HISTORY CURRICULUM

What is our vision for history?

At WHPS, we provide a broad and balanced curriculum across all subjects, which develops the individual child according to their age and ability. We want all of our children to leave WHPS as:

Fluent readers with a love of books and excellent comprehension.
Fluent mathematicians, with a confidence in problem-solving and reasoning.
Clear and engaging writers who can communicate their thoughts and feelings.
Happy, healthy, interested children with a range of experiences, memories and knowledge of a broad and deep-rooted curriculum.

The curriculum in history supports this by developing a chronological framework which shows the diversity of human experience so that children can understand more about themselves as individuals and members of society. Children understand that what they learn can influence their decisions about personal choices, attitudes and values.

Intent

What are our aims in the teaching of history?

We believe that children learn best through a curriculum that has rigour, challenge, depth and breadth, and which connects all areas of learning. At WHPS, we intend our students to:

Increase and develop their historical skills, concepts, knowledge and attitudes.
Increase their understanding of the present in the context of the past.
Develop and use their skills in enquiry, analysis, evaluation, and argument.
Develop their interest in the past, arousing their curiosity and motivation to learn.
Develop a sense of identity through learning about the past.

This links to the National Curriculum for history, which aims to ensure that all children:

know and understand the history of these islands as a coherent, chronological narrative, from the earliest times to the present day: how people’s lives have shaped this nation and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world
know and understand significant aspects of the history of the wider world: the nature of ancient civilisations; the expansion and dissolution of empires; characteristic features of past non European societies; achievements and follies of mankind
gain and deploy a historically grounded understanding of abstract terms such as ‘empire’, ‘civilisation’, ‘parliament’ and ‘peasantry’
understand historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance, and use them to make connections, draw contrasts, analyse trends, frame historically valid questions and create their own structured accounts, including written narratives and analyses
understand the methods of historical enquiry, including how evidence is used rigorously to make historical claims, and discern how and why contrasting arguments and interpretations of the past have been constructed
gain historical perspective by placing their growing knowledge into different contexts, understanding the connections between local, regional, national and international history; between cultural, economic, military, political, religious and social history; and between short and long-term timescales.

How have you designed the curriculum for history to ensure that it covers the National Curriculum?

The curriculum for history has been carefully planned to ensure coverage of the National Curriculum aims and objectives.

History starts with personal spheres of experience for the youngest children and recognising what the past is. This moves into how we find out about the past through different sources and artefacts and the people who help us to discover them. Children learn about the recent and distant past, explore local history and world history and then how the events of the past have shaped our lives today.

Children have the opportunity to see and explore a range of historical sources. Their understanding of sources develops from initially observing photographs and recent artefacts (toys, clothes) to encountering ancient artefacts and discussing why these are rarer and less available. Children then examine how reliable a source is and consider bias.

As well as meeting the requirements of the National Curriculum, the units chosen at WHPS reflect our local environment (The Great Fire of London, Victorians and The Battle of Britain), our community (The Silk Road), growing up in Britain (The Stone Age, Romans, Anglo Saxons, Vikings and Normans) and civilisations which have shaped the world we live in (Ancient Greeks and The Shang Dynasty).

Implementation

What is the content of history at WHPS?

Our curriculum is designed to:

Be clear about what knowledge children will learn, and in which order, throughout their time at our school.
Provide regular opportunities for children to review and apply prior learning to interrupt forgetting through ‘Do now’ tasks at the beginning of each lesson.
Provide enrichment opportunities that enhance and develop children’s learning.

The curriculum map provides further details on the objectives covered in history and the progression of knowledge and skills in each year group.

How is history taught at WHPS?

History lessons are taught by class teachers, using planning developed alongside subject leads. Children take part in regular lessons throughout each term which focus on;

Understanding that history is a study of the past which includes events within and before their lifetime. This study should inspire curiosity and questioning about changes that have occurred over time.
Being able to comment on similarities and differences between different periods of time using accurate, age-appropriate historical vocabulary.
Knowing that evidence is needed to comment on and understand the past and that this evidence can take a range of forms: e.g., artefacts, written accounts, interviews, books, letters, photographs etc.
Understanding a basic chronological framework of key events in Britain, Europe and the wider word. (Based on the places and periods of time studied in the school’s individual curriculum.)
Being able to answer questions about periods of time they have studied, referencing relevant and accurate historical information.

