History

“We are not the makers of history. We are made by history.”     Martin Luther King JR

History is a most important part of our teaching and learning here at St. Mary’s.  We believe the focus of History teaching is to stimulate the children’s interest and understanding about the life of people who lived in the past. We teach children a sense of chronology and through this they develop a sense of identity and a cultural understanding based on their historical heritage.  In this way, they learn to value their own and other people’s cultures in modern multicultural Britain and, by considering how people lived in the past, they are better able to make their own life choices today.

HISTORY: INTENT

At St. Mary’s, we aim to deliver a history curriculum that is accessible to all and that will maximise the outcomes for every child so that they know more, remember more and understand more. Our teaching of history will help pupils gain a secure knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world.

We want children to be curious to know more about the past and to have the skills required to explore their own interests. History lessons focus on working as historians and developing historical skills and there are many opportunities for the curriculum to be enriched through historical visits, visitors and events held in school.

At St. Mary’s we are committed to studying our local history. Each class has a different focus so that by the end of Key Stage 2 children will have a deep understanding of their locality. 

HISTORY: IMPLEMENTATION

We use a variety of teaching and learning styles in their history lessons to develop pupils’ knowledge, skills and understanding in history.

We believe children learn best when:

• They have access to, and are able to handle artefacts
• They go on visits to museums and places of interest
• They have access to secondary sources such as books and photographs
• Visitors talk about personal experiences of the past
• They listen to and interact with stories from the past
• They undertake fieldwork by interviewing family and older friends about changes in their own and other people’s lives
• They use drama and dance to act out historical events
• They are shown, or use independently, resources from the internet and videos
• They are able to use non-fiction books for research

They are provided with opportunities to work independently or collaboratively, to ask as well as answer historical questions. We recognise that there are children of differing abilities in all our classes, and so we provide suitable learning opportunities for all children. We achieve this through a range of strategies which are differentiated by expected outcome and support from peers or adults.

The children’s understanding and knowledge of historical facts will be broadened through the teaching of the following key concepts: 

• chronological knowledge and understanding
• history of the wider world
• understanding of abstract terms
• Historical concepts
• Continuity and change
• Cause and consequence
• Similarity and difference
• Significance
• Historical enquiry
• Interpretation of history and historical perspective

HISTORY: IMPACT

Through high quality teaching of History, we will see the impact of this subject in different ways, for example through books, assessments and pupil voice. Work will show that a range of themes are being covered, concepts are visited, then revisited and cross curricular links are made where possible. Assessments and monitoring will show standards in History will be high and will match standards in other subject areas.

Parents are given updates on their children’s history studies, through regular communication such as parent-teacher meetings, the newsletter, and online platforms e.g. DOJO.