Intent

At Ford, history has always been a subject about which we are passionate. Our intention for the teaching of history is to give pupils the opportunity to develop an understanding of why the world and its people are the way they are today. They begin to ask questions as they explore the diversity of human experience, past lives and societies.  We intend that, by the end of their primary education, children will have a chronological understanding of British history from Stone Age to present day and are able to draw comparisons and make connections between different time periods and their own lives. Interlinked with this is the need to look at world history. Children will explore the ancient civilisations of Egypt, Greece, the Romans and others, with dedicated history days, visitors and workshops interwoven in the curriculum topics, developing their understanding of trends over time and across concurrent civilisations.  They will look at the impact on the local area, looking at the reason for Remembrance, the impact of significant local explorers and the importance of Plymouth as a naval port.

Implementation

History is taught through investigation and enquiry to promote children’s curiosity and love for the subject. Children develop an understanding of how the past has helped to shape the way in which the world is today, whilst focusing on local, national and international studies. History is a fact based curriculum but we want to foster independent thinking and for children to question why, as well as who, where and what.  

Lessons are planned so that there is time for discussion and debate, fostering an environment of enquiry which enables children to revise and justify their opinions as well as encouraging children to ask as well as answer questions about history. 

We believe that history should be an interactive subject which strives to ignite a child’s natural curiosity. Each unit being planned includes opportunities for children to investigate, handle artefacts, pictorial evidence, watch historical footage, take part in role play activities, visit relevant sites and museums and where appropriate, experience oral history, engaging with historical characters and ways of life.

Our curriculum provides a rich variety of topics that cover The Stone Age to the first moon landing. Each topic has an overarching question which they refer to at the end of each lesson to see how different events and actions can accumulate to build a deeper understanding of a historical period. They explore this question using a variety of investigative skills, engaging and becoming more familiar with historical skills such as analysing and debating the reliability of sources, making comparisons between historical periods, devising historically valid questions, drawing conclusions from sources and making links between events.

Our history curriculum focuses on 4 main 'Golden Threads.' These are taught as underpinning aspects of the curriculum and show a progressive model from EYFS to Year 6, they are the driving force behind our history. Our Golden Threads cover: 

• Conflict and Disaster 
• Hierarchy and Power
• Community and Culture
• Exploration and Invention 

Across the whole school, there are four key historical learning intentions that the children will explore over the course of their education:

• To investigate and interpret the past.

• To build an overview of world history.

• To understand chronology.

• To communicate historically.

As they develop these skills in a range of contexts, so too will they develop the ability to be independent learners, using the key historical skills they have gained to analyse, question and compare sources of evidence to form their own judgements about the past.

Impact

Through the history curriculum delivered at Ford Primary, we strive to create a supportive and collaborative ethos for learning by providing investigative and enquiry based learning opportunities. Children learn to make links and form a life-long love of investigating, enquiry and questioning.  This has huge impact on other curricular areas due to the links the children make. Vocabulary is continually being expanded and embedded, giving children more confidence to tackle new ideas and dig deeper. We track progress and attainment through WTS, ARE and GDS.

River Journeys

History at Home! 

Our area provides our children with a great opportunity to discover more about the past.  As well as the new Box Museum, history is everywhere – in buildings, blue plaques and our local landmarks, such as Dartmoor, Buckland Abbey and the Barbican! Children can also learn a lot from our own personal stories of the past which allow them to understand that the world changes with each generation. We would like to actively encourage children to continue their research at home. Below are some websites you might find useful:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/

http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/teacher/history.html

http://www.show.me.uk/

http://www.historyonthenet.com/

Link to the History programme of study:

History