History
INTENT – Our Vision for History:
At Totley All Saints, history tells the stories of significant events, communities and individuals. It teaches our children about the challenges and complexities of people’s lives and how they have changed through time. Through engaging and meaningful learning experiences, we aim to equip our children with the understanding of how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world and to understand the nature of ancient civilisations, and how the world and Britain have been shaped by communities, changes to power and knowledge. Crucially, we want our children to compare and understand their own place in history.
As children progress on to Key Stage 3, our goal is for them to have a genuine sense of interest in and excitement about history, but also to be equipped with strong historical enquiry skills and to have gained a deeper understanding of the world they live in and the part that they can play in it; to think as historians.
At Totley All Saints, our history planning is based on the national curriculum and is hinged on the teaching of key historical concepts and our common themes.
Key Historical Concepts:
Time, change and chronology - To create a sense of period and time and to know the sequence of when things happened.
Cause and consequence - How can we explain why things happened in history, how did people make a difference to what happened and what followed as a result?
Similarity and difference – What did different people/places have in common? In what ways were they different? Are there any connections to our lives today?
Interpretations - Do we understand the past in the same way?
Historical evidence - How can we find out about the past? What are the challenges with using historical sources?
Significance - How do we choose what is important in history?
Common Themes:
Common themes of community, knowledge, invasion, civilisation, power and democracy are threaded through the curriculum.
The teaching of history provides many opportunities to deepen and extend children’s learning through memorable experiences.
Learning Sequence:
Learning is sequenced and aimed at developing historical enquiry skills. Lessons are planned and delivered to ensure that learning is memorable and that key knowledge, vocabulary and skills are revisited, remembered and applied to new learning. The use of Assessment for Learning (AfL) strategies and retrieval practice ensures that children know more and retain more in their long-term memory.
