At Bloxham C of E Primary School, we strive to develop young historians who are enthused to investigate, learn and interpret the past both locally and worldwide. Children are given plentiful opportunities to engage with the local history and Britain, as well as explore ancient civilisations from around the world.

 

Intent

Through a carefully planned curriculum, high quality resources and teaching, and a consistent approach across the school, we develop the following characteristics of historians:

  • An excellent knowledge and understanding of people, events and contexts from a range of historical periods, including significant events in Britain
  • Learning about the concept of chronology, which underpins children’s developing sense of period, as well as key concepts such as cause, change and effect.
  • The ability to think critically about history and communicate ideas confidently to a range of audiences in both verbal and written form.
  • 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.

 

Implementation

History is taught in blocks throughout the year, so that children achieve depth in their learning. The key knowledge and skills that children acquire and develop throughout each block have been mapped to ensure progression between year groups throughout the school. The KWL strategy (What I Know, What I would like to know and what I have learnt) is used to check existing knowledge at the beginning of each history topic and this process informs a programme of study that is responsive to children’s interests. Key knowledge is reviewed by the children and rigorously checked and consolidated by the teacher. By the end of year 6, children will have a chronological understanding of British history from the Stone Age to the present day. They are able to draw comparisons and make connections between different time periods and their own lives. Interlinked with this are studies of world history, such as the ancient civilisations of Mayans and the Egyptians.

The history curriculum is designed to ensure appropriate diversity in the significant figures that children learn about. Teachers’ cater for the varying needs of all learners, differentiating activities where necessary and as appropriate, and ensuring an appropriate level of challenge. Outcomes of work are regularly monitored to ensure that they reflect a sound understanding of the key identified knowledge.

 

Impact

We measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:

  • Assessing children’s understanding of topic linked vocabulary before and after the unit is taught.
  • Summative assessment of pupil discussions about their learning.
  • Images and videos of the children’s practical learning.
  • Interviewing the pupils about their learning (pupil voice).
  • Moderation staff meetings where pupil’s books are scrutinised and there is the opportunity for a dialogue between teachers to understand their class’s work.
  • Annual reporting of standards across the curriculum.
  • Marking of written work in books.