What does History look like at South Wonston?

Intent

At South Wonston Primary School we want our History curriculum to develop children’s love and curiosity of the past and its impact on their lives today.  Our intention, through careful planning, is to consider the progression of both historical knowledge and skills so that students know more, remember more and understand more. We aim, through linking new content to prior learning, to ensure children's understanding of history is more than just 'in the moment knowledge'. They should develop a secure understanding of links between concepts, a more coherent mental time line and can make connections between significant periods of time, people, events and concepts.  We want our children to be able to use subject specific and associated vocabulary so they can talk confidently about the past. We aim for pupils to become historical thinkers, questioning, thinking critically and considering evidence to make their own judgements about what they have learnt.

Implementation

At South Wonston, we follow the CUSP History curriculum. Our ambitious History content is organised over a two year cycle. Beginning with our youngest learners in the EYFS, children will think about their personal history and changes in their own lives. Our children will learn how to  use books, artefacts and first-hand experiences to help them learn about the past.  They will start to develop the subject-specific vocabulary they will need to be able to talk about the past, compare similarities and differences, and comment on change with increasing confidence as they progress through school.

The cumulative nature of the curriculum, which includes retrieval knowledge, spaced retrieval practice, a focus on subject specific vocabulary and deliberate practice tasks ensures that the children have a secure understanding of each unit being taught.

There are 6 ‘big ideas’ or concepts that run through the History units.  These are Community, Knowledge, Invasion, Civilisation, Power and Democracy. The curriculum is designed so that these concepts will keep be revisited at regular intervals as the children journey through the history curriculum.

Strong start and reference lessons are used to launch the beginning of new units. These are intended to motivate and inspire the children about new topics, as well as ensure they have the knowledge, skills and vocabulary in place to be able to make connections to new content.

At the beginning of each new unit, children receive a knowledge organiser that contains all the key information, facts and vocabulary the children will be learning over their new topic.   These knowledge notes can be used in every lesson as a reference point for children to return to, acting as important scaffolds to support and challenge all learners. Knowledge organisers are placed in the children’s individual books or floor books so they are accessible to the children. Lessons begin with retrieval knowledge quizzes and questions to reinforce children’s understanding or prior learning and to help inform formative assessments. 

Working both independently and collaboratively is an important part of our curriculum to help encourage questioning, comparing similarities and differences whilst also considering different interpretations of evidence.

Where possible, we make links to the local area making the content as relevant to the children as possible. We offer a range of opportunities for children to extend and apply their Historical knowledge and skills outside of school through educational trips related to their recent topics. We also encourage visitors to help deepen understanding and make our experiences in history as memorable as possible. 

Impact

By the time they leave our school, our children will be experts in the topics they have learnt.  Children will confident to use subject specific vocabulary to talk about the past, make links between the topics they study and ask questions about their learning and extend their understanding. Through assessment for learning, retrieval quizzes, outcomes in books and discussion with children, we will regularly assess the children’s knowledge and understanding in History to ensure all children are appropriately challenged and supported. Most importantly, we want our children to develop a life-long love of History and feel confident in applying the skills they have required through learning about the past to positively improve their learning in the future.