History

Intent:

(the framework for setting out the aims of a programme of education, including the knowledge and skills to be gained at each stage)

At Ide Hill CE School everything we do is driven by our school vision "Do everything in Love" and our associated values of Respect, Love and Responsibility.  

We seek the abundant life that Jesus promises for all (John 10:10) and as such we have chosen to adopt Kapow Primary’s History scheme of work.

Our history curriculum aims to inspire pupils to be curious and creative thinkers who develop a complex knowledge of local and national history and the history of the wider world. We want pupils to develop the confidence to think critically as historians, ask questions, and be able to explain and analyse historical evidence. Through our curriculum, we aim to build an awareness of significant individuals and events in local, British and global history and recognise how things have changed over time. Our intent in History is to support children to appreciate the complexity of people’s lives, the diversity of societies and the relationships between different groups.

Implementation:

(the translation of that framework over time into a structure and narrative, within an institutional context)

In Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 we follow the National Curriculum for History and use the Kapow scheme to support teaching and learning. The scheme is organised into substantive knowledge strands and disciplinary strands. The scheme aims to support pupils in building their understanding of chronology making connections over periods of time and developing a chronologically-secure knowledge of History. We hope to develop pupils’ understanding of how historians study the past and construct accounts of their own historical enquiries.

In order to prepare pupils for their future learning in History, the Kapow scheme aims to introduce them to key substantive concepts including power, invasion, settlement and migration, empire, civilisation, religion, trade, achievements of humankind, society and culture. Through our history curriculum our aim is for our children to flourish into keen historians. 

Each year group in KS1 and KS2 teaches three units of history (one each half term) each week. The scheme is organised into units consisting of 6 lessons. Within each unit our lessons are taught in order as they build upon one another. The flexibility in the order of units allows us to adapt the learning to suit our school and make use of cross- curricular links.

Impact:

(the evaluation of what knowledge and skills learners have gained against expectations)

At Ide Hill School we believe that teacher assessment is the most effective way to measure pupils’ progress in history. This is done through a combination of discussions, observations, written work and class quizzes. We feel this helps children to remember more and understand more about the curriculum. Children retain prior learning and can explicitly make connections between what they have previously learnt and what they are currently learning.

At the end of each teaching unit, the children complete a brief written test. The results gathered in this test, along with the teachers’ assessment, help to form a picture of what each child has learnt during the unit.