History

Subject Leader: Mrs Garlick

History at Airedale Junior School allows our children to develop a real sense of chronology and to understand how the past has influenced their lives today. We teach our children to investigate people and events from the past and by doing so, develop their skills of enquiry and interpretation.

The Primary Objectives of teaching History at Airedale Junior School are:

To foster in children an interest and curiosity in the past
To develop a sense of chronology.
To enable children to know about significant events and people in local, British and world history, appreciating how things have changed over time.
To help children understand society and their place in it so that they develop a sense of their cultural heritage.
To develop in children the skills of enquiry, investigation, evaluation and interpretation whilst understanding historical changes, consequences, similarities and differences.
To help children understand that differences are not a barrier to achievement

How do we ensure progression of knowledge and skills?

At Airedale Junior School, we have in place, for each subject area, a knowledge and skills progression document, which is used for planning, to ensure sequenced and appropriate content for specific year groups. Teachers are clear on the learning and expectations for each year group, as this has been carefully selected and mapped out so that children are building on prior knowledge and skills each term and each year. Whenever possible, we teach through a themed approach, to enable our children to embed and revisit learning, make connections and develop a greater depth of understanding within the subject. The content is chosen in order to make effective links with key cross-curricular themes, reflect expectations in the National Curriculum programmes of study and engage and inspire children’s curiosity and interest in history.

Ultimately, our curriculum is designed to ensure that pupils know more and remember more, through the use of progressive skills. Within these documents there are opportunities for differentiation, in order to meet the needs of all learners.

History Skills Progression Document

History Overview of Learning Document

How is the subject taught?

When children are in history lessons, they are explicitly told that they are going to be ‘historians.’ They are then reminded of the key skills that they will learn, use and develop within this subject, specifically linking to their prior learning.
The knowledge content is carefully selected and skilfully taught alongside the key skills and historical concepts, which are threaded throughout the History curriculum. This allows children ample opportunities to revisit, reinforce and embed learning.

Within each unit of study, we pose investigative ‘BIG questions’ in order to engage and motivate them as learners. This enables the children to further develop and deepen their knowledge and understanding whilst driving their own learning forward by questioning, investigating and solving problems.

Within each History lesson, children are introduced to and reminded of key vocabulary, in order to promote oracy and language acquisition. Specific questioning is used to check children’s understanding and prior knowledge, before new concepts, skills or knowledge are introduced. Modelling is used by class teachers to clarify expectations, children are then given plentiful opportunities to consolidate, build upon and apply basic skills and knowledge, across a series of lessons, as well as across the year.

Look at what we have been learning in lessons:

Look at what we have currently been up to in our lessons!

In accordance with the National Curriculum Key Stage 2 children will be taught about:

changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age
the Roman Empire and its impact on Britain
Britain’s settlement by Anglo-Saxons and Scots
the Viking and Anglo-Saxon struggle for the Kingdom of England to the time of Edward the Confessor Examples
a local history study
a study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils’ chronological knowledge beyond 1066 a significant turning point in British history,
the achievements of the earliest civilizations
Ancient Greece – a study of Greek life and achievements and their influence on the western world
a non-European society that provides contrasts with British history

How do we know that our children are making progress?

Ongoing assessments of the children’s knowledge and skills are made by the class teacher. Misconceptions are addressed and next steps carefully planned. Children’s outcomes are compared to the subject specific skills and knowledge documents. At the end of a block of discrete teaching, our children complete their ‘Big Question’ which is an independent piece designed to showcase and assess their learning throughout a unit.

Subject leaders gather an overview of children’s outcomes in each subject area. This is used to plan appropriate next steps for their future learning, as well as provide an overview of learning within a subject area cross the whole school.

What wider opportunities are provided for our children?

Children have the opportunity to participate in regular visits out to places with historical links, as well as work with visitors in school to enhance their understanding of history. This is so that they can begin to understand what it was like to live through a historical event or another period in history. Visits around the locality and participating in local events allow children to reflect on and learn about the history of their locality.

History Policy Document

History: Further Information & Links:

Useful Websites & Links to Our Visits