History

Intent

History is about real people who lived, and real events which happened in the past. History is concerned with sequence, time and chronology and is the study of evidence about the past; it gives us a sense of identity, set within our social, political, cultural and economic relationships. History fires the children’s curiosity about the past in Britain and the wider world and plays an essential part in preparing us for living and working in the contemporary world. Pupils consider how the past influences the present, what past societies were like, how these societies organised their politics, and what beliefs and cultures influenced people’s actions. As they do this, children develop a chronological framework for their knowledge of significant events and people. They see the diversity of human experience, and understand more about themselves as individuals and members of society. What they learn can influence their decisions about personal choices, attitudes and values. In history, children find evidence, weigh it up and reach their own conclusions. To do this they need to be able to research, sift through evidence, and argue for their point of view – skills that are prized in adult life.

 

Implementation

We use a variety of teaching and learning styles, combining whole-class teaching methods and enquiry- based research activities. In each key stage, children are given the opportunity to visit places of historical interest and offer them the opportunity to examine historical artefacts. Other sources of information are found in books, software and carefully supervised use of the internet. We encourage visitors to come into the school and talk about their experiences of events in the past. We recognise and value the importance of stories in history teaching and we regard this as an important way of stimulating interest in the past. Our pupils are helped to understand that historical events can be interpreted in different ways and that they should always ask searching questions such as ‘How do we know?’ about information they are given. Trip opportunities are also offered to deepen pupil’s understanding and sense of time periods. We recognise that in all classes there are pupils with widely different attainment in history and we seek to provide suitable learning opportunities for all pupils by matching the challenge to the ability of the pupil.

 

Impact

At Langmoor, you will see that the children have

· a curiosity and understanding of events, places and people in a variety of times and environments.

 · developed an interest in the past and an appreciation of human achievements and aspirations

· an understanding of the values of our society

 · learnt about the major issues and events in the history of our own country and of the world and how these events may have influenced one another

· developed a knowledge of chronology within which they can organise their understanding of the past

·an understanding how the past was different from the present and that people of other times and places may have had different values and attitudes from ours

· an understanding of the nature of evidence by emphasising the process of enquiry and by developing the range of skills required to interpret primary and secondary source materials

· distinguished between historical facts and the interpretation of those facts

·an understanding that events have a multiplicity of causes and that historical explanation is provisional, debatable and sometimes controversial

 

Below are the topics that the children will be learning and the document below details the skills and vocabulary progression across the school.