Scarcliffe Primary School

Our History Curriculum

What is History?

History is a study of the past. It helps us to understand the complexity of people’s lives, reasons for change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups, as well as our own identity and the challenges facing us right now.

Who leads History at Scarcliffe and what is their vision?

The history leader at our school is Hannah Brocklesby - who is also a teacher in Class 3. For further information about the history curriculum, or for other support, she can be contacted via email. hannahbrocklesby@scarcliffe.derbyshire.sch.uk

The subject leader's vision for history is to ensure that all children leave Scarcliffe Primary School as critical thinkers who are curious about the past, have a good understanding of chronology and have a deep knowledge of key people and events from the past.

History Curriculum Intent

At Scarcliffe Primary School, we have 3 main intents that we hope to deliver through our history curriculum:

To develop a working and growing chronological understanding of key events throughout history.
To develop a deep knowledge and understanding of key people and time periods they have studies throughout history, understanding how history has influenced our lives today.
To think as young historians - weighing up the accuracy of a wide range of sources.

In order to achieve this, we have developed out intent using the following three headings:

Chronological understanding - this covers developing historical vocabulary and understanding of ordering events, timelines and time periods.
Knowledge and interpretation - this covers learning about people and events from British and wider history.
Historical enquiry - this includes using questioning, exploring various sources and using information finding skills to develop ideas about history.

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How history is implemented at Scarcliffe

At Scarcliffe, the history intent document, developed from the National Curriculum, informs long term planning in each class. The themes taught in each class have been well thought out to cover all objectives in the National Curriculum as well as the following historical core concepts:

Hierarchy and power
Empire
Invasion
Civilisation and culture
Exploration
Disaster

In every unit, children are given a knowledge organiser detailing the core knowledge and vocabulary to be learned in that unit, and a learning journey which documents the learning challenges taught over time.

Every unit starts with a pre learning task and ends with a post learning task which helps children and staff to understand what they already know and what they need to learn.

Planning takes into account the needs for all children so that they can develop historical enquiry skills, knowledge acquisition and an understanding of chronology.

The format of a history lesson

All lessons start with a, 'Can I still?' activity to recap prior learning.
Children are then asked, 'What is history?'
Staff then refer back to the previous lesson, linking to the current lesson.
Staff provide a clear learning challenge which is linked to the intent and learning journey and this is discussed so that children understand what they will be learning and why.
Staff refer back to the knowledge organisers regularly.
Pupils are given lots of opportunities to talk about their learning and explain their ideas in lessons.
Children have an opportunity to cement their learning through various mediums e.g. writing, drawing diagrams, using computing, presenting information orally and more.

Our Curriculum Overview for History

In Scarcliffe Primary School, history and geography are taught over a 2 yearly cycle. Please see below for our topic titles and related core concepts.

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Links to our core abilities

We have identified seven core abilities that we hope to develop through our curriculum offer.

Questioning and curiosity
Critical thinking and open-mindedness
Perseverance and resilience
Communication
Independence
Team work
Creativity

We can develop many of these core abilities through effective history teaching, but we particularly focus on developing the following:

Questioning and curiosity
Critical thinking and open-mindedness
Communication
Independence
Team work

Knowledge Organisers

Here are some example knowledge organisers that you might expect to see in a topic book in Scarcliffe Primary School.

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Vocabulary Progression in History

At Scarcliffe Primary School, we have developed a vocabulary progression document outlining key vocabulary taught from Class 1 to Class 4. This includes vocabulary specified in the National Curriculum as well as vocabulary linking to each topic.

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Monitoring the impact of teaching in History

We understand the importance of teaching high quality history lessons to all children and leaders monitor the impact of teaching in a variety of ways.

Most importantly, the subject leader spends time in classes - seeing what the children are learning, talking to pupils about their understanding and views about computing and talking to staff about teaching and learning. The subject leader likes to carry out book looks alongside pupils to gather information about their learning.

A range of further methods are used to gather information about the impact of teaching in history. This is collated and shared with staff.

Useful Weblinks

Here are some great websites to support learning in history:

History at home

Homework for history is encouraged and celebrated in each class but it is optional. A topic menu is sent home at the start of each term to provide ideas to children to complete at home.

Examples of pupil work

We are proud of the outcomes our children produce in history and have started to take photographs of examples of some of their work. Please see the gallery below: