Purpose

At Pikemere school, our history curriculum aims to inspire in each child, a curiosity about the past. We want them to understand the impact of key events and periods of history that have shaped their locality, their country and the wider world. Over their time at Pikemere, this will enable them to develop a context for their growing sense of identity, as well as a chronological framework for their knowledge of significant events and people. Through finding out about how and why our local community, culture, country and the wider world has developed over time, children understand how the past has influenced the present. We support our children to develop the ability to think critically when examining evidence and to formulate their own opinions, which they can then back up with their prior historical knowledge and developing historical skills.

Process

Our curriculum is designed to:

• Encourage our pupils to work as historians, through exposure to a variety of primary and secondary sources – including visits and fieldwork – developing their ability to ask perceptive questions, critically interpret and question the past
• Support our children’s developing sense of chronology of events in Britain and the wider world. As children move through our school, they begin to recognise that different things were happening in different places in the world at the same time. Every unit of work includes a focus on chronology, to help children understand where the period of history they are studying fits within their knowledge to date of the past/ chronology, linking to prior learning
• Use an enquiry-based approach through which children are taught key history knowledge in a variety of ways. First hand sources, or where not possible replicas or pictures are used in all units of work to support the children in developing the skills to find out about the past and be good historians
• Enable children to learn and explicitly use key historical vocabulary which is planned and developed explicitly with regular opportunities to be revised and reactivated.

Our school has developed its own scheme of work, based on the National Curriculum Programme of Study for History at KS1 and KS2. In EYFS, learning is tailored to the needs and interests of the children, providing activities and experiences in the ‘Understanding the World’ area of learning, specifically working towards the Early Learning Goal: Past and Present. History is taught across the whole school and can be seen in our history long-term plan. This scheme ensures that, throughout their time at Pikemere, children participate in a range of lessons and activities that develop well-rounded and successful historians. They are exposed to planned and differentiated lessons, taught with a clear history objective. Teachers usually teach their chosen unit of work once per week over half a term. The lessons are taught through creative and stimulating sessions which provide opportunities to revisit and activate prior learning from previous units in previous years to ensure their knowledge is secure, deepened and retained. It encourages them to be curious, to infer, to use high-order vocabulary, to question what they hear and find out, and use different ways to communicate their findings.
Our pupils, are taught to explore evidence from primary and secondary sources, weigh it up and reach their own conclusions, skills that will help them through each Key Stage and into their adult life.

Product

We want all our children to leave Pikemere with a curiosity about their past and clear understanding of how the past has impacted on the present, in terms of their local area, their country and the wider world. We want our children to understand about the chronology of events and key periods in time as well as the effect that significant people have had on shaping the future. We also want our children to be aware of how they are living and creating their own history, eg living through a global pandemic. This will enable them to be ready for the next stage in their education and be equipped to be responsible citizens of the 21st Century.