History
INTENT
At Merton Bank, we ensure that all children are provided with the opportunity to reach their full potential, within a positive and nurturing environment. Through an engaging and challenging history curriculum we aim to encourage children to become motivated and resilient learners who are never less than their best. The children undertake a broad and balanced programme of study that takes account of abilities, aptitudes and physical, emotional and intellectual development.
- To instill in children a curiosity and understanding of events, places and people from a variety of times and environments.
- To develop an interest in the past and an appreciation of human achievements and aspirations.
- To understand and appreciate the values of our society.
- To learn about the major issues and events relating to the history of our own country and of the world, as well as to understand how these events may have influenced one another.
- To develop a knowledge of chronology (within which the children can organise their understanding of the past).
- To understand how the past is different from the present and that people of other times and places may have had different values and attitudes from ours.
- To understand the nature of evidence by emphasising the process of enquiry and by developing the range of skills required to interpret primary and secondary source materials.
- To distinguish between historical facts and the interpretation of those facts.
- To understand that events have a multiplicity of causes and that historical explanation is provisional, debatable and sometimes controversial.
IMPLEMENTATION
History knowledge and skills will often be taught in a cross-curricular context, enabling children to make links between their skills, knowledge and understanding across a range of subjects. Knowledge Organisers will be stuck in books for the children to refer to throughout each topic. The activities planned for in history build upon the prior learning of the children. We provide children of all abilities the opportunity to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding, thereby ensuring continuity and progression, alongside an increasing level of challenge as they move up through the school. SEND children will access their current year group objectives where appropriate but, on occasion, may be taught prior objectives from a previous year group in order to ensure a secure foundation of knowledge and understanding.
Early Years
During the Foundation stage, children are given the opportunity to find out about past and present events in their own lives and the lives of their families and other people they know. In the Foundation stage, history makes a significant contribution to developing a child’s knowledge and understanding of the world through activities such as looking at pictures of famous people in history or discovering the meaning of terms such as ‘new’ and ‘old’ in relation to their own lives.
Key Stage 1
During Key Stage 1, pupils learn about people’s lives and lifestyles in the past. They find out about significant men, women, children and events from the recent and more distant past in Britain and the wider world. They listen, and respond to stories about the past and use a range of sources of information to help them ask and answer questions. They learn how the past is different from the present and draw comparisons between the two.
Key Stage 2
During Key Stage 2, pupils learn about significant people, events and places from both recent and more distant past. They learn about change and continuity in their own area (including an in-depth local history study), in Britain and in other parts of the world. They learn about ancient civilisations, cultures and leaders from history that shaped today’s society in Britain and around the world. They look at history in a variety of ways, for example from political, economic, technological and scientific, social, religious, cultural or aesthetic perspectives. They use different sources of information to help them investigate the past both in depth and in overview, using dates and historical vocabulary to describe events, people and developments. They also learn that the past can be represented and interpreted in different ways and compare and order different time periods in history.
IMPACT
By the end of each key stage, pupils are expected to know, apply and understand the matters, skills and processes specified in the relevant programmes of study, taken from the national curriculum. The use of mini quizzes will inform the teacher’s planning and will identify any gaps in knowledge.
Through the teaching of the History curriculum, pupils at Merton Bank Primary School are enabled to:
- know and understand history as a chronological narrative, from the earliest times.
- understand how people’s lives were shaped and how Britain was influenced by the wider world
- understand historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance, Understand how life changed through different periods of time and how new technologies affected everyday life.
- make connections, draw contrasts, analyse trends,
- frame historically-valid questions to lead their own learning
- create their own structured accounts, including written narratives and analyses
- understand the methods of historical enquiry
History Subject Leaders – Mrs E Richardson