History

Statement of Intent for History

History is all around us. The study of history ignites children’s curiosity about the past in Britain and the wider world. Through finding out about how and why the world, our country, culture and local community have developed over time, children understand how the past influences the present. History enables children to develop a context for their growing sense of identity and a chronological framework for their knowledge of significant events and people. What they learn through history can influence their decisions about personal choices, attitudes and values. At Tewkesbury C of E Primary our intent, when teaching history, is to stimulate the children’s curiosity in order for them to develop their knowledge, skills and understanding.

What does this look like?

Skills development will be built up throughout their time at Tewkesbury, ensuring that historical skills are taught alongside new knowledge, whilst ensuring conceptual threads are woven into the curriculum.  Throughout the year groups, threads are revisited to build the bigger picture in terms of change over time within society and development of knowledge. We want children to recognise causes and consequences of actions and developments over time. Children need to make sense of new learning chronologically and find out where it fits in the bigger picture, not necessarily by teaching the curriculum in chronological order in order to understand when historical events occurred, be able to compare significant events and eras and be able to have a bigger sense of understanding of world history. These will be an intrinsic part of each topic as they will support children to create links and deepen their understanding of what went before and after.

Implementation

Our whole curriculum is shaped by our school vision which aims to enable all children, regardless of background, ability, additional needs, to flourish to become the very best version of themselves they can possibly be. We teach the National Curriculum, supported by a clear skills and knowledge progression. This ensures that skills and knowledge are built on year by year and sequenced appropriately to maximise learning for all children. It is important that the children develop progressive skills of a historian throughout their time at Tewkesbury C of E and do not just learn a series of facts about the past. In History, pupils find evidence, weigh it up and reach their own conclusion. To do this successfully, they need to be able to research, interpret evidence, including primary and secondary sources, and have the necessary skills to argue for their point of view; skill that will help them in their adult life.

Impact:

By the time the children leave our school they should have developed:

· A secure knowledge and understanding of people, events and contexts from the historical periods covered.

· The ability to think critically about history and communicate confidently in styles appropriate to a range of audiences.

· The ability to consistently support, evaluate and challenge their own and others’ views using detailed, appropriate and accurate historical evidence derived from a range of sources.

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

· A passion for history and an enthusiastic engagement in learning, which develops their sense of curiosity about the past and their understanding of how and why people interpret the past in different ways.

· A respect for historical evidence and the ability to make robust and critical use of it to support their explanations and judgements.

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

We know this happens in our school when:

1.   We are excited by and understand the concept of history.

2.   We see ourselves as historians, asking questions, investigating/researching, weighing up information and coming to their own conclusions based on historical knowledge.

3.   We can be creative, curious and accurate with our historical evidence and research.

4.   We can make connections between history and other topics e.g. science.

5.   We are encouraged to debate our ideas whilst supporting our pints with evidence and refining our lines of enquiry.

6.   Our lessons are engaging and creative to encourage children to all achieve and progress in History.