History
Intent
At Thornton Hough we provide a rich and varied History curriculum that has been carefully designed to inspire in our pupils a curiosity and fascination about Britain’s past and the wider world.
We aspire for our children to develop into active learners who not only have a passion for History, but who are equipped with the skills to think and make decisions as historians now and in their futures.
The core aims of our History curriculum are for our children to be inspired, engaged and challenged. We want them to be able to ask perceptive questions, to think critically, to weigh evidence and sift arguments. These skills will enable our learners to develop their perspective and judgement as historians.
Through the study of History at Thornton Hough, we want our children to be able to begin to understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups as well as their own identity and the challenges of their time.
Our History curriculum has been designed in liaison with The Historical Association to cover all of the skills, knowledge and understanding as set out in the National Curriculum. The National Curriculum states that ‘a high-quality history education will help pupils gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world. It should inspire pupils’ curiosity to know more about the past.’ Our curriculum is enriched by exciting and meaningful opportunities with the aim to inspire children to be thoughtful, reflective and curious historians. It makes strong links to our wider local area to enable children to develop a deep understanding of the rich history around them: our village of Thornton Hough, Wirral, Merseyside and the North West. This supports our children to develop perspective of how our locality is part of history and helps pupils to gain a sense of their own identity within a social, political, cultural and economic background.
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 skills, knowledge and vocabulary to be taught in a sequentially coherent way. Our curriculum is carefully weighted with equal priority given to both substantive knowledge (people, dates and events) and disciplinary knowledge (how historians work and come to their conclusions). Clearly defined substantive knowledge end points are identified at the end at the end of the unit and disciplinary knowledge end points at the end of each key stage. This has been carefully sequenced so new knowledge builds on what has been previously taught and leads to the end points. A specialist consultant has
Implementation
History is delivered through subject specific teaching each term, with meaningful links with other subjects made to strengthen connections and understanding for pupils. For example, map work is integrated within History lessons to encourage children to draw on their geographical knowledge and to make links between Geography and History. Children learning about cities and counties of the UK make links to learning in History to understand when and by whom these settlements were formed.
All learning starts by revisiting prior knowledge, enabling children to recall previous learning and make connections, followed by looking at the period of history being studied on a timeline to develop chronology. Staff model explicitly the subject-specific vocabulary, knowledge and skills relevant to the learning to allow them to integrate new knowledge into larger concepts. End of unit quizzes are used to check understanding and important knowledge is regularly revisited to consolidate the transfer of information from working memory to long-term memory.
Our Foundation 2 class follows the Early Years Foundation Stage framework. 'Understanding the World' involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community through opportunities to explore, observe and find out about people, places, technology and the environment. This is done through topics such as 'All About Me', 'People Who Help Us' and 'Me and My Healthy Body'. In Key Stage 1 children continue to develop an awareness of the past. They learn about significant individuals who have contributed to national and international achievements. Children also learn about significant historical events within the local area. They also study changes within living memory as well as events beyond living memory that are nationally or globally significant such as The Great Fire of London. Their learning is placed within a chronological framework.
In Key Stage 2 children continue to appreciate history in a chronological context. They develop a secure understanding of British, local and world history. Children will consider connections, contrasts and trends over time and develop the appropriate use of historical terms. They also learn to understand how our knowledge of the past is constructed from a range of different sources and spend time looking at, and dealing with, different sources.
Impact
Our curriculum enables children to develop a chronological understanding of British history from the Stone Age to the present day. They will have had opportunities to draw comparisons with the achievements of the earliest world civilizations and their influences on the wider world.
By the end of Year 6, we want our children to be able to use a wide range of historical sources to ask and answer questions about the past and be able to understand the limitations of different types of resources so that our learners are prepared for the challenges of Key Stage 3.
Children will have an understanding and perspective about our locality and some of the challenges and achievements that have shaped the local area in which we live.
We measure the impact of our History curriculum through monitoring work, listening to the children’s attitudes about history through pupil voice, by taking learning walks/ book looks, and assessing the children’s understanding against key substantive and disciplinary knowledge.