History Intent, implemtation and impact

Intent

At Little Gonerby, we believe that high-quality history lessons inspire children to want to know more about the past and to think and act as historians. 

To build a History curriculum which develops learning and results in the acquisition of knowledge and skills which enables children to enquire, research and analyse in History. Children will know more, remember more and understand more.

To design a history curriculum and scheme of work with appropriate subject knowledge, skills and understanding as set out in the EYFS and National Curriculum History Programmes of study

To fulfil the duties of the National Curriculum whereby schools must provide a balanced and broadly-based curriculum which promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils and prepares them for the opportunities and responsibilities and experiences for later life. 

By linking learning to a range of projects, children have opportunities to investigate and interpret the past, understand chronology, build an overview of Britain’s past as well as that of the wider world, and to be able to communicate historically. 

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.

Implemenation

Teachers are provided with an additional half day planning per long term on top of their PPA, to plan their curriculum.

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

A knowledge organiser which outlines knowledge (including vocabulary) all children must master;  

A cycle of lessons for each subject, which carefully plans for progression and depth; 

Challenge questions for pupils to apply their learning in a philosophical/open manner;  

Subject specific vocabulary Identified through knowledge organisers and knowledge wall and highlighted to the children at the beginning of lessons and revisited through class assemblies and knowledge quizzes.

Trips and visiting experts who will enhance the learning experience; 

Big picture and daily review New history learning is put into the context of the big picture of history learning throughout school, and a daily review of immediate previous learning in the subject. 

Children will have constant access to a wide variety of subject specific fiction and non-fiction books, available in history lessons, other lessons and in the class book area  

Where possible we use artefacts for children to explore and investigate. We believe that handling real objects enhanced the children’s historical knowledge, understanding and skills.  

We aim for children to recognise that bias exists in some form in all historical sources, and this needs to be accounted for in their interpretation of evidence.  

Class teachers assess children’s understanding in History and this is then recorded on a skills tracker. This data is then analysed to improve the children’s learning in History.  

We recognise that children learn in a variety of ways, and so where appropriate, children will learn history outside the classroom.

Provision in EYFS

Children are given a secure grounding in the Prime Areas of learning, ensuring they have a good foundation on which to build through the specific areas, including understanding the World. Areas of provision are enhanced to ensure vocabulary understanding and extension, and develop understanding of the past, present and the difference between the two.

Impact

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. 

Children will know more, remember more and understand more about History.  Children will understand and use the key skills of chronological understanding, Knowledge and understanding of events in the past, Historical interpretation, Historical enquiry and organisation and communication.  The large majority of children will achieve age related expectations in History.

In addition, we measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:  

• A reflection on standards achieved against the planned outcomes;  
• A celebration of learning for each term which demonstrates progression across the school;  
• Pupil discussions about their learning;

As historians children will learn lessons from history to influence the decisions they make in their lives in the future.