s prior learning. We teach termly, discreet topics for all pupils from Year 1 to Year 6.
The curriculum units of work have clearly identified minimum knowledge ‘end points,’ and have been sequenced to ensure that pupils know more and remember more as they move through primary school and transfer into KS3.
Our curriculum covers the National Curriculum and is underpinned by the building blocks of History (Threshold Concepts) which are emphasised and reinforced in the history curriculum across our schools from KS1 to KS5
- Developing chronological understanding
- Communicating History
- Investigating the Past
- Thinking like a Historian
Each unit of work has a clear rationale, key topic vocabulary, builds on pupil’s prior learning and defines the minimum knowledge and skills (end points) that pupils will learn. Assessment strands in topics give pupils the opportunity to demonstrate their learning and the knowledge companions that we call ‘Learn it! Link It! help pupils to remember the key elements of the topic. This helps pupil organise their learning into relevant areas and make links to other areas and subjects. Conceptual (Golden) threads of History are woven through our curriculum to ensure consistency, add focus and promote purposeful learning.
Topics and units lay out sequential components of learning which equates to 8-10 hours of teaching.
Key Stage 1
Pupils are taught about
- Changes within living memory: Toys through Time.
- Events beyond living memory that have a national significance: Gunpowder Plot, Great Fire of London
- The lives of significant individuals in the past who have contributed to national and international achievements: Women in History, Explorers
- Some topics compare aspects of life in different periods: Women in History, Comparing Queens, Explorers
- Significant historical events, people and places in their own locality.
Key Stage 2
All pupils are taught about:
- Ancient Greece – a study of Greek life and achievements and their influence on the western world
- Ancient Egypt- the achievements of the earliest civilizations
- Changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age
- The Roman Empire and its impact on Britain
- Britain’s settlement by Anglo-Saxons and Scots
- The Viking and Anglo-Saxon struggle for the Kingdom of England to the time of Edward the Confessor
- A non-European society that provides contrasts with British history –early Islamic civilization, Mayan civilization
- The study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils’ chronological knowledge beyond 1066*
For the aspect or theme of British History, we have selected to teach pupil about:
- Henry VIII and the Reformation
- The Changing Power of the Monarchy; from absolute rule to constitutional rule
- Conflict through Time
- Crime and Punishment
- Victorian Britain and the Industrial Revolution, including the development of the railways.
Local Context of School
To address the local context, our scheme includes: history of Trimdon and the importance of coal mining.
Our curriculum includes opportunities to make links to local history where we can.
A Bespoke Curriculum
is taught through exciting, relevant and age-appropriate schemes of learning which draw on the National Curriculum for guidance to ensure progression.
History lessons are taught discretely across the school, though teachers are encouraged to have a curriculum for enjoyment and look to use Historical skills and knowledge across other subjects too.
Our curriculum map allows for flexibility and History is further enriched through the use of ‘hot topics’ and whole school topics. We review our curriculum map periodically to ensure coverage and knowledge is relevant and engaging in meeting the needs of our pupils.
is taught through exciting, relevant and age-appropriate schemes of learning which draw on the National Curriculum for guidance to ensure progression.
History lessons are taught discretely across the school, though teachers are encouraged to have a curriculum for enjoyment and look to use Historical skills and knowledge across other subjects too.
Our curriculum map allows for flexibility and History is further enriched through the use of ‘hot topics’ and whole school topics. We review our curriculum map periodically to ensure coverage and knowledge is relevant and engaging in meeting the needs of our pupils.
Visitors and Enrichment Opportunities
Our History curriculum offers planned educational experiences, driven by shared principles and creative approaches that make full use of opportunities for ‘real world’ learning. We plan Educational visits to bring our schema to life and develop ‘real world’ learning. Some examples of these include: Holy Island (Explore 4 All), Visits to local Historical sites and museums
We regularly plan sharing assemblies to allow classes to share and celebrate their learning in History to the wider school community
Resources
We encourage the use of real ‘hands-on artefacts’ and digital technology to support learning where appropriate and available. Teachers have access to high quality planning resources to supplement their teaching of the History Curriculum. We work collaboratively with other local schools to plan schema and deliver a curriculum that ensures children leave school with a secure knowledge of History to build upon as they move into KS3.
Interleaving
Our curriculum is designed using the theory of interleaving to ensure that sims are revisited to allow children to build a strong historical schema, within their long-term memories. These aims are:
- know and understand the history of these islands
- know and understand significant aspects of the history of the wider world
- gain and deploy a historically grounded understanding of abstract terms
- understand historical concepts
- understand the methods of historical enquiry
- gain historical perspective by placing their growing knowledge into different contexts
Working In Partnership With Experts
We invite experts and participate in partnership projects also help children apply the knowledge taught and develop their historical understanding further.
Developing Awareness of Locality
Our Bespoke Curriculum allows pupils to explore their own history. Examples of this can be seen through our interleaving local history topics e.g. Key Stage 1 ‘Where I Live’ and the Key Stage 2 Topic of ‘Local Area Study’ These topics also allow children to make links to prior learning and deepen their understanding of their locality.
Impact
When pupils leave our school, pupil will know more, remember more and understand more about History. They will have developed a secure knowledge and understanding of people, events and contexts from the historical periods covered and developed the ability to think and write like a historian.
The outcomes in History books evidence a broad and balanced history curriculum and demonstrate the pupil’s acquisition of key knowledge and topic, ‘end points’.
The majority of pupil will achieve age related expectations in History and clear progress will be evident in their topic work and in topic assessed tasks.
They will have the firm foundations in History and are well placed to make good progress at Key Stage 3.
Pupil Voice
Through discussion and feedback, children talk enthusiastically about History and understand the importance of this subject. They can talk with confidence about the topics they covered in History using appropriate vocabulary.
Monitoring
High standards are ensured through both internal moderation in staff meetings and externally: working collaboratively with other schools within the Bishop Hogarth Trust.
The quality of History lessons and pupil work is evaluated by learning walks, observations, teacher and pupil conferencing and work scrutinies. These inform future areas for improvement and the impact of any new initiatives.
Assessment
Formative and summative assessment is used to assess progress in line with St.William’s assessment Policy. Examples of summative assessment include the use of ‘Learn it – Link it’ booklets (detailing facts about the topic, prior learning connected to the topic and a vocabulary bank, POP (Proof of Progress) tasks linked to Knowledge Organisers or through specific written tasks that are used for moderation purposes.
Assessment is moderated in key stages, in staff meetings and externally through subject and year group specific meetings with other teachers in the Bishop Hogarth Trust. We participate in cross-trust assessment tasks, created with KS2 and KS3 teachers to ensure pupils leave St. William’s ready for the next steps as Historians at KS3.