History
At Kennet Valley, we deliver an ambitious, knowledge-based history curriculum that aims to inspire pupils’ curiosity to know more about their own locality and the wider world. It helps pupils gain the skills to be able to utilise a range of sources in understanding and interpreting the lives of those who lived before us. Communicating their knowledge confidently is also important, and we aim to provide a range of opportunities to promote this within our lessons.
It builds foundations for children to know who we are and how we came to be here, giving them a sense of how our locality, nation and world have changed over time. It supports children to draw comparisons between and across time periods, enabling them to identify some of the key characteristics of human civilisations.
In line with our Curriculum Policy, History is taught in blocks. The blocks enable us to immerse our children in an enquiry, adding depth to their knowledge. They also allow us to interleave learning.
The history curriculum builds upon prior knowledge and is carefully sequenced within and between phases. Links are made to other subject areas to support them in long-term understanding. Between blocks, current affairs and other curriculum areas allow us to continually revisit and embed key skills and chronological knowledge. A coherent, sequential knowledge and understanding of chronology enables our children to use core knowledge to talk confidently about significant people, events and changes. It allows them to compare what was occurring concurrently across the world and to reflect on the lasting impact of the past on our world today.
We have three major threads, based on our core values, that we revisit every year. The first is Compassion, which allows us to develop children’s understanding of types of source, their reliability and the potential motivations of the people involved. The second is Curiosity, where we teach children to follow significant threads across time to develop their understanding of the interrelatedness of things. The third is Courage, which is seen when we challenge children to justify their thoughts about events from the past which may differ from those of their peers.
Lesson Design in History
Based on research gathered by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), our history lessons are structured in a way that optimises learning for all children. Lesson elements may have different priorities based on the needs of the class, and the prior learning, but will support all children in accessing the lesson. In many lessons there will be an element of reading and within a sequence of lessons we will always provide suggested quality texts to deepen children’s knowledge and understanding.
Elements of a History Lesson at Kennet Valley:
Retrieval:
A short task where they will be required to retrieve previously gained knowledge. The children may have acquired this knowledge in a previous lesson, unit of work or even a previous year group. This task is designed to strengthen our pupils’ memories of key knowledge, enabling them to permanently remember and make progress across the curriculum.
Vocabulary:
Children will be introduced to key vocabulary at the beginning of the lesson. They will be challenged to learn the meaning of these words and apply them correctly during the lesson. Teachers may provide children with actions, or visual representations to match each word, to support the children in remembering them. Often these will be the ‘Big 6’ words identified as key to the block however, occasionally they will be words specific to the content of the session.
Teach:
The teacher will share the core knowledge for the lesson with the children. This is an opportunity for children to listen to the teachers' explanations and question them to ensure understanding. Older children are encouraged to take notes. The teacher will model how to apply this knowledge and together the class will rehearse the learning.
Applying learning/practising new learning:
Children then work with a partner, in a small group, independently or with adult prompt to complete a short task or discuss new information. Children will be expected to apply their understanding of the new learning. We encourage discussion to deepen understanding, and feedback is given throughout the lesson to address any misconceptions. Tasks may be recorded in books, but the focus is always on the learning rather than recording.
Recap and Review:
Finally, children will collectively recap and review their learning and reflect on the knowledge and skills gained and its relationship to other learning. This celebration of success is an important part of our lesson design as it allows the teacher to consider any adjustments to future planned lessons.
Intended Outcomes
As our children progress through school, our history curriculum ensures that when children leave us at the end of Year 6, they are able to communicate their knowledge and understanding confidently as global citizens who are developing a secure understanding of the history of the world they live in. Their curiosity will mean that as they progress onto secondary school, the knowledge and understanding gained will set a firm foundation on which further learning can be built.
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By the end of Early Years Foundation Stage, our pupils will:
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By the end of KS1, our pupils will:
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By the end of KS2, our pupils will:
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