History

History

Intent: 

At Folkestone Primary, the History curriculum is designed so that students develop a deeper understanding of how events in history have shaped our world today. Our teaching will equip pupils with the disciplinary knowledge about key historical periods and develop chronological understanding from ancient civilisations to modern day Britain. 

Within this, we commit ourselves to providing children with opportunities to investigate the past, learning how to construct historical arguments and hypotheses. We use historical sources to encourage the children to reason and determine the reliability of the source to construct their own opinions and conclusions. This allows the children to develop a sense of who they are, their heritage and what makes their local area unique. 

Implementation: 

● History is taught as part of a half-termly topic, which progresses the children’s knowledge, and skills that are stated in the National Curriculum. 

● Children receive high quality History lessons, using a range of activities, that plan for progression and depth concentrating on the historical skills and knowledge suited to the age group. 

● Pupils gain a secure knowledge of chronology, vocabulary, questioning and enquiry skills, which begins in the early years. This gives them the framework they need to understand how key historical periods have shaped our world today. 

● Pupils are actively engaged in a range of enrichment opportunities across all topics which will bring the subject to life. We use ‘drop-down days’ at the end of each unit to consolidate children’s learning and provide further opportunity to investigate and develop their understanding. 

● Across the key stages, children develop a range of questioning skills which allow them to explore the topic further and develop their understanding of key historical vocabulary as they enter various discussions with their peers, allowing them to deepen their knowledge.

● Extended writing opportunities are planned into the curriculum, which often draw on previous knowledge and evidence to support their answers. 

● Opportunities for children to be exposed to and use higher level vocabulary are mapped out and vocabulary is explicitly taught at the start of each lesson. 

Impact: 

History lessons regularly include recall activities which are often multiple choice, true/false, spot the mistake etc. giving pupils the opportunity to apply their knowledge. This also allows teachers to address gaps in understanding and misconceptions. Across the school, a variety of activities are planned as an assessment tool at the end of a unit of work, where children can use their knowledge to answer key questions and reach a conclusion. These include, but are not limited to, extended writing tasks.