At Newburgh Primary school, we believe that a high-quality history education will help pupils deepen their knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world. Furthermore, this will enable for children to understand the world they live in and their place within it. We teach children a sense of chronology, and through this, they develop an understanding of what has come before them and how this has impacted on them as individuals. We develop their skills as historians, exciting their curiosity and developing their enquiry skills to enable them to develop perspective and judgement.
Woven within our curriculum are stories of real people that ensure children develop compassion and empathy to interpret human dilemmas and difficulties that have faced humanity. By considering how people have lived their lives in the past, they will value and consider their own life choices within a multi-cultural community and appreciate the challenges of our times.
We have developed a rich and varied curriculum to ensure that this includes: the history of the UK, from the earliest times to the present day; how people’s lives have shaped this nation and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world; how ancient civilizations have impacted on society and how we live today; and how we understand historical concepts and methods in historical enquiry. Whilst also using historical and chronological language in various outcomes.
Here at Newburgh Primary School pupils follow our history curriculum that gradually develops their learning, the outcome being the acquisition of a wide range of knowledge and skills that enable each pupil to enquire, research and analyse. Children are able to develop their own opinions and create hypothesis of how history has impacted the world we live in today. Pupils will develop an understanding of Britain’s history, as well as that of the wider world, and the chronology that underpins both. Children will know more, remember more and understand more.
The aims of our curriculum is that there is a progression for children’s in their knowledge and ideas. These include the understanding of change over time, continuity, cause and consequence, similarity and differences and the significance of historical events. Children will also use a variety of sources to show empathy and perspective towards past events.
We use the National Curriculum as the basis for our curriculum planning in history, but we have adapted this to include local history across our curriculum. Our long-term history plan ensures that the knowledge of the past; people, events and ideas is taught in a way that allows pupils to gain a rich knowledge of the period and engage meaningfully with concepts such as parliament, civilisation, invasion, settlement and democracy.
We have a whole school long term plan that divides the progression of history skills or disciplinary knowledge into four areas of learning; chronological awareness, knowledge and understanding, historical contexts and organise, evaluate and communicate information. We have planned progression into the development of history skills so the children are increasingly challenged as they move through the school. Each year group has developed their own long-term and medium-term plans.
The Early Years Foundation Stage:
At Newburgh Primary School we develop the children’s understanding of the world so that they can make sense of their physical world and their community. We ensure they frequently have personal experiences – from visiting parks, libraries and museums to meeting important members of society such as police officers, nurses and firefighters. In addition, they listen to a broad selection of stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems will foster their understanding of our diverse world. Drawing on these experiences help to aid in their understanding of the similarities and differences between the past and now. Enriching and widening children’s vocabulary will support later reading comprehension.
Resources:
There are sufficient resources for all history teaching in the school. The library contains a good supply of topic books to support children's individual research. We enable all pupils to have access to the full range of activities involved in learning history. Children to participate in activities outside the classroom, such as visiting a historical ruin or taking part in a workshop. We also use a variety of artefacts and sources to assist children with their curiosity.
Assessment for learning:
Children demonstrate their ability in history in a variety of different ways. Younger children might, for example, act out a famous historical event, whilst older pupils may produce a PowerPoint presentation based on their investigation. Children are given the opportunities to share their ideas and views on historical events and sources. Teachers assess children through different formative assessment styles. These include quizzes, questioning and observation of children. Written or verbal feedback is given to the child to help guide his or her progress. Older children are encouraged to make judgements about how they can improve their own work.
At the end of a whole unit of work, the teacher makes a summary judgement about the work of each pupil in relation to the National Curriculum. We use these grades as a basis for assessing the progress of the child, and we give summative assessment grade in the yearly report to parents and we pass this information on to the next teacher at the end of the year.
