Intent

The History curriculum at Hurstbourne Tarrant CE Primary School will make full use of resources within the local area enabling children to develop a deep understanding of the rich history of their locality, as well as help pupils gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world. Children are encouraged to make links and connections between different historical periods.

Our carefully thought out history curriculum follows the aims of the National to Curriculum and sets out to:

•  ask perceptive questions
•  think critically
• weigh evidence
• sift arguments, and develop perspective and judgement

History helps pupils 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. Our curriculum is carefully sequenced to build on the skills and knowledge children need to be able to achieve this.

Implementation

History is taught as part of our topic based approach to learning. Many of our topics are History led (please see the Long Term Overview for further information). We use the Hampshire ‘Six Step Enquiry Approach’ in order that children achieve depth in their learning. Teachers have identified the key knowledge and skills of each topic and consideration has been given to ensure progression across units throughout each year group across the school. By the end of Year 6, children will have a chronological understanding of British history from the Stone Age to the present day. They will use an enquiry based approach to draw comparisons and make connections between different time periods and their own lives. The local area will be fully utilised to achieve the desired outcomes, with opportunities for learning outside the classroom embedded in practice. Outcomes of work are regularly monitored to ensure that they reflect a sound understanding of the key identified knowledge and enquiry skills. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) follows the ‘Development Matters in the EYFS’ guidance which aims for all children in Reception to have an ‘Understanding of the World; people and communities, the world and technology’ by the end of the academic year.

Impact

Work from each unit is recorded in children’s Topic Books and this evidences a broad and balanced History curriculum, and demonstrates the children’s acquisition of identified key enquiry skills and knowledge. Key vocabulary and questions are generated at the beginning of each unit during a Knowledge Harvest supports the key knowledge and understanding children will require by the end of the unit. Emphasis is placed on historical enquiry skills and knowledge. Targets are set and evaluations of learning take place are at the end of each unit, which is then used to build on next steps and teaching points for subsequent units. Subject Leader and Governor Monitoring highlights that children are able to connect their current learning in history with prior learning as well as with other subjects taught.