History
Intent
It is our intention at Scout Road Academy to give all young people an opportunity to develop historical skills and concepts which are transferable to whatever period of history is being studied and will equip them for future learning. These key historical skills and concepts, which are revisited throughout different units, are: Historical Interpretations; Historical Investigations; Chronological Understanding; Knowledge and Understanding of Events, People and Changes in the Past; Presenting, Organising and Communicating.
The coverage of recent history in year 1 and 2 such as ‘Toys’ and ‘Neil Armstrong’ enables them to acquire an understanding of time, events and people in their memory and their parents’ and grandparents’ memories. Alternatively, covering events beyond living memory for example ‘Local War Heroes’ allows pupils to grasp the concept of the passing of time.
In years 3 and 4 at Scout Road Academy children learn topics such as ‘Ancient Egypt’ and ‘The Stone Age’ which allows them to understand how some historical events occurred concurrently in different locations. Then in year 5 and 6, to embed this understanding of time, children study a wider selection of ancient history such as ‘The Maya Civilisation’ through to more modern history such as ‘World War II’. The consideration of topics across KS2 allows children to truly develop and embed a sense of time and how civilisations were interconnected.
Implementation
In order for us to ensure our children know more and remember more in each area of history studied, there is a structure to the lesson sequence whereby prior learning is always considered and opportunities for revision of facts and historical understanding are built into lessons. However, this is not to say that this structure should be followed rigidly: it allows for this revision to become part of good practice and ultimately helps build a depth to the children’s historical understanding.
Through revisiting and consolidating skills, our lesson plans and resources help children build on prior knowledge alongside introducing new skills and challenge. The revision and introduction of key vocabulary is built into each lesson. This vocabulary is then included in display materials and additional resources to ensure that children are allowed opportunities to repeat and revise this knowledge. Through these lessons, we intend to inspire pupils and practitioners to develop a love of history and see how it has shaped the world they live in.
Impact
The impact of using the full range of resources, including display materials, will be seen across the school with an increase in the profile of history. The learning environment across the school will be more consistent with historical technical vocabulary displayed, spoken and used by all learners.
Whole-school and parental engagement through the use of ‘home learning projects’ will allow for opportunities for wider learning to encourage curiosity and repetition in order to embed key learning and vocabulary. We want to ensure that history is loved by teachers and pupils across school, therefore encouraging them to want to continue building on this wealth of historical knowledge and understanding, now and in the future. Impact can also be measured through key questioning skills built into lessons, child-led assessment such as success criteria grids and summative assessments aimed at targeting next steps in learning. Attainment and progress will be measured across the school using our tracking system.
SEND
The school promotes inclusion, independence and challenge for pupils with SEND through adjustments based upon individual needs; these may be to the curriculum itself or to access arrangements. Details of these adjustments can be found in Individual Education Plans or devised by the school and sometimes with advice and guidance from external agencies. SEND have unique learning profiles and needs and teachers build expertise over time in teaching the children in their class. For this reason, teachers are responsible for the differentiation of learning in their classes.
