History

Rationale- What has informed our curriculum design in history?

It is our belief, that at Pomphlett, the history curriculum should enable children to have a better understanding of the present by engaging with and questioning the past: It should empower learners to develop their own opinions based on a respect for evidence. We want our history curriculum to draw upon, and make full use of, the immediate and wider local area with the aim of enabling children to develop a deep understanding of the rich history of their locality. We also want to encourage children to be outward looking and therefore want our curriculum to promote an understanding of global history through the comparison of different civilisations.

Intent- What are our aims?

We aim to equip our pupils with the knowledge and skills needed to:

• Interpret the past through an awareness that understanding the past comes from an interpretation of the available evidence
• Develop an appreciation of the characteristic features of the past and an understanding that life is different for different sections of society
• Cultivate an understanding of how to chart the passing of time and how some aspects of history were happening at similar times in different places
• Use historical vocabulary and techniques to convey information about the past

Our history curriculum is designed to develop both historical knowledge and historical skills which are progressive, as well as transferable, throughout their learning journey at Pomphlett and beyond. We also aim to equip pupils with a clear understanding of what it means to be working as a historian and the skills that this entails. 

Across the curriculum at Pomphlett, we aim to develop children’s cultural capital and local knowledge. In history, as well as learning about the local area and a variety of places around the world we also place importance on learning about key events and people with the aim that children learn about the impact of individuals, groups of people and their actions, as well as the changes in society across the arts, design, sciences, engineering and social sciences.

Implementation: How do we teach history?

History lessons are delivered by class teachers through carefully planned units of work. Our knowledge organisers identify the knowledge, vocabulary and disciplinary skills that will be covered in each unit. These knowledge organisers are used both in lessons and at home to reinforce learning. Our curriculum is progressive. We build upon the learning and skill development of the previous years, beginning each unit and lesson with teacher assessments of what children already know in order to inform the learning that follows. Teachers use precise questioning in class to test conceptual knowledge and skills.  Continuous formative assessment identifies those children with gaps in learning, so that all children can fully access the learning. Teachers create engaging sequences of carefully planned lessons, drawing from a wide range of high quality sources and resources in order to aid understanding of conceptual and disciplinary knowledge. Opportunities are planned in across the year for pupils to put these skills into practice and gain first-hand experience during class trips each year. In upper KS2, pupils also have the opportunity to participate in residential study visits.

Impact: How will we know this?

As a result of our history provision at Pomphlett, children will be equipped with the knowledge and skills to investigate the world around them, resulting in learners who are keen and motivated to work as historians.

In our historians, we expect to see:

• 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.

They will leave Pomphlett with an understanding of how our island history has led to us living the lives we have today; the impact that this has had on other global communities; an understanding of various historical civilisations and their relationship with each other; and, an ability to critically evaluate material in order to formulate their own opinions.