History Curriculum Design

Intent

‘Embedding a sense of where we came from, where we are now and how this will impact our future.’

At Hugo Meynell, our aim is to develop young historians who are able to reason, discern, think critically, and understand and appreciate what has gone before. History allows our children to compare and contrast, to examine how and why things have changed, to learn about historical characters and expand their research skills. We teach children to be open minded and enquiring thinkers, who understand cause and effect. During History lessons, children will be encouraged to ask perceptive questions and to think critically. We want them to understand how people have lived in the past, compare this to modern life and imagine how it might impact their future.

Implementation

 We follow the National Curriculum as the core of our History teaching, supported by a clear skills and knowledge progression.  We have developed our own history curriculum to suit the needs of our learners. All learning begins by revisiting prior knowledge. This will be scaffolded to support children to recall previous learning and to make connections. Staff will model explicitly the subject-specific vocabulary, knowledge and skills relevant to the learning to allow them to integrate new knowledge into larger concepts. Learning is supported through the use of knowledge organisers that provide children with scaffolding to support the long term retention of new facts and vocabulary. Knowledge organisers are used for pre-teaching, to support home learning and also as a part of a weekly review of learning. Weekly curriculum quizzes are used for formative assessment of skills and knowledge, ensuring that the children know more and remember more. History assessment is ongoing throughout the relevant cross-curricular themes to inform planning for next steps and differentiation. Our Historians are given a variety of experiences both in and out of the classroom where appropriate, to create memorable learning opportunities and to further support and develop their understanding.

Impact

 We want our children to have gained a passion for history and to be excited and motivated to learn about Britain’s past and that of the wider world. We hope that we have developed their curiosity to learn more as they continue to develop their history skills and knowledge as they move to KS3. Our Children leave Hugo Meynell with a secure knowledge and understanding of people, events and contexts from the historical periods covered and demonstrate the ability to think critically about history, communicating this knowledge and understanding confidently.