'History is not the past, but a map of the past, drawn from a particular point of view, to be useful to the modern traveller.' Henry Glassie
Intent
History is a subject we are passionate about at Hugh Joicey Church of England First School and we want our pupils to love history! We strive to develop young historians who are inspired to investigate, learn and interpret the past both locally and worldwide. We offer the pupils opportunities to engage with the abundant local history of our local area, Northumberland and Britain, as well as exploring ancient civilisations from around the world. We aim to spark the children’s curiosity to learn more about the history of their locality, and the impact historical events and significant individuals have had upon the area.
Implementation
At Hugh Joicey one unit of History is taught each term. We teach the National Curriculum and our long-term plan has clear expectations for the progression of knowledge and skills from EYFS to maximise depth of learning for all pupils.
We follow Kapow Primary’s History scheme of work. This aims to inspire pupils to be curious and creative thinkers who develop a complex knowledge of local and national history and the history of the wider world. We want pupils to develop the confidence to think critically, ask questions, and be able to explain and analyse historical evidence.
Through our scheme of work, we aim to build an awareness of significant events and individuals in global, British and local history and recognise how things have changed over time. History will support children to appreciate the complexity of people’s lives, the diversity of societies and the relationships between different groups.
Studying History allows children to appreciate the many reasons why people may behave in the way they do, supporting children to develop empathy for others while providing an opportunity to learn from mankind’s past mistakes. Kapow Primary's History scheme aims to support pupils in building their understanding of chronology in each year group, making connections over periods of time and developing a chronologically-secure knowledge of History.
We develop pupils’ understanding of how historians study the past and construct accounts and the skills to carry out their own historical enquiries. In order to prepare pupils for their future learning in History, our scheme aims to introduce them to key substantive concepts including power, invasion, settlement and migration, empire, civilisation, religion, trade, achievements of humankind, society and culture. Kapow Primary’s History scheme of work enables pupils to meet the end of Key stage attainment targets in the National curriculum and the aims also align with those set out in the National curriculum.
Impact
At Hugh Joicey, we continuously develop and grow our History curriculum and expertise. We monitor and evaluate the impact of our curriculum, teaching practices and the children’s progress.
Through supportive and progression-focused learning walks, our History lead is able to observe the implementation of the school’s curriculum and identify both areas of strength and areas of development to inform our next steps in History. Children are encouraged to talk about their learning in History both inside and outside of the classroom, making links across other areas of the wider curriculum.
We set high expectations and children present their learning purposefully and to a high standard in a variety of ways so evidence of progress and high-quality learning is clear. Our pupils are competent and confident to communicate their historical investigation skills and depth of knowledge.
