Purpose of Study:

A high-quality history education will help pupils gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world. It should inspire pupils’ curiosity to know more about the past. Teaching should equip pupils to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments, and develop perspective and judgement. History helps pupils 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.

Aims:

The national curriculum for history aims to ensure that all pupils:

• Know and understand the history of these islands as a coherent, chronological narrative, from the earliest times to the present day: how people’s lives have shaped this nation and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world;
• Know and understand significant aspects of the history of the wider world: the nature of ancient civilisations; the expansion and dissolution of empires; characteristic features of past non-European societies; achievements and follies of mankind;
• Gain and deploy a historically grounded understanding of abstract terms such as ‘empire’, ‘civilisation’, ‘parliament’ and ‘peasantry’;
• Understand historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance, and use them to make connections, draw contrasts, analyse trends, frame historically valid questions and create their own structured accounts, including written narratives and analyses;
• Understand the methods of historical enquiry, including how evidence is used rigorously to make historical claims, and discern how and why contrasting arguments and interpretations of the past have been constructed;
• Gain historical perspective by placing their growing knowledge into different contexts: understanding the connections between local, regional, national and international history; between cultural, economic, military, political, religious and social history; and between short- and long-term timescales.

Intent:

At Grange Junior School, History is taught as a subject in its own right, following a clear progression to ensure skills, knowledge and understanding are built upon and secured across the key stage. The long-term plan offers a broad and balances curriculum, especially disadvantaged pupils, those with SEND, those who are known (or previously known) to children’s social care and those who face other barriers to their learning and/or well-being (though carefully planned support and scaffolding) Cross curricular links are made where appropriate, including Literacy, DT, Guided Reading, Science, Art, ICT, leading to an enriched curriculum and to high quality outcomes. The intent is to ensure all pupils produce creative, well-researched and coherent work and in the process becoming resilient learners who are confident enough to challenge themselves. Workshops offer the pupils a hands-on experience, allowing them to be immersed in the subject being studied as well as examining artefacts safely and carefully. History is taught using an enquiry approach. Pupils are encouraged to follow lines of enquiry and develop their skills of reasoning and logic. The children are exposed to relevant and memorable topics which include opportunities for local studies and develop a sense of personal identity as well as their role in the wider community. Pupils explore the concepts of equality and diversity, foster respect for other cultures and peoples. History also provides pupils with a firm grounding in their own culture (nurture) and British values as well as an appreciation of the contribution of other cultures.

Implementation:

The History long term plan ensures that, across the whole of the Key Stage, all pupil follow a coherently planned and sequenced curriculum so that pupils build knowledge and skills sequentially and cumulatively across the key stage meeting the aims of the National Curriculum planned by both the subject manager alongside year teams to ensure subject knowledge is shared and best practice can be discussed. This leads to the delivery of high-quality lessons and successful progression of learners leading to high quality outcomes, enabling all pupils, especially disadvantaged pupils, those with SEND, those who are known (or previously known) to children’s social care and those who face other barriers to their learning and/or well-being (though carefully planned support and scaffolding).

Sequences of lessons are built upon specific skills which are assessed at the end of each unit providing children with the skills required to meet the national curriculum. Planning can then be adapted as necessary for groups/individuals with extra scaffolding and support implemented if appropriate. Children will have a clear sense of the overall narratives of history that span British history at differing scales followed by selected periods of world history. Children will build their understanding as to the differing roles of historians, archaeologists and others involved in the study of the past. They should also begin to focus on how knowledge and understanding is built by studying a range of source material to have a more detailed understanding. This focuses on how periods of history sit alongside one another and those societies, civilisations, etc, who interacted with one another for differing reasons. Trips, workshops and special events are used to support history topics which enrich and provide memorable experiences for pupils. Where possible, through displays of children’s learning, celebrations with parents and the wider local community are shared.

Impact:

The impact of our History curriculum can be seen through the outcomes of pupils, formative assessment, the work that they produce within their books and through pupil voice. We believe that if children have become knowledgeable historians, then they will be able to articulate their understanding with confidence. This is why pupil voice is an important tool in assessing whether children have made progress. If a child is able to confidently formulate and explain their own responses to an overarching enquiry, then the curriculum and its delivery have been successful.

The impact of this curriculum design will lead to outstanding progress over time across key stages relative to a child’s individual starting point and their progression of skills, including those who are disadvantaged or with SEND.  Children will therefore be expected to leave Grange Juniors reaching at least age-related expectations for History. Our History curriculum will also lead pupils to be enthusiastic history learners, evidenced in a range of ways, including pupil voice and their work.