At Fringford C of E Primary School, we believe the study of History inspires children’s curiosity, encourages them to ask critical questions and enables them to have a better understanding of their own heritage, the society in which they live and of the wider world. They will critically analyse different sources of information to gain a better insight into the past, weighing evidence, thinking critically and sifting arguments to develop perspective and judgement. We believe that History helps pupils to understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups. History is taught discretely and incorporated in other curriculum subjects.
Intent
- To know and understand the history of the British Isles 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.
- To 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.
- To gain and deploy a historically grounded understanding of abstract terms such as ‘empire’, ‘civilisation’, ‘parliament’ and ‘peasantry’.
- To 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.
- To 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.
- To 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.
Implementation
- History is taught as part of a thematic curriculum – as a discrete subject and, where appropriate, in other subjects too.
- Our History Curriculum is planned to ensure the progression of key skills and knowledge in each age phase.
- Our principles for progression:
–Use common techniques across the school
–Practise the same skills at different ages
–Revisit key areas of content and key vocabulary
– Teaching activities that challenge and engage children
- History is integral to the children’s understanding of Fundamental British Values
- High-quality visits and visitors will be used to further inspire curiosity in their learning by bringing history to life.
Impact
- Children acquire the appropriate age related knowledge and skills linked to the History Curriculum, which enables them to make good progress from their starting points.
- Children will become increasingly critical and analytical within their thinking, making informed and balanced judgements based on reasoned analysis.
- Children will develop enquiry skills to pursue their own interests within a topic and in other areas of learning.