History

History at CBINS

Intent - Our History curriculum has been designed to be both knowledge-rich and coherently sequenced. Our curriculum allows children to develop not only substantive historical knowledge (events, dates and people in the past) but also knowledge of substantive concepts in history (such as ‘empire’, ‘monarchy’ and ‘civil war’), and disciplinary historical concepts (such as evidence, causation, significance and interpretation). The substantive knowledge taught in the curriculum is carefully selected and sequenced to ensure it is not stand alone and this allows children to develop a chronologically secure knowledge and understanding of local, British and world history. We encourage our children to become historians by asking and answering perceptive questions, analysing increasingly complex historical sources and beginning to use their knowledge to develop perspective. The curriculum aims to ignite children’s love for history whilst creating curious and knowledgeable young people.

Implementation – We implement our History curriculum by planning lessons that utilise metacognitive strategies to build on prior knowledge and develop a deeper understanding in historical concepts and disciplines meaning learning meets and goes beyond national expectations as outlined in the EYFS and KS1 curricula. Children begin to learn about British monarchs in Year 1, and build upon their knowledge of monarchy in British society throughout the curriculum, looking at the reigns of significant monarchs such as Henry III, Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. Children learn to become historians through: play and exploration; discussion and talk with peers and knowledgeable adults; asking and answering relevant historical questions; investigating and understanding relevant sources and quality first teaching which all enables them to demonstrate their emerging perception and judgement of history. Crucial to the implementation of our History curriculum is providing a rich learning environment to support the teaching and understanding of past events and encouraging children to use and apply historical language.

Impact – Our History curriculum leads to good results across the school. In EYFS, children are able to talk confidently about the past and share information about their own family. They have an understanding of significant historical events such as Remembrance Day and VE Day. In KS1, children have a strong understanding of important historical events such as The Great Fire of London and The Tudors.  They can explain their learning using specific historical vocabulary and the impact these events have had on modern day life. Children are also able to use and apply their creative skills during meaningful discovery, exploration and play both inside and outside the classroom. This is reflected in our children’s strong understanding of language, processes etc.. during meaningful discovery, exploration and play both inside and outside of the classroom.