History

At St. Mary’s RC Primary School, we want every child to be happy and enthusiastic learners of History, and to be eager to achieve their very best in order to fulfil their God-given talents. We firmly believe that the recipe for success is high quality first-wave teaching in History, which is central to the life of our happy, caring school.

At St. Mary’s RC Primary School, we believe that high-quality history lessons inspire pupils to want to know more about the past and to think and act as historians. Pupils have opportunities to investigate and interpret the past, understand chronology, build an overview of Britain’s past as well as that of the wider world. The curriculum at St Mary’s aims to ensure that all pupils: Gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world which helps to stimulate pupils’ curiosity to know more about the past; Are encouraged to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments, and develop perspective and judgement; Begin to understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups, as well as their own identity and the challenges of their time.

Intent – What we are trying to achieve

Our principal aim is that children leave St. Mary’s RC Primary School with a wide range of happy and rich memories in History formed through interesting and exciting experiences driven through key questions that enhance a child’s awareness of their own abilities and strengths as a learner; thus, ensuring that children see learning in History as an on-going process not a one-off event. It is our intention that:

Children will meet the National Curriculum expectations in History, which will be taught by highly-qualified, enthusiastic staff who will support children to develop mastery of concepts and inspire enthusiasm and interest in the subject.

All children will study History for 2 hours per week (3 half-terms per academic year).

Opportunities will exist for children of all ages to experience learning beyond the classroom. This will allow them to enrich their knowledge by, for example, visiting places they may not normally consider, such as castles and museums or places of historical interest.

Children will develop a deep understanding of the subjects they are studying. They will increasingly use their prior knowledge to solve problems and develop the sophistication of History.

Children will understand how Catholic virtues and British Values relate to History.

In History, children will develop the skills to appropriately use research and sources to consider historical information and to develop a range and depth of historical knowledge and chronological understanding.

Characteristics of an Historian

An excellent knowledge and understanding of people, events, and contexts from a range of historical periods and of historical concepts and processes.

The ability to think critically about history and communicate ideas very confidently in styles appropriate to a range of audiences.

The ability to consistently support, evaluate and challenge their own and others’ views using detailed, appropriate and accurate historical evidence derived from a range of sources.

The ability to think, reflect, debate, discuss and evaluate the past, formulating and refining questions and lines of enquiry.

A passion for history and an enthusiastic engagement in learning, which develops their sense of curiosity about the past and their understanding of how and why people interpret the past in different ways.

A respect for historical evidence and the ability to make robust and critical use of it to support their explanations and judgments.

A desire to embrace challenging activities, including opportunities to undertake high-quality research across a range of history topics.

Implementation – How do we translate our vision into practice?

The curriculum hours in History are non-negotiable and will be followed by all staff in the school. Fixed timetables will be set before the academic year and monitored by the Senior Leadership Team of the school.

Subject specialists from our partner secondary school, St Bede’s Catholic School & Sixth Form College, are and will continue to be integral to the planning process. This will aid transition to Key Stage 3.

The subject leader for History will meet the senior leadership team on a termly basis to evaluate provision in order to ensure that teaching and learning in History is at least Good and continuing to move towards Outstanding at every opportunity. Where necessary, staff will receive coaching and training in History.

Carefully designed sequences of learning in History ensure consistency and progress of all learners.

Key questions drive learning throughout the term. Therefore, History is taught through the main question which promotes historical enquiry.

Teachers plan enrichment and cultural capital opportunities throughout the year. These include guest speakers who are specialists in their field, trips to businesses, fieldwork to relevant places of interest, innovative use of technology to name but a few.

Success criteria in every History lesson are set in order to guide children to achieve their potential. This ensures work is demanding and matches the aims of the curriculum.

High quality teaching responds to the needs of children. Spiral learning is a key focus of all formative and summative assessment with teachers actively marking work in lessons, via ‘Live Marking’ in order to identify misconceptions early.

High quality input from experts and educational resources complement the delivery of specialist learning admirably. Children understand how History is used in the wider world including careers.

Actively promoting aspirations for the future. Children develop an understanding of how subjects and specific skills are linked to future jobs.

Here are some of the jobs you could aspire to do in the future as an Historian:

Member of Parliament
Curator
Publicity Assistant
Tour Guide

Cultural Capital

Children will learn about key figures from history including Timothy Hackworth, Christopher Columbus, Neil Armstrong, Sir Bobby Robson and Tony Blair.

They will visit a museum and learn about the work of a museum curator.

Meeting and talking to history specialists including secondary teachers and University professors. (Durham University University).

Visit to a place of local historical interest including Durham Cathedral and Consett Steelworks.

Visiting experts such as 'That History Bloke' will enhance the learning experiences.

Impact – What is the impact of our curriculum on the students?

Children are happy learners within History. They experience a wide range of learning challenges within the subject and know appropriate responses to them.

Through History, children deepen their appreciation of their faith and fulfil their God-given talents.

Visits within History have enriched the lives of the children and they are able to discuss how the experience impacted their knowledge and understanding.

Children of all abilities and backgrounds achieve well in History reflected in outstanding progress that reveals a clear learning journey. Children talk enthusiastically about their learning in History and are eager to further their learning in the next stages of their education.

Through wider reading in History, children will understand how events in History have influenced the modern world. Reading materials include horrible histories; BBC bitesize; Historical Association articles; BBC news along with a range of library books tailored to children’s reading ages.

Children will understand how to decide the reliability of varied sources.

Through this exposure, children will produce work that is influenced by the best of the best.

Please click on the PDF links below for further information relating to History at St Mary’s: