History

At St John's CE (VC) 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. 

History helps pupils 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. John's CE (VC) Primary School with a wide range of happy and rich memories of History formed through interesting and exciting experiences 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. 
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

The key areas are concerned with building knowledge, developing an understanding of the big ideas and processes of history, and the overall goal of history education: we want young people to gain an increasingly mature and informed historical perspective on their world.  The areas are developed throughout KS1 and KS2 in order to prepare children for secondary education.

Implementation – How do we translate our vision into practice?

• The subject leader for History will meet with other subject leaders within the cluster regularly to evaluate provision in order to ensure that teaching and learning in History is outstanding. This is led by the Subject Leader for History. Where necessary, staff will receive coaching and training in History.
• Carefully designed schemes of learning in History ensure consistency and progress of all learners.
• 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. Spaced learning is a key focus of all formative and summative assessments with teachers actively marking work in lessons in order to identify misconceptions early.
• High-quality input from experts and educational resources complement the delivery of quality learning.

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

• Children experience a wide range of learning challenges within the subject and know appropriate responses to them.
• 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.