Curriculum Statement – History – Chatsworth Primary School

At Chatsworth Primary School, we have shaped our history curriculum to ensure it is fully inclusive for every child. Our aims are to fulfil the requirements of the National Curriculum as a minimum for History; promoting spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at the school and of society and preparing such pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of the next stage of their education. Our curriculum values the diverse nature of our community – our diversity of cultures, faiths and backgrounds.

Education should broaden pupils’ horizons by taking them beyond their everyday experiences. At Chatsworth, we aim to inspire our pupils’ curiosity about the past by bringing it to life in new and exciting ways. History at Chatsworth helps pupils to understand the process of change that has led us to the present moment and the diversity of the wide variety of societies and time periods that they study. The links made across time periods helps our pupils to develop the knowledge, perspective and judgement they need to become truly global citizens.

Our intent is that our teaching of History will help pupils gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world. We aim for it to inspire pupils’ curiosity about the past and to know more about the past. We aim to enable children to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments, and develop perspective and judgement. Through the teaching of History, we endeavour to teach children 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.

At Chatsworth Primary School, we believe that chronology is important for children to be able to place events correctly in time, to see links and patterns and to examine influences.  The History curriculum in KS2 at Chatsworth has been planned chronologically to help children place people and events within their correct time period.  Therefore, children begin learning about the Stone Age at the start of Year 3 and finish with the Battle of Britain and Dunkirk in Year 6.

Thinking as a historian frames history as detective work and focuses on steps such as asking questions, using multiple sources, and synthesizing information and ideas.   Using these skills across other subjects, allows children to develop them to a high level. We develop children with the following essential characteristics to help them become historians:

An excellent knowledge and understanding of people, events and contexts from a range of historical periods, including significant events in Britain’s past

·     The ability to think critically about history and communicate ideas confidently to a range of audiences

·     The ability to support, evaluate and challenge their own and others’ views using historical evidence from a range of sources;

·     The ability to think, reflect, debate, discuss and evaluate the past by formulating and refining questions and lines of enquiry

·     A respect for historical evidence and the ability to make critical use of it to support their learning

·     A desire to embrace challenging activities, including opportunities to undertake high-quality research across a range of history topics

·     A developing sense of curiosity about the past and how and why people interpret the past in different ways

We want children to enjoy and love learning history, not just through experiences in the classroom, but also with the use of specialist visitors, museum trips and engaging artefacts.

In ensuring high standards of teaching and learning in history, we implement a curriculum that is progressive throughout the whole school. History is taught as part of a half-termly or termly  topic, focusing on knowledge and skills stated in the National Curriculum. At Chatsworth Primary, we ensure that history has the same importance given to it as the core subjects, as we feel this is important in enabling all children to gain ‘real-life’ experiences. For example, using the location of the school, to see how people lived in the past, to comparing the similarities and differences in environments and communities in Lower Key Stage 2, through to looking at an in depth study of the locality in Upper Key Stage 2.

As part of this planning process, teachers need to plan the following:

·     An organiser which outlines knowledge (including vocabulary) all children must learn

·     A ladder of lessons for each unit, which carefully plans for progression and depth

·     Low stakes assessment tasks which are used to support learners’ ability to block learning and increase space in the working memory

.           The opportunity for enquiry-based learning, allowing children in Upper Key Stage 2 the chance to suggest their own lines of enquiry in relation to the time period studied

·     Challenging questions for pupils to apply their learning in a philosophical/open manner

·     Trips and visiting experts who will enhance the learning experience through hands-on experiential activities or oral history

The impact and measure of this is to ensure that children at Chatsworth Primary School are equipped with historical skills and knowledge that will enable them to be ready for the curriculum at Key Stage 3 and 4 and for life as an adult in the wider world.

We want the children to have thoroughly enjoyed learning about history, therefore encouraging them to undertake new life experiences now and in the future.

Our History Curriculum is high quality, well thought out and is planned to demonstrate progression. If children are keeping up with the curriculum, they are deemed to be making good or better progress. In addition, we measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:

·     A reflection on standards achieved against the planned outcomes

·     Pupil discussions about their learning with subject leaders