St Michael & St Martin Catholic Primary School
History
History Curriculum
Subject Leader for History: Mr Gardner
'A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.'
Marcus Garvey
Intent - What are we trying to achieve?
We aim to deliver a coherently planned curriculum that is accessible to all pupils in demonstrating the importance of understanding historical events, when they happened and their relevance then and now, so that they gain historical perspective by placing their growing knowledge into different contexts. We endeavour to maximise the outcomes for every child so that they know more, remember more and understand more and by completing the history programmes of study for each year group. Building a sense of chronology using the National Curriculum units of study for each Key Stage. This is supported by carefully mapped out key skills and objectives that the children need to acquire each year. Pupils develop and show a progression of reading and vocabulary across the school by using topic language through oral discussions, written tasks and cross-curricular opportunities. Progression of vocabulary is accessible to all pupils through interactive working wall displays and differentiated learning resources. Through mini-quizzes and knowledge organisers, the children will become resilient and self-motivated to challenge their own knowledge throughout a unit of study.
Implementation - How is the curriculum being delivered?
To ensure all staff share the same shared vision, communication through insets, training and faculty meetings are fundamental to successful outcomes. As a subject leader, attending CPD training continues to be pivotal in raising the profile of History.
- A termly monitoring cycle ensures frequent planning and book scrutiny’s, learning walks or observations, pupil voice and moderating teacher assessment of the class. Prompt feedback with focused areas for improvement is integral to seeing History in line with core subjects.
- Subject leaders collaborate at the end of each year to create a whole school curriculum overview which fuses cross-curricular links across all subjects, primarily taking into account the context of the school and pupils’ needs.
- The National Curriculum objectives for each unit of study are used effectively by faculty staff to ensure planning is informed so that the children they teach meet and develop the required skills.
- Chronology of key events and progression of vocabulary are continuously referred to at the beginning of each unit of study using a KWL grid and a timeline of key events within the topic. The children are prompted to refer to this through the topic. To drive this further, an outstanding school timeline mural wall has been designed for the children to refer to during lessons, for teachers to discuss events prior or post the period of study and to provide moments of enquiry and questioning. Bespoke classroom timelines were created for KS1 and KS2 pupils to provide consistency and familiarity for the children to keep chronology simmering and cementing prior knowledge in the wider context.
- Research and interpretation skills are developed using a range of media and artefacts, ensuring these match the needs of all children, including those with SEND needs and EAL and disadvantaged pupils.
- Engaging knowledge organisers in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 continue to be highly successful in keeping historical knowledge simmering. Due to the high percentage of EAL pupils within the school, these aim to support pupils with learning key vocabulary and support the retention of new knowledge.
- Purposeful and rich extra-curricular opportunities such as trips, workshops and themed days/weeks are planned by the subject leader and faculty teacher to encourage, enhance and compliment an area of study.
We constantly strive to enrich the learning experience of our pupils and build upon their cultural capital.
All staff demonstrate and model a high standard of speaking, writing and reading skills across all areas of the curriculum. By building new vocabulary consistently into each lesson, the children are becoming more familiar with the topic language and confidently implement this within their learning.
Impact - What difference is the curriculum making?
In light of our school vision:
Pupils will acquire good subject knowledge of topics taught, developing and building on previous skill sets and independently organising research and data appropriate for audience and purpose. This will be assessed using the objectives and skills outlined in the National Curriculum and through discussions with the pupils.
Pupils will leave primary education with coherent and chronological understanding of the history curriculum and be able to use these transferable skills in secondary education and beyond. Pupils of all abilities, including those with SEND needs will have access to the same curriculum, with support and VAK resources to ensure they make the best possible progress.
Pupils will present their work and sequential recordings of events to a high standard, demonstrating consistency across all subjects and for this to be instilled through cross-curricular links and extended writing opportunities with the same requirements and criteria outlined in English. Pupils will use all opportunities to read primary and secondary resources, demonstrating growing comprehension and progression of vocabulary through their primary education. When presenting data and analysis, they are able to broach on mathematical knowledge and concepts from prior learning.
If you visited a History lesson at St Michael’s you would see:
At St Michael & St Martin school, we aim for our pupils to develop a curious mind where enquiry skills will be explored as ‘detectives’. The awe and wonder created through a ‘hook’ lesson as well as an overarching ‘Big Question’ to focus on throughout the unit to aid in building an enquiry. The learning environment demonstrates emphasis on unit of study, vocabulary progression, enquiry questions and examples of cross-curricular work.
Pupil Voice (quotes across both KS1 and KS2)
Year 2 pupil – ‘In history lessons we often work together as a team on a challenge’.
Year 4 pupil – ‘I really enjoyed our topic on Vikings especially the day where we dressed up’.
Year 6 pupil – ‘Our learning on World War II and the Battle of Britain was fantastic, we produced some really excellent pieces of writing.'
Cultural Capital
As a school, we ensure our children are provided with extra-curricular experiences to enhance their knowledge across the curriculum through workshops, off-site trips and themed days/weeks. These opportunities are carefully selected each year to promote diversity, showcase developments over time locally, and to celebrate the historical sites in and around London.
How do the pupils at St Michael and St Martin Catholic Primary School develop the school ‘STRIVE’ values through History?
Spiritual - develop higher order thinking skills and question the way in which the world works, promoting their spiritual enlightenment.
Thinkers - challenge themselves through the use of critical thinking and develop effective approaches to apply this thinking to make sense of the past and present.
Resilient - take risks and challenge their historical thinking; recognising that linking events to a particular historical period is both challenging and at times complex. We develop a culture where we are here to learn and that mistakes are expected and corrected.
Independent - Call upon their prior learning and classroom support to embrace tasks.
Valued - confidently share their thoughts and approaches, instilling within themselves that they are valued members of the class.
Empathetic - show empathy towards their peers, establishing a safe and supportive learning environment.