History
The Intent, Implementation and Impact of History at Victoria School
“We are not makers of history. We are made by history.”
- Martin Luther King, Jr
Intent:
History is all around us; in our families with their unique backgrounds, cultures and traditions and in our local and wider communities. 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 Victoria School, our intent, when teaching understanding or the world/ history, is to stimulate the children’s curiosity in order for them to develop their knowledge, skills and understanding.
Implementation:
Our whole curriculum is shaped by our school vision which aims to enable children, regardless of background, ability, additional needs, to flourish to become the very best version of themselves they can possibly be.
In the EYFS we teach using the development matters, birth to five and communication and language toolkit and in Key Stage one and two we teach the National Curriculum, supported by clear skills and knowledge progression. This ensures that skills and knowledge are built on year on year and sequenced appropriately to maximise learning for all children. It is important that the children develop progressive skills of an historian throughout their time at Victoria School and do not just learn a series of facts about the past. In history, pupils at Victoria School find evidence, weigh it up and reach for their own conclusion. To do this successfully, pupils work ‘As Historians’, to be able to research, interpret evidence, including primary and secondary sources, and have the necessary skills to put across their point of view; skill which will help them in their adult life. We provide a variety of curriculum enrichment experiences through educational visits, trips and workshops linked to the topics covered, for each year group. This enables our children to experience a rich variety of 'hands-on' learning, access to heritage sites and expert historians.
In EYFS, pupils develop their compassion for the environment and love for the world in gaining the necessary knowledge, skills and vocabulary.
Using the development matters, birth to five and the communication and language toolkit, Victoria School has created a bespoke curriculum that is progressive for all. Incorporating cultural capital and breadth of learning. Children are taught to question aspects of the past and present, learning about the lives of people around them and the similarities and differences between things in the past and now.
In Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, teachers follow ‘The Learning Challenge Curriculum’ in History, a knowledge rich and carefully sequenced approach to the subject. This ensures that skills and knowledge are built on year by year and sequenced appropriately to maximise learning for all children. Existing knowledge is checked at the start of each new topic. This ensures that teaching is informed by the children's starting points and takes account of pupil voice. Lesson content and tasks are designed to provide appropriate challenge with high expectations for all learners, in line with our commitment to inclusion.
Impact:
By the time the children at Victoria School 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 detail, 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 topics.
