HISTORY

“The more you know about the past, the better prepared you are for the future,”

Theodore Roosevelt

Intent
At Todwick Primary School, we aim to provide a History curriculum that is inspiring, engaging and memorable. We want to encourage our children to make links between the past, and the ever-changing world that they live in today. We also strive for our children to recognise that events throughout History have often had a significant impact on the generations that have followed, especially in their locality. In line with The National Curriculum 2014, our curriculum aims to ensure that all pupils: gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world which helps to stimulate pupils’ curiosity to know more about the past; are encouraged to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments, and develop perspective and judgement; begin to understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups, as well as their own identity and the challenges of their time. We believe that through the delivery of a high quality history curriculum, our children’s skills in enquiry, investigation, analysis, evaluation, debate and problem solving will be continually developed. Our history curriculum will also help our children to understand their place within society and support them in understanding their cultural heritage. We aim to inspire our children’s curiosity to find out more about the past and encourage a fascination in history that will last with them for the rest of their lives. 

Implementation
To ensure that our children receive the highest standard of teaching and learning in history, we implement a progressive curriculum throughout the school. History is taught as part of a termly topic and is delivered in a way that enables our children to make links between history and the wider curriculum. Following the objectives outlined in the National Curriculum, our history lessons are designed to ensure that our children are exposed to the knowledge and the skills laid out in the framework. At Todwick Primary School, our topics have been chosen carefully, with much consideration being given to the excitement, interest and curiosity these topics will generate from our children. Our topics are underpinned by an enquiry approach which allows for the children to build on their historical knowledge and chronological understanding throughout their time at Todwick Primary School. We believe in the importance of igniting children’s interests in creative and inspiring ways and incorporating outdoor learning where possible. As a subject, history provides endless opportunities for our children to enhance their learning through an enquiry based approach. This enables our children to apply skills learnt and developed in the wider curriculum to their history learning.

Educational visits provide unforgettable learning experiences outside of the classroom. We are proud to have taken our children to a variety of places that fuel their curiosity for history. Similarly, we enjoy inviting visitors to our school to provide interactive, hands on learning opportunities for our children in all year groups. The Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum provides basis upon which knowledge and skills are built. This links closely with the rest of the school's curriculum and is progressive in its development. 

Impact
Outcomes in history work, photographs and displays evidence a broad and balanced history curriculum and demonstrate the children’s acquisition of identified key knowledge and skills. Children review the agreed successes at the end of every historical enquiry where they are given opportunities to demonstrate their understanding in a range of contexts with support from their teachers. Children also record what they have learned comparative to their starting points at the end of every topic. Emphasis is placed on analytical thinking and questioning which helps children gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world and are curious to know more about the past. Through this study pupils learn to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments, and develop perspective and judgement. Through our carefully planned history curriculum, we aim to inspire an interest in British and World history that the children to carry through their time at Todwick Primary School.

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