History

Intent:

At St Augustine's we want to ensure that each child understands their place in the world; locally, nationally and globally. We aim to promote curiosity, whilst developing their perception of the world and their ability to make judgements about the knowledge and facts we teach. Our aim is to give children an understanding of chronology and a cultural awareness based on their historical heritage and the heritage of their local area. We endeavour to help the children understand life choices and changes, by studying how people lived in the past. We hope to guide the children in their investigation of past events and, by doing so, to develop the skills of enquiry, critical thinking and problem-solving.

EYFS

In EYFS we aim for children to understand the concepts of now and the past. EYFS children should develop an understanding of the world through our history teaching. Our EYFS curriculum focuses on inspiring children to 

talk about past and present events in their own life and in the lives of family members. Children should be encouraged to recognise similarities and differences between themselves and others, and among families, communities and traditions

KS1

In KS1 we endeavour to ensure children get a sound basis for understanding chronology through sequencing and understanding durations of periods of time. We aim to use beyond and within living memory in order for KS1 children to gain a clear basis for understanding chronology and encourage them to ask questions about periods of history. Children should be encouraged to consider similarities and differences between periods of time and to use historical vocabulary within their work.

 KS2

In KS2 our aim is to ensure children leave our school chronologically secure and are able to establish clear narratives within and across different periods of times. We hope all children will have a concurrent understanding of history and will be able to tie new learning into existing knowledge. Pupils should use historical vocabulary and be able to note connections, contrasts and trends over periods of time. Children should make historical enquiries about change, cause, similarities, differences and significance. They should understand that our knowledge of the past in constructed from a range of sources and have been exposed to a number of these sources over their time at St Augustine's.

Implementation

The National Curriculum is at the heart of our History curriculum, ensuring that all aspects, knowledge and skills of History are being taught across all year groups. EYFS follows the ‘Development Matters in the EYFS’ guidance, which aims for all children in Foundation Stage to have an understanding of the world; past and present, its people, cultures and communities. They are also expected to explore the natural world around them. We aim to bring the curriculum to life for the children, through the use of artefacts and workshops therefore providing all children with an equal opportunity. By the end of Year 6, children will have a chronological understanding of British History from the Stone Age through to the present day, as well as significant periods in other countries. 

In our school

• History is taught for half a term every term with Geography being taught first to enable children to have geographical knowledge before adding historical knowledge
• An aspect of local history is taught for the first History topic every year to allow children to make connections locally before expanding on their knowledge further afield
• Specific vocabulary for each year group is being implemented in order to ensure a full coverage and progression of terminology
• Two classes per year for the past 3 years have had the opportunity to take part in the TIME project allowing for history to be represented through music, art, drama and dance
• Classes have opportunities to use museum loan boxes for topics to ensure children are exposed to artefacts
• Learning is based around an enquiry question so that teachers have a focus and children are able to practice their enquiry skills throughout all topics

Impact:

The children will communicate their understanding and knowledge of History, as well as the skills they have been taught, through discussion and written work. Children will be receiving a diverse curriculum and will be able to make connections and appreciate the history within their local area with the local study they complete each year. Teachers will assess throughout lessons and through written work and will adapt lessons accordingly to make sure all children can access the lesson and children are appropriately challenged, this could be written or verbally challenged. This will enable us as a school to fill in historical skills gaps that were missed throughout the home learning period.