Intention

At Abbot’s Hall Primary School, we aim to make our History curriculum accessible and aspirational for all to maximise outcomes for every child. The study of History of Abbot’s Hall provides pupils with coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past as well as that of the wider world. The children will be able to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments and develop their perspective and judgements to prepare them to live and work in the modern world. Children will learn that we are responsible for learning from the past and letting it inform our future. Through our History curriculum, pupil’s imaginations and curiosity are fired as they discover and learn from events in the past, making valuable links between topics and other curriculum areas. They see the diversity of human experience, both in British history and across the word and understand how societies function and have developed over time.

Implementation

To ensure that pupils develop a secure knowledge that they can build on, our History curriculum is organised into a progression model that outlines the substantive knowledge, disciplinary concepts and vocabulary to be taught in a coherent way. Chronological Understanding; Historical Understanding; Interpretations of History; and Organisation and Communication are all mapped out to ensure that pupils build on secure prior knowledge and a historical enquiry approach is taken throughout.

Wherever possible we teach History using a topic-based approach. Pupils develop and apply their knowledge, skills and understanding in a thematic, cross curricular way across other areas of the curriculum. We aim for a balance of whole class, group and independent learning, setting a variety of suitable tasks and challenges for the range of abilities within each class.

Pupils are exposed to a range of historical sources throughout the History curriculum including artefacts, stories, music, visitors and educational visits to museums or sites of historical importance. Children are encouraged to become independent in studying and critically analysing these sources, always asking questions and searching for evidence.

Impact

• Most children will reach age related expectations at the end of each year.
• Children will be confident to talk about what they have learnt using historical vocabulary.
• Children will have a knowledge of their local history as well as history across the world and the impact it has had on life today.
• Our children will be able to ask perceptive questions, think critically and weigh evidence in order to make judgements.
• They will be able to talk about how societies throughout history have changed.
• They will know how the past has shaped our nation and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world.