Intent

At Bramford Primary School, we are historians! We want our children to love history. We want them to have no limits to what their ambitions are and grow up wanting to be archivists, archaeologists or research analysts. Our aim is that, through the teaching of History, we stimulate all children’s interest and understanding about the life of people who lived in the past and how they impact our lives today. We teach children a sense of chronology, in order to develop a sense of identity and a cultural understanding based on their historical heritage. In today’s multicultural Britain, this teaches our children to value both their own and other people’s cultures. All children should be made aware of historical individuals’ actions, and we want them to learn about important moments in British history while also recognising how things have evolved over time. History will make sure that our children comprehend how Britain grew as a society, which will help them understand their home nation. Additionally, our children will study elements of local, British, and ancient history. The children gain some understanding of global historical development as a result of this broader awareness. We believe that by allowing the children to understand the importance and enjoyment of History through different opportunities and our Wide Horizons Co-curricular visits, they will become enthused learners of History. In History at our school, we will also give children opportunities to develop their skills of enquiry, investigation, analysis, interpretation, evaluation and presentation. Lessons incorporate a high level of challenge through the facilitation of learning experiences and opportunities are given to make links between other subjects, such as in the STEM and Arts field, to create curious, critical and self-reflective learners.

Implementation

At Bramford, History is taught throughout the year as an integral part of our Creative Curriculum topics, so that children can achieve depth in their learning. Creative Curriculum is taught regularly across the week and History is explicitly monitored by the Humanities Hub and subject lead to promote continuous improvement by reviewing, evaluating, and sharing best practice as well as undertaking continuous professional development (CPD) to stay at the forefront of developments within the subject. Teachers are supported by the History lead with the planning and delivery of an engaging curriculum.

• Topics are blocked to allow children to focus on developing their knowledge and skills, studying each topic in depth.
• We have developed a progression of skills with each year group, which enables pupils to build on and develop their skills each year.
• In KS1, History begins by looking at the children’s own personal history and introduces them to the idea of chronology and timelines.
• In KS1, History will look at significant events and people who have shaped society, locally, nationally and globally.
• In KS2, aspects of local history, a British history topic and an ancient history topic are studied.
• In order to support children in their ability to know more and remember more, there are regular opportunities to review the learning that has taken place in previous topics as well as previous lessons.
• At the start of each topic children will review previous learning and will have the opportunity to share what they already know about a current topic.
• Children are given a knowledge organiser at the start of each topic which details some key information, dates and vocabulary. This is not used as part of an assessment, but to support children with their acquisition of knowledge and is used as a reference document.
• To support teaching, staff access a range of resources and planning.
• Medium-term planning for all units will cover key historical concepts: Chronological understanding, Historical knowledge, Historical interpretation, Historical enquiry and organisation and communication.
• Children are given opportunities, where possible, to study artefacts leading to enquiry, investigation, analysis, interpretation, evaluation and presentation.
• We plan the effective use of educational visits and visitors, to enrich and enhance the pupil’s learning experience and the History curriculum.
• Teachers use highly effective assessments for learning at different points in each lesson to ensure misconceptions are highlighted and addressed.
• Effective modelling by teachers ensures that children are able to achieve their learning intentions, with misconceptions addressed within it.
• Through using a range of assessment tools, differentiation is facilitated by teachers, to ensure that each pupil can access the History curriculum.
• Children are given clear success criteria in order to achieve the Learning Intention with different elements of independence.
• Pupils are regularly given the opportunity for Self or Peer Assessment, which will then be used to inform planning, preparation, differentiation and address misconceptions within that lesson, or for the next lesson.
• Cross-curricular links are planned with other subjects such as Maths, Writing and Computing.
• Educational, immersive displays that answer key questions help to create a rich learning environment linked to the creative curriculum focus.
• Our use of Target Tracker allows us to use data to inform future practice.

EYFS:

The Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum supports children’s understanding of History through the planning and teaching of ‘Understanding the World’. This aspect is about how children find out about past and present events in their own lives, their families and other people they know. Children are encouraged to develop a sense of change over time and are given opportunities to differentiate between past and present by observing routines throughout the day, growing plants, observing the passing of seasons and time and looking at photographs of their life and of others. Practitioners encourage investigative behaviour and raise questions such as, ‘What do you think?’, ‘Tell me more about?’, ‘What will happen if..?’, ‘What else could we try?’, ‘What could it be used for?’ and ‘How might it work?’ Use of language relating to time is used in daily routines and conversations with children for example, ‘yesterday’, ‘old’, ‘past’, ‘now’ and ‘then’.

Impact

The impact of this curriculum design will lead to outstanding progress over time across key stages relative to a child’s individual starting point and their progression of skills. Therefore, it will be expected that students leave Bramford having attained at least the age-related expectations for history. Our history curriculum will also inspire students to be passionate history learners, which will be demonstrated in a variety of ways, including pupil voice and their work. Upon leaving Bramford Primary School to embark on their path to Key Stage 3 learning, children will be equipped with the skills, knowledge and understanding to confidently continue their history learning journey.