History
At Highfields, we believe History is about real people who lived and real events which happened in the past. History is concerned with sequence, time and chronology and is the study of evidence about the past; it gives us a sense of identity, set within our social, political, cultural and economic relationships.
History fires the children’s curiosity about the past in Britain, the wider world and plays an essential part in preparing us for living and working in the contemporary world. Pupils need to think about how the past influences the present, what past societies were like, how these societies organised their politics, and what beliefs and cultures influenced people’s actions. As they do this at Highfields, we believe children will develop a chronological framework of human experience and understand more about themselves as individuals and members of society.
In our lessons, children find evidence, weigh it up and reach their own conclusions. To do this they will need to be able to research, sift through evidence, and argue for their point of view – skills that are prized in adult life.
Curriculum Intent
Aims:
- To foster an interest in the past and to develop an understanding of how the past has influenced the present.
- To develop a sense of chronology so the children can organise their understanding of the past.
- To provide opportunities for investigation and learning using a wide range of sources and information.
- To develop an understanding of how to interpret primary and secondary sources.
- To distinguish between historical facts and interpretation.
- To provide opportunities for children to develop their skills of enquiry, analysis and investigation.
- To learn about key events in the history of their own country and the world.
- To organise information about past societies, making comparisons.
- To promote pupils, spiritual, moral, social and cultural development through the study of past societies.
Curriculum Implementation
To ensure high standards of teaching and learning in History, we implement a curriculum that is progressive throughout the whole school. History is taught as part of a half/termly unit, focusing on knowledge and skills stated in the National Curriculum. At Highfields, we ensure that history has the same importance given to it as the other subjects, as we feel this is important in enabling all children to gain ‘real-life’ experiences.
Our curriculum is based upon the National Curriculum in England, which provides a broad framework and outlines the knowledge and skills and taught in each Key Stage. Teachers plan lessons for their class using our progression of knowledge and skills document. Teachers can use this document to plan their history lessons suitable to their class’s interests and what they want to learn. The progression document ensures the curriculum is covered and the skills/knowledge taught is progressive from year group to year group.
At Highfields Academy we provide a variety of opportunities for history learning inside and outside the classroom. Each year, units are planned to have fun, engaging activities linked to history for the children to complete.
Educational visits are another opportunity for the teachers to plan for additional history learning outside the classroom. At Highfields Academy, the children have had many opportunities to experience history on educational visits. The children have explored local museums and have visitors into school to share history learning and have hands on experiences.
Foundation Stage
History in the Foundation Stage is taught under the umbrella of ‘ Understanding the World’ from the EYFS. The children are supported in developing the knowledge, skills and understanding that helps them to make sense of the world and their community. The pupils are encouraged to talk about their families and past and present events in their lives. The children's understanding our culturally, socially, technologically and ecologically diverse world, will be developed through:
- Photographs
- Listening to stories and memories of older people
- Role play activities
- Discussing events in the past and their own personal lives
- Sequencing events to gain a sense of time