History

“Good history is a good foundation for a better present and future”. - John Hope Franklin

INTENT

At Millbrook, we want our pupils to be passionate about history and to explore and work like historians. Our children are given the opportunity to study a variety of primary and secondary sources, make predictions, build their historical knowledge and develop key skills. The children benefit from learning about the past and see how change affects society for better or for worse, including our local area. All children have a real inspiration for learning about the past and make links to their community and other subjects.

The learning is consistent across classes, year groups and key stages. Each period of history fits into the bigger picture thus giving the children a better concept of time from early history to modern day. Children get to experience history through a range of different media including reading, writing, talk for learning, questioning through reading comprehension, film, written accounts and artefacts. A hands on experience brings history to life and makes it more accessible rather than a monotone style of learning. History learning gives an exciting and creative curriculum for all children to access. Trips to museums and places of historical significance allow children to share and experience a greater depth of learning. We plant the seed of historical enquiry in our children 

IMPLEMENTATION

Each six-lesson unit has a focus on chronology to allow children to explore the place in time of the period they are studying and make comparisons in other parts of the world.  Children will develop their awareness of the past in Key stage 1 and will know where people and events fit chronologically. This will support children in building a ‘mental timeline’ they can refer to throughout their learning in Key stage 2 and identifying connections, contrasts and trends over time.  In Key stage 1 and 2, units are organised around an enquiry-based question and children are encouraged to follow the enquiry cycle (Question, Investigate, Interpret, Evaluate and conclude, Communicate) when answering historical questions. Over the course of our curriculum, children develop their understanding of the following key disciplinary concepts:

• Change and continuity.
• Cause and consequence.
• Similarities and differences.
• Historical significance.
• Historical interpretations.
• Sources of evidence.

These concepts will be encountered in different contexts during the study of local, British and world history. Accordingly, children will have varied opportunities to learn how historians use these skills to analyse the past and make judgements. They will confidently develop and use their own historical skill set. As children progress through the curriculum, they will create their own historical enquiries to study using sources and the skills they have developed. Substantive concepts such as power, trade, invasion and settlement, are introduced in Key stage 1, clearly identified in Lower key stage 2 and revisited in Upper key stage 2 allowing knowledge of these key concepts to grow. These concepts are returned to in different contexts, meaning that pupils begin to develop an understanding of these abstract themes which are crucial to their future learning in History.

IMPACT

Pupils should leave school equipped with a range of skills to enable them to succeed in their secondary education. They will be enquiring learners who ask questions and can make suggestions about where to find the evidence to answer the question. They will be critical and analytical thinkers who are able to make informed and balanced judgements based on their knowledge of the past. The expected impact of our curriculum is that children will:

• Know and understand the history of Britain, how people’s lives have shaped this nation and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world.
• Develop an understanding of the history of the wider world, including ancient civilisations, empires, non-European societies and the achievements of mankind.
• Develop a historically-grounded understanding of substantive concepts - power, invasion, settlement and migration, civilisation, religion, trade, achievements of mankind and society.
• Form historical arguments based on cause and effect, consequence, continuity and change, similarity and differences. Have an appreciation for significant individuals, inventions and events that impact our world both in history and from the present day.
• Understand how historians learn about the past and construct accounts.
• Ask historically-valid questions through an enquiry-based approach to learning to create structured accounts.
• Explain how and why interpretations of the past have been constructed using evidence.
• Make connections between historical concepts and timescales.
• Meet the relevant Early Learning Goals at the end of EYFS (Reception) and the end of key stage expectations outlined in the National curriculum for History at the end of Key stage 1 and 2.