The Importance of History

Children need to understand about the past in order for them to make informed choices about their present and their future.  Pupils at Langar Church of England Primary School, will have opportunities to see the diversity of human experience and in turn, understand more about themselves as individuals; developing a stronger sense of self.  History will also allow our pupils to understand the experiences of others and how these can and often do, affect our modern day society. Often these are linked to politics, beliefs and cultures of our here and now.

The teaching of History in our School is a cyclical process of developing and feeding into our inner curiosity (historical enquiry), rooted in a chronology of events and significant people and is based on finding evidence and reaching our own conclusions.  Children are given the opportunities to research through a wide range of sources and then argue their point of view.

History Mission Statement

Within the context of our school, we aim to equip all children with the historical skills and ability to know and apply key events appropriate to their age group, as set out in the National Curriculum.  Such skills will be developed within each cohort as part of our whole school initiative of a theme based curriculum, which will underpin a rich and diverse approach to historical enquiry. All pupils will experience a challenging curriculum which build on their resilience and confidence.

History Objectives

EYFS (Understanding the World: The World)

Pupils should be given the opportunities to:

• Comment and asks question about their world
• Comment and asks question about their familiar world such as the place where they live or the natural world.
• Can talk about some of the things that they have observed such as plants, animals, natural and found objects.
• Look closely at similarities, differences, patterns and changes.

By the end of the Reception year, most children will be aiming to achieve the Early Learning Goal; Children know about similarities and differences in relation to places, objects, materials and living things. They make observations of animals and plants and explain why some things occur, and talk about changes.

Key Stage 1

Pupils should be taught about:

• Changes within living memory. Where appropriate, these should be used to reveal aspects of change in national life
• Events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally [for example, the Great Fire of London, the first aeroplane flight or events commemorated through festivals or anniversaries]
• Lives of significant individuals in the past who have contributed to national and international achievements. Some should be used to compare aspects of life in different periods [for example, Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria, Christopher Columbus and Neil Armstrong, William Caxton and Tim Berners-Lee, Pieter Bruegel the Elder and LS Lowry, Rosa Parks and Emily Davison, Mary Seacole and/or Florence Nightingale and Edith Cavell]
• Significant historical events, people and places in their own locality.

Key Stage 2

Pupils should be taught about:

• Changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age
• The Roman Empire and its impact on Britain
• Britains settlement by Anglo-Saxons and Scots
• The Viking and Anglo-Saxon struggle for the Kingdom of England to the time of Edward the Confessor
• A local History study
• the achievements of the earliest civilizations – an overview of where and when the first civilizations appeared and a depth study of one of the following: Ancient Sumer; The Indus Valley; Ancient Egypt; The Shang Dynasty of Ancient China
• Ancient Greece – a study of Greek life and achievements and their influence on the western world 
• a non-European society that provides contrasts with British history – one study chosen from: early Islamic civilization, including a study of Baghdad c. AD 900; Mayan civilization c. AD 900; Benin (West Africa) c. AD 900-1300

Learning Across the National Curriculum and EYFS

The National Curriculum can promote learning across the curriculum in a number of areas such as spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, key concepts and thinking skills. The teaching of History can effectively contribute to and support these areas of learning. History also links with subjects such as English, ICT and PSHE.

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) promotes the development of a range of historical enquiry based skills, alongside elements of recording, asking questions and making conclusions based on what they have seen first hand.  The aim of this is to achieve the Early Learning Goal set out under the Specific Subject of Understanding the World: the world (TW).

The school will use the Plan Bee scheme of work with enhancements to make local learning links and provide local context. 

Teaching Approaches

A variety of teaching approaches are presented to children throughout their history lessons.

These include:

1. Teacher guided sessions, where the information is provided
2. Mixed ability group work where the children discuss problems in small groups
3. Class discussion lessons where members are encouraged to join in with their personal opinions
4. The use of differentiated tasks allowing children of different ability levels to work at their appropriate pace
5. The use of role-play in studying contentious issues
6. The use of audio visual aids in presenting material to the children
7. The use of fieldwork where possible so that children gain first hand experience of local and contrasting environments
8. The integrated use of ICT within History lessons
9. The use of outside speakers with relevant experience

Assessment, Recording and Reporting

Assessment is used to inform future planning and to provide information about individuals throughout their time in this school.

Our methods of assessment include:

• Teachers observation of pupils understanding of chronologies and making links with existing knowledge
• The application of new concepts taught
• Discussions between adults and pupils
• Discussions between pupils in group work
• Pupils lines of enquiry and how this develops
• Pupils ability to explain their possible conclusions and thoughts
• Photographs
• Work displayed in the learning environment and in their school books

Inclusion and the History Curriculum

In order to provide work that is appropriate to the learning experiences for all children, the teacher will be aware for the individual needs within the classroom. Teachers will endeavour to offer all pupils challenge within history, which is achievable for every child and their abilities.

Equal Opportunities

Children irrespective of ability, race or gender are given full access to the History Schemes of Work. The use of adaptation by concept allows children to respond to the work presented to them at the appropriate level.