St Mewan Community Primary School

Our Curriculum

History

St Mewan CP School - History

2023 - 2024

Intent

At St Mewan we believe a high-quality history education provides the foundations for stimulating children’s interest and understanding about the lives of people who lived in the past and the periods of time in which they lived. History has shaped our present and through our History Curriculum we encourage pupils to value local, national and world history and gain a secure understanding of the historical process of inquiry.

Through our school History curriculum, which covers the full national curriculum for KS1 and KS2 and the Early Learning Goals, we develop the skills, knowledge, understanding and vocabulary that pupils need to think and talk as a historian. We believe chronology is a significant part of history education and cover this across the school. We strive for a curriculum enables which pupils to develop a sense of identity and cultural understanding based on their own historical heritage and that of others. We are passionate about providing a curriculum where they develop their local identity as both Cornish and British through their study of history but also learn about the wider experiences of others at other times and in other localities and with different identities. This is so that they can be successful, respectful members of society, with positive behaviours who live informed, enriched lives. Pupils learn to value their own and other people’s cultures in modern multicultural Britain and, by considering how people lived in the past, they are better able to make their own life choices today and as they grow and to play a part in designing the future as a citizen of the world. In our school, history makes a significant contribution to citizenship education by teaching about how Britain developed as a democratic society. We teach children to understand how events in the past have influenced our lives today; we also teach them to investigate these past events and, by so doing, to develop the skills of enquiry, analysis, interpretation and problem-solving.

The aims of history in our school are:

to foster pupils’ interest in the past and to develop an understanding that enables them to enjoy all that history has to offer;
to enable children to know about significant events in British history and to appreciate how things have changed over time;
to develop a sense of chronology;
to understand how Britain is part of a wider European culture and to study some aspects of European history;
to develop knowledge and understanding of historical development in the wider world and to develop an appreciation of the contributions made by all societies and cultures to world development;

to help children understand society and their place within it, so that they develop a sense of their cultural heritage;
to develop in children the skills of enquiry, investigation, analysis, evaluation and presentation.
to develop citizens who use the history to inform the world they help create in the future

We understand that children come to their learning in history with different backgrounds in terms of knowledge, experience, ability, capability and belief. We therefore ensure that all children, including those with special educational needs, are supported and enabled to develop to their full potential in history. The teaching is made relevant to pupils‛ own experiences and abilities and our broad and balanced curriculum takes full account of children’s varying ages, abilities, personalities and, where possible, their wishes.

The planning and teaching of history will incorporate the following principles of inclusion:

The setting of suitable learning objectives
Responding to pupils’ diverse learning needs
Overcoming potential barriers to learning and assessment for individuals and groups of pupils

History in the Foundation Stage

We teach history in reception classes as an integral part of the topic work covered during the year. We cover History teaching in EYFS through the objectives set out in the Early Learning Goals (ELGs) which we have aligned with the KS1 and KS2 curriculum to ensure progression of skills. History makes a significant contribution to the ELG objectives of developing a child‛s knowledge and understanding of the world through activities such as dressing up in historical costumes, looking at pictures of famous people in history or discovering the meaning of new and old in relation to their own lives.

The contribution of history to other subjects

Our teaching of History at St Mewan contributes to our wider curriculum and therefore teachers are encouraged to make cross-curricular links where possible. As a school, we often use historical topics and themes as a vehicle for English reading and writing units as we know story is a fundamental method through which we all learn. We also use maths as a vehicle in our History teaching to ensure pupils have a good understanding of chronology and dates.

Our teaching of British Values at St Mewan includes teaching the children about democracy and ensuring that all pupils within the school have a voice that is listened to, and demonstrates how democracy works by actively promoting democratic processes (such as a school council, whose members are voted for by the pupils.) All teaching also aims to include material in the curriculum which considers the strengths, advantages and disadvantages of democracy and how democracy and the law work in Britain, in contrast to other forms of government in other countries. We cover British Values, politics and themes of democracy through focus days such as Black History Month and Parliament Day (as part of UK Parliament week).

Teachers are encouraged to exploit interesting and appropriate cross-curricular links where possible. Examples of cross-curricular history include choreographing a dance based on a Greek Myth and role-playing what life was like for children during WWII. This enables history to come alive for pupils and become concrete and experiential. We strive to deliver a curriculum which gives pupils a passion for history and a desire to learn more about it beyond school and beyond KS2.

Implementation

History is taught in blocks throughout the year, so that children achieve depth in their learning. Teachers have identified the key knowledge and skills of each topic and consideration has been given to ensure progression across topics throughout each year group across the school. By the end of year 6, children will have a chronological understanding of British history from the Stone Age to the present day. They are able to draw comparisons and make connections between different time periods and their own lives. Interlinked with this are studies of world history, such as the ancient civilisations of Egypt and Rome.

Work is recorded in curriculum books at St Mewan and can be evidenced in a range of ways including artwork, written work, photographs or diagrams.

To develop our children’s enquiry based thinking each history topic has a key question that children will be able to draw learning back to at the end of the unit. To continue along the enquiry-based route each individual lesson also has a question that steers and guides children’s learning, helping them to pin learning on these questions. History is used as an opportunity to apply literacy skills. The local area is utilised to achieve the desired outcomes, with opportunities for learning outside the classroom embedded in practice. Planning is informed by and aligned with the National Curriculum. In addition, staff have access to the lesson plans and resources in the website ‘Keystage History’.

Impact

We measure the impact of our curriculum through ongoing teacher assessment and monitoring by the subject lead. This confirms that our intent for historical teaching is being achieved. This ongoing monitoring includes planning scrutiny, work scrutiny, pupil voice, discussion with teachers and learning observations. Through these the subject lead has gathered the following evidence:

Summative assessment of pupils' discussion about their learning from teacher voice discussions.
Images and videos of pupils practical learning, both in the classroom and outdoors.

Evidence of learning and feedback in books.
Planning monitoring which demonstrates use of the school progression documents.
Pupils knowing more, remembering more and understanding more in pupil voice discussions.
Pupils achieving age related expectations in History at the end of their cohort year, as shown through teacher reports.
Pupils understand their role in ‘History’ and the implications that they as citizens have on it, as revealed through pupil voice and school council work.

Pupil engagement to be a Historian in opportunities such as Black History Month and Local History Month.
Pupils at KS3 and 4 going on to take History as a GCSE and A level option.