At WHPS, we believe that high-quality teaching and learning in history includes:

Children having access to, and being able to handle artefacts.
Children having the opportunity to go on visits to museums and places of interest
Children having access to and being able to use secondary sources such as books, photographs and ICT.
Visitors coming in to talk about personal experiences of the past.
Children having the opportunity to listen to and interact with stories from the past.
Children undertaking fieldwork by interviewing family and older friends about changes in their own and other people’s lives.
Children being provided with opportunities to work independently or collaboratively, to ask as well as answer historical questions.

We also recognise that there are many elements of excellent practice that are consistent across all subjects, which are included in our WHPS Teaching Standards for teachers to refer to and implement.

How are planning and resources for history organised?

Every year group has a Year on a Page Overview, which provides an overview of units covered throughout the year, and a Foundation Subject Overview, which includes all of the objectives covered in each subject each term. Planning for all subjects is saved in the WHPS Curriculum folder for teachers to access.

Links to some online resources for children and teachers are included in the planning. Knowledge organisers highlight the key learning to take place in each unit.

How do we ensure that all children have access to the history curriculum?

At WHPS, we aim to provide equal access to the curriculum for all children. We believe that all children can achieve and we value and promote each child’s achievements across every subject. We give our children every opportunity to achieve their best by taking account of our children’s range of life experiences when planning for their learning. We regularly review our curriculum and the resources we use to ensure that our teaching reflects equality and respects diversity. All teachers will adapt lessons and resources to provide support for individuals with SEND or other needs.

In history this support may include:

Word banks with Widget symbols.
Identifying the most important learning to highlight in teaching (see knowledge organisers).
Considering approaches to recording which reduce cognitive load.

How do we assess learning in history?

Assessment for learning is an important part of every lesson at WHPS in order to check children’s knowledge and understanding. Lessons are carefully planned to provide opportunities for teachers to assess children’s knowledge in a range of ways, which can then support them to adapt future lessons appropriately. Any written work is recorded in history books and is clearly marked with the subject name and learning objective. However, we also recognise that a more active or practical approach may be relevant for some objectives, which is detailed in the unit plans developed by teachers and the subject lead.

In history, assessment opportunities include:

An age appropriate assessment question which requires children to draw on and apply their learning from the unit to answer the recording of which may include sorting activities, annotated drawings or a longer written explanation.
‘Do Now’ tasks and opportunities for retrieval practice throughout the unit of work.
Observation and questioning.

What opportunities are there for enrichment in history ?

Our aim at West Hampstead Primary School is to ensure that every child is able to take part in a range of inspiring and exciting opportunities during their time at school. Enrichment opportunities are carefully planned as part of the curriculum in order to:

Bring children's learning to life in a new or different context
Cover or revisit key knowledge and skills from across the National Curriculum
Providing an inspiring or aspirational experience for children
Develop children's confidence and self esteem in a new environment

In history, we provide the following enrichment opportunities throughout children’s time at school.

Year Group	Enrichment Opportunities
Nursery
Reception	A ‘Museum of Childhood’ featuring teachers bringing in toys from the past
Year 1
Year 2	Archaeology day
Year 3	Victorian day and visit to the Natural History Museum
Year 4
Year 5	Visit to the British museum and Tower of London
Year 6	WW2 Day and visit to the National Gallery (linked to Silk Road topic)

Impact

How do we monitor the impact of our teaching in history ?

Leaders regularly monitor teaching and learning across the subject throughout the year. Monitoring takes place through:

Planning scrutiny to ensure that planned lessons match the learning objectives and outcomes provided in unit plans
Book looks to ensure that outcomes reflect those provided in unit plans and check that children are making good progress within the subject
Pupil voice to understand children’s perspectives on their learning in the subject and explore whether they have remembered the knowledge identified in the curriculum maps
Learning walks to see teaching and learning in action across the school and ensure highquality teaching is taking place
Teacher surveys or informal conversations to ensure that teachers are confident in their subject knowledge and identify any support needed

Strengths and next steps identified during monitoring are recorded on our monitoring overview document and discussed with SLT.