history
what we say about history in dean bank primary school
Alina – “It is fun looking at things from the past.”
Libby – “Britain’s past is very interesting.”
intent
The history curriculum at Dean Bank Primary and Nursery School has been designed in accordance with the Early Years Foundation Stage and the National Curriculum. It has been shaped in order to allow students to develop secure schemas and avoid cognitive overload within history lessons. Teaching of particular concepts and skills have been planned so that they can be supported by what children have learned in other areas of the curriculum when appropriate.
Through their study of history in key stage 1, children will develop their knowledge of history in the local area and support them in understanding different ways to find out about the past. They will develop the key skills needed to provide them with a secure foundation for their history studies in key stage 2. Across key stage 2, the curriculum supports students to build a secure chronological awareness of British history whilst developing an understanding of aspects of history in the wider world. Students will gain the skills needed to work like a historian as they progress through the school, including evaluating evidence and answering historical enquiry questions.
To enhance learning, students make visits and use local locations to collect information from primary sources to develop their skills as historians and encourage them to want to know more about the past. Though local studies and visits, students are supported to be proud of and have a sense of belonging in their local area.
IMPLEMENTATION
Within history, teachers are provided with medium term planning for each term that clearly show the sequence that knowledge and skills should be taught, prior learning to be built upon, key vocabulary, possible misconceptions, activities to impart knowledge and where what they are learning will lead to in the future. The focus of teachers is on preparation rather than planning so that they focus their attention on providing high-quality teaching and resources. Teachers will also plan opportunities for retrieval and recall of key knowledge to support children build secure schemas so that they can retain the new knowledge and skills taught.
History Lessons
History lessons at Dean Bank should follow a similar pattern in both key stage 1 and 2 – unless it is an activity designed for retrieval and recall of previous content. In order to support children build secure mental schemas, prior learning should be made explicit at the beginning of a lesson. After sharing of the learning objective, the introduction of key vocabulary should also take place to support understanding and manage cognitive overload (some vocabulary may not be shared if it needs to be taught alongside the concept to support understanding).
The example below outlines what a history lesson at Dean Bank should contain:
- Activation of prior knowledge (this could be quizzes, short activities and teacher-led retrieval)
- Sharing of learning objective
- Vocabulary introduction
- Content teaching
- Tasks
- Mini-plenaries may take place throughout the tasks/lesson
History in EYFS
History in EYFS is designed so that it provides children with a foundation of knowledge and skills that will support them as they move through school. Skills and knowledge linked with history are explored within understanding the world but are also present in many of the other prime and specific areas in EYFS. Teachers adopt a text-led approach and the objectives for history inform carefully planned formal and play-based activities.
iMpact
Teachers will be using formative assessment continually within their teaching and using this to support their teaching and support children to develop the knowledge and skills appropriate. They will then use recall and retrieval activities to support students to retain information and support their own ongoing assessment. Staff will record a student’s progress against the relevant knowledge and skills objectives for the unit on the online ‘Insight’ system. Children will be judged as working towards age-related expectations or working at age-related expectations based on the number of objectives achieved at the given assessment point.
In EYFS, teachers will use the setting’s assessment system to track progress against the prime and specific areas but will also record evidence of children developing key skills and knowledge through the use of seesaw.