Subject Leader - Mrs Lee

 

Intent

At St Paul’s Church of England Primary School we aim to deliver a high quality education in history which should inspire in pupils a curiosity and fascination about the past and enable children to make links and understand how the UK and the World have developed. We intend to inspire children to develop a love of history and see how it has changed the world they live in.

We encourage children to ask questions and think critically as they explore the diversity of human experience, past lives and societies. We teach children to question the reliability of sources, encouraging them to become independent thinkers.

We study local history and look at how local and world events have affected Leamington Spa and the local area, as well as being able to use the range of local historical sites to aid the children’s learning and understanding.

We believe that children will be better developed with a respect for diversity, and tolerance for others' attitudes and beliefs, if they are also encouraged to understand and respect societies different from their own in time as well as place.

 

We follow the National Curriculum for History which aims to ensure that all pupils:

 

• know and understand the history of these islands as a coherent, chronological narrative, from the earliest times to the present day: how people’s lives have shaped this nation and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world.
• know and understand significant aspects of the history of the wider world: the nature of ancient civilisations; the expansion and dissolution of empires; characteristic features of past non-European societies; achievements and follies of mankind.
• gain and deploy a historically grounded understanding of abstract terms such as ‘empire’, ‘civilisation’, ‘parliament’ and ‘peasantry’.
• understand historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance, and use them to make connections, draw contrasts, analyse trends, frame historically-valid questions and create their own structured accounts, including written narratives and analyses.
• understand the methods of historical enquiry, including how evidence is used rigorously to make historical claims, and discern how and why contrasting arguments and interpretations of the past have been constructed.

 

Implementation

• Taught as part of a half-termly or termly topic theme.
• We have a long-term history plan which covers a range of periods and themes in history.
• Objectives are planned carefully to ensure progression of skills and knowledge across school. 
• Skills, historical vocabulary and knowledge are revisited and consolidated as required.
• We build on children's prior learning and own experiences.
• We use theme days to bring learning to life and give children practical experiences.
• Topic entry point days.
• We utilise trips, visits and workshops to enrich learning. 
• We support children in developing an awareness of the chronology of British and World history.
• Children study significant individuals from a range of time periods, countries and cultures and make comparisons between them.
• Children have the opportunity to study different themes in history.
• We visit key content and vocabulary in subsequent lessons and other subject areas.
• We endeavour to use artefacts to enhance learning where possible.
• We use a range of resources and activities to enable all children to access and be excited by history, whatever their preferred learning style.

 

Impact

The impact and measure of this is to ensure that children at St Paul’s Primary School are equipped with a love of history and a wish to find out about the past whilst acquiring the historical skills and knowledge that will enable them to be ready for the curriculum at Key Stage 3 and for life as an adult in the wider world. Children should leave us with a chronologically secure knowledge and understanding of British, local and world history. Furthermore, we aim to equip children with skills and values that can be applied more universally, such as critical thinking and tolerance for others. We want the children's enthusiasm for the subject to encourage them to seek further opportunities to develop their skills and understanding in the future.