History

Intent

At Wentworth our broad and balanced History Curriculum will develop the children’s learning and result in the acquisition of progressive knowledge and skills which enable children to investigate and interpret the past, understand chronology, build an overview of Britain’s past as well as that of the wider world, and to be able to communicate historically.

Each topic is planned as a sequence of lessons to ensure children progressively cover the knowledge, skills and concepts required in the National Curriculum. Historical vocabulary is actively taught and built upon in each year group. Each class has a general and topic specific timeline displayed. Our history curriculum allows children to extend their knowledge, skills and understanding to a greater depth. It is inclusive in terms of delivering the same curriculum to all our pupils irrespective of specific learning needs or disabilities and differentiating where necessary through, for example, in class support, providing different learning environments, alternative learning activities and assessment outcomes.

We learn about Local History, British History, the Wider World History, and the lives of significant individuals. The key knowledge that children learn is set out in the MTP provided by the coordinator. The key historical skills and concepts, which are revisited throughout different units, are: Chronological Understanding; Knowledge and Understanding of Events, People and Changes in the Past; Historical Interpretation; Historical Investigations/enquiry; Organisation and Communication. In our FS we aim for children to become more aware of changes in their own life and identify that some things within living memory have changed and some things have stayed the same.

Through our long-term goals, we intend for our children to:

• Increase and develop their historical skills, concepts, knowledge and attitudes
• Increase their understanding of the present in the context of the past
• Develop and use their skills in enquiry, analysis, evaluation, and argument
• Develop their interest in the past, arousing their curiosity and motivation to learn
• Develop a sense of identity through learning about the past

Through enjoyable and engaging history lessons, we intend for children to know more, remember more, and understand more and to inspire pupils to develop a love of history and to see how it has shaped the world they live in. We aim to ensure that children 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.

 

Implementation

Our combined History and Geography Topic Overview shows when History is taught throughout the year.

The History coordinator supports teachers by providing a ‘medium term plan’ for each unit of work which informs of the knowledge to be learnt. Teachers use this alongside the History Knowledge and Skills Progression Map to plan the medium-term plan for their year group & subsequent sequence of lessons which informs the short-term planning. There is a corresponding assessment sheet for each unit.

Our History Knowledge and Skills Progression overview shows in which year group the National Curriculum topics and subsequent knowledge are taught. In each topic we revisit and consolidate skills, so that our lessons help children build on prior knowledge and skills alongside introducing new skills and challenge.  Teachers are supported to promote progressive use and understanding of age-appropriate historical vocabulary. Each class has a general timeline displayed all year round; thus, the children learn where the unit they are studying fits. Timelines within a topic are displayed on the History working walls alongside the key vocabulary.

To ensure the children make progress the teachers are aware of differing abilities and utilize targeted questioning, open ended questioning to ensure the children develop their understanding of History concepts. They use differentiated texts for the lowest 20% readers and / or give support with texts where needed. They revisit prior vocabulary alongside teaching the relevant vocabulary for the year group and use mini plenaries to address any misconceptions. KS2 children have a timeline in the front of their book so they can refer to it regularly to develop & remember knowledge. 

To ensure the children are learning what is intended the History Coordinator reviews planning annually for each year group and regularly carries out Pupil Perceptions and book Looks. Data about pupil progress is collected after each unit which informs an Annual Evaluation Summary.

Our KS1 Topic Working Walls and KS2 History Working Walls highlight the sequence of lessons for each topic that develop the children’s knowledge and skills.

We have a whole school History Timeline display, which each year group contributes to and this allows children to see where their topic comes within the chronological order of events.

Wherever possible we provide our pupils with historical evidence including narratives, paintings, photographs, artefacts, and data to analyse and from which to reach conclusions and make judgements. Each year group has a History box with artefacts and relevant materials. We have termly topic book loans that enhance our history teaching. We subscribe to websites such as Twinkl to enable teachers to utilise further resources.

Whilst the EYFS and National Curriculum forms the foundation of our curriculum teachers link and draw comparisons to everyday life to make History meaningful. We use cross curricular links to further support the children’s knowledge and understanding.

We enhance our history curriculum as and when appropriate e.g. Schools 50^th birthday, the 100 year Remembrance Commemoration, 850^th Royal Charter of our town. We learn about significant people in our assemblies. Each year we incorporate Black History month into our history curriculum. We utilise speakers, visitors, trips, in house days to further capture the children’s interest and develop their historical knowledge and skills.

We review our curriculum on an ongoing basis and changes are implemented when required.

 

Impact

Through our history curriculum our children achieve well and make progress in their knowledge, skills and understanding. They know more, remember more, and understand more. They understand and use the key skills of chronological understanding, Knowledge and understanding of events in the past, Historical interpretation, Historical enquiry and organisation and communication.

The learning environment across the school displays historical vocabulary and the relevant sequence of lessons in each class as the topic is being taught. This enables the children to develop an age-appropriate knowledge of passing of time vocabulary and topic specific knowledge. The whole school, general classroom and topic book timelines enables children to know where the unit they are studying fits and is used to refer to general events.

The medium-term plan and corresponding assessment sheet alongside the History Knowledge & Skills progression map provided by the history coordinator informs the MTP and STP plan for each Year group which ensures our curriculum is progressive and that pupils learn what is intended. MSCC stickers are highlighted showing differentiation for the different levels of pupils.
The Pupil Perceptions show that children enjoy the lessons and are developing progressive skills and knowledge. The Book looks show that history is taught through a variety of engaging activities and again, that the knowledge and skills are progressive throughout the school.

Teachers complete Assessment sheets after each lesson for each unit of work. This makes teachers quickly aware if child/children are not making progress thus can inform planning. At the end of each unit, Teachers decide upon a ‘best fit’ judgement as to whether the pupil has achieved and embedded the expected learning goals, exceeded expectations, or is still working towards the goals.  These decisions are based on the professional knowledge and judgement that teachers possess about the progress of each pupil, developed over the sequence of lessons, which allows an informed and holistic judgement of attainment to be made.  Teachers pass the completed Assessments to the History Coordinator to complete the Annual Evaluation summary. Achievement against the learning goals for history at the end of the term, is used as the basis of reporting progress to parents.

• All pupils

The Annual Evaluation summary shows that most children achieve age related expectations in History. This is measured through key questioning skills built into lessons and summative assessments that are gained over the sequence of lessons for each topic. At the end of each topic teachers make a summative judgement about the achievement of each pupil against the subject learning goals for history in that topic. Our history curriculum is inclusive to all our pupils irrespective of specific learning needs or disabilities and differentiating.

• DP

Pupils make progress equal to that of other pupils, in line with their ability. This is achieved by monitoring pupils to close any gaps between life experiences by pre teaching and the level of support given to ensure they make at least expected progress from their starting points.

• SEND

The in-class support, different learning environments if appropriate, alternative learning activities eg scribe/ draw to record their knowledge and understanding and assessment outcomes ensure that SEND children make at least expected progress from their starting points.

The impact of our curriculum is to ensure that children 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.

Through enjoyable and engaging history lessons, children know more, remember more, and understand more  and how it has shaped the world they live in.