History

The History curriculum is an ambitious curriculum meeting the needs of all learners and contextualised in the community we serve.

History should inspire in pupils a curiosity and fascination about the past and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives.

At Severnbanks Primary School we have developed a scheme of work for our history lessons.  Severnbanks  Primary's History scheme aims to support pupils in building their understanding of chronology in each year group, making connections over periods of time and developing a chronologically-secure knowledge of History. We hope to develop pupils’ understanding of how historians study the past and construct accounts and the skills to carry out their own historical enquiries. In order to prepare pupils for their future learning in History, our scheme aims to introduce them to key substantive concepts including power, invasion, settlement and migration, empire, civilisation, religion, trade, achievements of humankind, society and culture. The scheme of work enables pupils to meet the end of Key stage attainment targets in the National curriculum and the aims also align with those set out in the National curriculum.

Our History curriculum provides opportunities for our children to experience and demonstrate our values, vision and curriculum drivers. History lessons enable pupils to show teamwork and independence; be curious about the world around them; question facts and evidence and demonstrate resilience; History is using evidence to make sense of the past; Making discoveries increases our sense of awe and wonder at the complexities and elegance of the historical world, enhances our curiosity.  We aim for all children to aspire to be Historians and achieve this.

The lessons we teach have the intention of providing a high-quality, coherent and progressive experience of the subject, with scope for cross-curricular learning.

Our History curriculum emphasises the importance of historical knowledge being shaped by disciplinary approaches, as shown in the diagram above. These strands are interwoven through all our History teaching to create engaging and enriching learning experiences which allow children to investigate history as historians do. Each topic has a focus on chronology to allow children to explore the place in time of the period they are studying and make comparisons in other parts of the world. Children will develop their awareness of the past in Key Stage 1 and will know where people and events fit chronologically. This will support children in building a ‘mental timeline’ they can refer to throughout their learning in Key Stage 2 and identifying connections, contrasts and trends over time.

Over time, children develop their understanding of the following key concepts:

• Change and continuity.

• Cause and consequence.

• Similarities and differences.

• Historical significance.

• Historical interpretations.

• Sources of evidence.

These concepts will be encountered in different contexts during the study of local, British and world history. Accordingly, children will have varied opportunities to learn how historians use these skills to analyse the past and make judgements. They will and will confidently develop and use their own historical skill set. As children progress, they will create their own historical enquiries to study using sources and the skills they have developed.

Children will develop their knowledge of concepts and chronology as well as their in-depth knowledge of the context being studied. Knowledge organisers for each unit support pupils in building a foundation of factual knowledge by encouraging recall of key facts, concepts and vocabulary. Strong subject knowledge is vital for staff to be able to deliver a highly-effective and robust history curriculum. Each topic of lessons focuses on the key subject knowledge needed to deliver the curriculum, making links with prior learning and identifying possible misconceptions.

The impact can be constantly monitored through both formative and summative assessment opportunities. After the implementation of History curriculum, pupils should leave Severnbanks Primary equipped with a range of skills to enable them to succeed in their secondary education. They will be curious enquiring learners who ask questions and can make suggestions about where to find the evidence to answer the question. They will be critical and analytical thinkers who are able to make informed and balanced judgements based on their knowledge of the past. The expected impact of following the scheme of work is that children will:

• Know and understand the history of Britain, how people’s lives have shaped this nation and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world.
• Develop an understanding of the history of the wider world, including ancient civilisations, empires, non-European societies and the achievements of mankind.
• Develop a historically-grounded understanding of substantive concepts - power, invasion, settlement and migration, civilisation, religion, trade, achievements of mankind and society.

 ● Form historical arguments based on cause and effect, consequence, continuity and change, similarity and differences.

• Have an appreciation for significant individuals, inventions and events that impact our world both in history and from the present day.
• Understand how historians learn about the past and construct accounts.
• Ask historically-valid questions through an enquiry-based approach to learning to create structured accounts.
• Explain how and why interpretations of the past have been constructed using evidence.
• Make connections between historical concepts and timescales.
• Meet the end of key stage expectations outlined in the National curriculum for History.

Extra curricular provision

At Severnbanks we aim to provide our pupils regular opportunities for children to learn more about History through day excursions and residential trips. In the past, this has included visits to St Fagans National Museum of History, Bristol Musuem Ancient Egyptian exhibition and the Tower of London. We also encourage visitors to come into school with artefacts, talks, question and answer session and visiting performers to bring History alive.

Developing the skills of Reading, Writing, Speaking and listening through History

History lessons offer great scope for developing students’ literacy and provide plentiful opportunities for students to develop effective reading and writing skills and communicate orally. Our History curriculum is language-rich and children are introduced to subject-specific vocabulary in each unit they embark on. Curiosity  is at the centre of our History lessons and students are encouraged to discuss, debate and pose questions as much as possible, alongside listening keenly to other points of view.