History

Vision

At Wembley Primary School, our history curriculum aims to develop the knowledge and skills pupils need to make sense of the present as well as the past. Through our engaging and well sequenced curriculum, we want pupils to appreciate the complexity and diversity of how societies and humans have developed. We aspire for pupils to develop the necessary substantive and disciplinary knowledge needed to have a deep understanding of historical concepts and language. We design lessons for pupils to experience how historians explore evidence and arrive at conclusions about the past.

Intent

History has always been a subject which we are passionate about at Wembley Primary School. The 2014 National Curriculum for history aims to ensure that all children:
• Gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world which helps to stimulate children’s curiosity to know more about the past.
• Should learn to ask insightful questions, think critically, examine evidence, scrutinise arguments and present their opinions by developing viewpoint and judgement.
• To begin to understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups (comparing and contrasting), as well as their own identity and the challenges of their time.

 

Implementation

At Wembley Primary School, these skills are embedded within history lessons and developed throughout their journey of the history curriculum. By the end of their primary education, children will have a chronological understanding of British history from Stone Age to present day. They 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 such as the ancient civilisations of Greece and early Islamic civilisation, including a study of Baghdad c. AD 900.

The content and principles underpinning the history curriculum are taken from the 2014 National Curriculum. We use the National Curriculum Programmes of study to guide us on the content and focus of each objective to inform our curriculum. These units are enriched by cross curriculum work when appropriate. We have access to History Association, which we are members of and teachers encouraged to look use this resource as well as other on-line resources. We also encourage a project based approach to learning with an emphasis on people and community in our local area. Children learn through enquiry based learning opportunities to gain a greater understanding of our local area.
Teachers, within the same year group, plan together to create engaging and informative teaching and learning opportunities which take into account prior learning, plan for opportunities for assessment and identify suitable future targets.


Impact

At Wembley Primary School we strive to create a supportive and collaborative ethos for learning by providing investigative and enquiry based learning opportunities. Emphasis is placed on analytical thinking which helps children gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world and sparks children’s curiosity to know more about the past. Through this study children learn to ask insightful questions, think critically, examine evidence, scrutinise arguments and present their opinions by developing viewpoint and judgement.

Supporting Learning at Home

It is important to promote curiosity in History. If you are interested in supporting your child’s History education, have a look at the following websites:

National Geographic Kids

History Homework Help

BBC History for Kids

BBC Horrible Histories

Education Quizzes History