History

"We are not makers of history, we are made by history"

Martin Luther King Jr

Subject Leader: Miss Atkinson

Subject Governor: Pat McKenzie-Elliot 

Curriculum Intent

History is all around us!

At Pinders Primary School we intend to develop children's experiences and understanding, inspiring and igniting their curiosity about the world in the past, helping them to understand the changes that have occurred over time. As pupils progress, they will learn to think critically, gain knowledge of significant people and events in the past and apply historical skills throughout their learning. Children will understand how the past has influenced the present when learning about the world, its cultures, Britain and our local community. 

Children should be able to form opinions based upon fact and understand the necessary changes that have occurred within their lifetime and beyond.

Chronology is a fundamental part of history whereby children learn about significant events and periods, some of which happen concurrently around the world. This helps the children to develop a sense of 'identity' and have a cultural understanding of history. 

We aim to nurture children who can think for themselves, form opinions and become independent learners by encouraging them to act upon their own curiosities, seek further knowledge and gain additional information about topics that interest them. Our aim is that, through the carefully planned curriculum we will stimulate the interests of the children and their understanding of the past. 

Aims in teaching history at Pinders Primary School: 

• To ignite a curiosity in children about the past, including how people lived and how societies have changed.
• To ensure children have a secure knowledge and understanding of key historical events and people from the different periods covered.
• To think critically and be able to form opinions and debate. This will allow them to understand why people interpret historical events in different ways. 
• To understand the importance of historical evidence (and sources) and be able to use this to support their own and challenge other viewpoints. 
• To enable children to have a voice and see how this has been crucial in the past. 
• To love history and see themselves as historians!

How is the content / theme chosen? 

Whenever possible, we teach through a themed approach, to enable children to embed learning and make connections which leads to a greater depth of understanding within the subject. Key themes have been chosen to make effective links within topics, across year groups and ensuring they build upon prior learning. The content is ambitious and reflects expectations in the National Curriculum programmes of study and Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework, which engage and inspire our children. We have also carefully selected topics and themes based on our community, where we live and the interests of our children. 

Our History Statutory National Curriculum Programme - By the end of primary school

How the subject is taught?

At Pinders Primary School a clear and comprehensive scheme of work in line with the National Curriculum is in place. A two year, long term rolling programme maps out the coverage of the discrete teaching and learning opportunities for children to use and explore different history periods of time, significant people and themes, and develop their historical skills.  At our school, we follow the history Programme of Study and have tailored it to meet the needs of our school and community context.

We deliver a carefully planned curriculum which engages children and builds upon prior learning, hopefully creating competent young historians as they continue their educational journey. One way we do this is by providing the children with 'knowledge organisers' which contain key historical information about the topics they are learning in school. These are sent out at the start of each topic and mean that children can share what they are doing with their family and friends. Please have a look at the knowledge organisers that your child brings home and help them to foster a love of learning!

How do we ensure progression of knowledge and skills?

At Pinders Primary School we have a comprehensive knowledge and skills progression document in place for the teaching of History. This is used for planning, to ensure a sequenced and appropriate content for specific year groups, as well as a build up of knowledge and skills. 

Within these documents there are also opportunities for differentiation, in order to meet the needs of all learners.

Becoming a Historian

When children are learning about a subject through a discrete teaching session, they are explicitly told that today they are going to be 'historians'. They are then reminded of the key skills that they will learn, use and develop within that subject. 

In history these are:

We are learning to:

· be inquisitive and ask questions.

· use research to problem-solve and inform critical thinking about past events.

· develop our communication skills and find ways to explore the past.

· analyse changes over time and debate the impact of these changes.

Teaching History in EYFS

Understanding the world involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community. The frequency and range of children’s personal experiences increases their knowledge and sense of the world around them – from visiting museums to meeting important members of society. In addition, listening to a broad selection of stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems will foster their understanding of our culturally and ecologically diverse world. As well as building important knowledge, this extends their familiarity with words that support understanding across domains.

Throughout their time in EYFS, the children begin to gain some early historical knowledge and skills through focused topic teaching sessions and accessing high quality provision. The children engage in hands on experiences which promote social and cultural understanding and allow for detailed discussions reflecting the world around them at present and in the past. To develop children’s understanding of chronology we use engaging floor books and a learning journey board where the children can look back at their prior learning and continue to recall and develop their knowledge. We use a range of stimulus to engage children and develop their historical understanding, including a range of fiction and non-fiction texts, IPads, visitors and educational visits. We provide the children with an interactive and hands on learning environment and high quality adult interactions to support and further learning, whilst fostering a love of learning about the past and encourage open questioning. Some of the topics that focus on developing historical understanding and skills include ‘Festivals’ where we learn about how and why they are celebrated and compare them to other festivals we have learnt about, ‘Seasons’ where we talk about natural changes over time and ‘People Who Help Us’ where we explore occupations and roles in society.

History and British Values

Reading in history

Books are a central part of our history curriculum and most new topics start with a book. Below is an overview of the books embedded within our history curriculum and a rational about they they were chosen. 

How do we develop cultural capital in history?

Cultural capital is the accumulation of knowledge, behaviours, and skills that a child can draw upon and which demonstrates their cultural awareness, knowledge and competence; it is one of the key ingredients a pupil will draw upon to be successful in society, their career and the world of work.

In history we aim to provide children with various opportunities develop their culture capital by going on various school visits and have topic based experiences in school. Many of these are new experiences for most of the children and provide them with hands on experiences to help them to fully immerse themselves in historical topics and become enthusiastic, engaged and independent learners.

Significant people in History

When planning our curriculum we highlighted some key significant historians for the children to learn about. These people were chosen for various reasons but are all known for their tremendous impact on history over time!

What does history look like at Pinders Primary School?

Curriculum Documentation

Relevant Subject research links

Parent support/links

If you would like to find out more about History at our school, please access our school twitter page @pindersprimary or search the hashtag #PPHistory to find specific history themed tweets!