History Curriculum Intent

At St. Gregory’s, our History curriculum is designed to develop children’s curiosity and knowledge of the past, and how it has shaped the world we live in. Children explore the past through a range of sources to help develop their knowledge and understanding. We are committed to providing children with opportunities to investigate and make enquiries about History in their local area, Great Britain and the wider world. They can develop a sense of who they are and their heritage. We are also committed to developing children’s ability to apply historical knowledge and develop subject specific skills to enable them to confidently communicate their findings and historical understanding to a range of audiences. Through high quality teaching, we develop the following essential characteristics of historians:

• Knowledge of past events, people and places, both in Britain and the wider world.
• An understanding of how past events have impacted upon the lives of others and in society.
• A wide base of historical knowledge and vocabulary.
• Fluency in historical enquiry and the ability to apply questioning skills, as well as effective presentation techniques.
• The ability to reach conclusions and explain findings.
• The ability to express well-balanced opinions, routed in knowledge and understanding, about people, places and past events.
• A genuine interest in the subject and a real sense of curiosity about the past.
• To develop a sense of time and chronology.

History Curriculum Implementation

As part of the planning and preparation process, teachers make consideration to, and make use of:

• A knowledge organiser outlining knowledge (including vocabulary) which all children are expected to master and apply in lessons. These are also shared to promote home learning.
• A cycle of lessons for each subject which carefully plans for progression and depth, concentrating on historical knowledge and subjecspecific skills suited to the age group.
• A variety of retrieval activities which are relevant to the focus of study; regular low-stakes quizzing to support learners’ ability to block learning and increase space in the working memory.
• Challenge questions for pupils to apply their learning in a philosophical/open manner.
• Trip and visiting experts will enhance the learning experience
• Appropriate curriculum themed home learning tasks for children to complete with adults at home to consolidate learning.
• To commemorate key current and past events in history (eg. Festivals, anniversaries).
• To know about significant national or international people and events.
• To be aware of current and past political events and how they can imapct on the future.
• To make relevant cross-curricular links to other subjects.

History Curriculum Impact

• Our history curriculum is high quality and planned to ensure progression and a deeper understanding of past events, people and places.
• Children reaching the end of year expectations are making good or better progress.
• We measure the impact of our curriculum through evidence of the planned outcomes through pupil books, pupil discussion and tracking of knowledge from quizzes.

Bringing History to life at St. Gregory's