History
At Hartpury C of E Primary School, we aim to develop children who are motivated and equipped to be courageous advocates for our world, throughout their lives. We seek to develop each child’s understanding, respect, appreciation and responsibility for the world around us, so they can make a difference both now and in the future. The Global Sustainable Development Goals are central to our ethos and our Christian Values underpin all aspects of our community as we strive for the children to develop a broad understanding and enjoyment of the world that enables them to be outward looking, resilient and effective citizens of the future.
Statement of Curriculum Intent
At Hartpury C of E Primary School, we aim to fulfil the aims of the National Curriculum. The History curriculum is designed to fire the children’s curiosity about the past in Britain and the wider world and plays an essential part in preparing us for living and working in the contemporary world. Through finding out about how and why the world, our country, culture and local community have developed over time, children understand how the past influences the present. History is about real people who lived, and real events which happened in the past. History is concerned with sequence, time and chronology and is the study of evidence about the past; it gives us a sense of identity, set within our social, political, cultural and economic relationships. Children will consider what past societies were like, how these societies organised their politics, and what beliefs and cultures influenced people’s actions. As they do this, children will develop a chronological framework for their knowledge of significant events and people. What they learn through history can influence their decisions about personal choices, attitudes and values. They see the diversity of human experience, and understand more about themselves as individuals and members of society. What they learn can influence their decisions about personal choices, attitudes and values. In history, children find evidence, weigh it up and reach their own conclusions. To do this they need to be able to research, sift through evidence, and argue for their point of view – skills that are prized in adult life. Through high quality teaching, we aim to inspire children to want to know more about the past and to think and act as historians. We aim to develop the following essential characteristics to help children become historians:
- An excellent knowledge and understanding of people, events and contexts from a range of historical periods, including significant events in Britain’s past;
- The ability to think critically about history and communicate ideas confidently to a range of audiences;
- The ability to support, evaluate and challenge their own and others’ views using historical evidence from a range of sources;
- The ability to think, reflect, debate, discuss and evaluate the past by formulating and refining questions and lines of enquiry;
- A respect for historical evidence and the ability to make critical use of it to support their learning;
- A desire to embrace challenging activities, including opportunities to undertake high-quality research across a range of history topics;
- A developing sense of curiosity about the past and how and why people interpret the past in different ways.
Statement of Curriculum Implementation
- History is taught in Reception (EYFS) through the area of learning ‘Understanding the World’. The children are given the opportunity to find out about past and present events in their own lives, and those of their families and other people they know. In the Foundation Stage, History makes a significant contribution to developing a child’s understanding of the world through activities such as looking at pictures of famous people in history or discovering the meaning of new and old in relation to their own lives.
- In KS1 and KS2, children are taught in mixed age classes of two-year groups. The History curriculum is delivered through a two year rolling programme, following the suggested order of the National Curriculum and constructed in-house.
- Using the National Curriculum as a basis, strong links are made to both our Christian values and our local environment and area.
- Key Maths and English skills are applied across the History curriculum. For example, in Year 3/4, after studying the local settlement of Hartpury, children wrote a Roman Soldier's diary as a final writing outcome for a unit in English.
- Children will access a range of resources to acquire learning. This includes handling artefacts, going on visits to museums and places of interest, having access to secondary sources such as books and photographs, having visitors in to talk about personal experiences of the past, using drama and dance to act out historical events, independently using resources from the internet and using non-fiction books for research.
- Once a year children will be assessed against a progression map using a ‘best fit’ approach. Children will be assessed as ‘below ARE’ or ‘at ARE’.
We ensure our classroom environments are supportive, engaging and that they celebrate learning. Outdoor learning and enhanced curriculum opportunities will be included in planning to ensure learning is irresistible with drivers at the centre. Where possible, cross-curricular links will be made and this will be conducive to learning. Our curriculum is ambitious for all pupils and successfully adapted, developed and designed where appropriate for pupils with special educational needs.
Statement of Curriculum Impact
By the time children leave Hartpury they will:
- Have a secure knowledge and understanding of people, events and contexts from the historical periods covered.
- Become increasingly aware of how historical events have shaped the world that they currently live in.
- Have the ability to think critically about history and communicate confidently in styles appropriate to a range of audiences.
- Have the ability to consistently support, evaluate and challenge their own and others’ views using detailed, appropriate and accurate historical evidence derived from a range of sources.
- Have the ability to think, reflect, debate, discuss and evaluate the past, forming and refining questions and lines of enquiry.
- Have a passion for history and an enthusiastic engagement in learning, which develops their sense of curiosity about the past and their understanding of how and why people interpret the past in different ways.
- Have a respect for historical evidence and the ability to make robust and critical use of it to support their explanations and judgements.
- Have a desire to embrace challenging activities, including opportunities to undertake high-quality research across a range of history topics.
A programme of monitoring is in place to inform senior and subject leaders of consistency and progression in learning. This includes:
- Professional discussion
- Work scrutiny
- Pupil conferencing
- Lesson visits.
