History
Vision for History at Longmoor
Our History curriculum aims to ensure that children gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world; in particular how the Britain of today has been shaped by the events that came before.
We seek to inspire curiosity through excellent teaching and learning opportunities, with knowledge-led, skills-based sequences of learning that offers multiple opportunities to revisit, relearn and rehearse as knowledge builds throughout their time at Longmoor. Our children will be able to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments and develop perspective and judgement.
Our History curriculum will help pupils to understand people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and the relationships between different groups. Opportunities for discovery mean that children can grasp the concept of ‘identity’ and the challenges that have been faced throughout periods of British and world history.
How have we designed our History curriculum?
Longmoor’s History curriculum has been designed to build pupils’ understanding of three vertical concepts which provide both a concrete lens through which to study and contextualise history, as well as use small steps to help pupils gain a deep understanding of complex, abstract ideas.
‘Vertical’ Concepts
We have designed a curriculum that provides opportunities for concepts to be revisited vertically (ie. in different year groups), through the teaching of different periods of British and world history. We have defined these as:
- Power, Democracy and Empire (power and empires & government and democracy)
- Who holds power, and what does this mean for different people in the civilisations? How is power wielded and legitimised? How are people’s rights different in different historical contexts?
- Quest for Knowledge (changing worldviews & knowledge)
- How do people understand the world around them? What is believed; what is known, what scientific and technological developments are made at the time? How is knowledge stored and shared? What shapes people’s views about the world?
- Community and Family (changing communities & community life)
- What is life like for different people – men, women and children – in different societies? How are these societies structured? How are family and community roles and relationships different in different historical contexts?
There are opportunities for all pupils to see themselves reflected in the curriculum, but also to be taken beyond their own experiences. The curriculum teaches pupils about civilisations from across the world, and incorporates the experiences – positive and negative – of ethnic minorities in the history of Britain.
We have ensured that there is a grounding in core disciplinary (thinking like a historian) and procedural (knowing how to) knowledge, and the ability to approach challenging, historically-valid questions, giving pupils the ability to learn how to think read and write like a historian.
- Disciplinary Knowledge
- cause and consequence
- significance
- change and continuity
- similarity and difference
- evidence
- Procedural Knowledge
- Chronology
We have chosen two schemes of learning at our school because they discretely teach the knowledge, skills and vertical concepts that our vision for History calls for; these are implemented separately in the Early Years & Key Stage One (the United Curriculum), and in Key Stage Two (Opening Worlds).
When adapting these schemes of learning, we have carefully ensured that knowledge is progressive and builds upon prior learning, especially at the transition point of Year 2 into Year 3; for this reason we have elected to teach two Key Stage 2 national curriculum units at the end of Year 2, so that the different teaching pedagogies can be aligned and so that children are ready for the next stage of learning.
How do we teach History at Longmoor?
Our curriculum for history has been very carefully sequenced to ensure coverage and progression through disciplinary and procedural knowledge. The order of teaching and learning is never changed due to how intrinsically it has been planned to ensure this progression.
Each unit clearly defines the knowledge that should be taught and reviewed in the sequence of lessons. Teachers must ensure that content is taught in the order provided, filling gaps and addressing misconceptions as required.
In the Early Years and Key Stage One, teaching follows the principles of the Great Teaching Toolkit; content is broken into small steps and there are modelled, guided practice and independent practice opportunities (‘I’, ‘We’, ‘You’).
This is built upon in Key Stage Two; there are clear opportunities for modelled, guided and independent practice, but knowledge is disseminated at least three times before children are tasked with working independently. This takes the form of a ‘story’, explicit teaching and then reading from a high-quality text. Teachers expertly use the Ten Techniques to impart knowledge (pre-teaching, storytelling, hear the words, say the words, ask five not one, secure fluency, core knowledge first, pace, no to guesses, speedy quizzing).
Vocabulary is explicitly taught throughout the History curriculum; our children know that these historical terms are an integral part of learning, and become versed in their meaning and use. They are displayed once taught and understood by pupils, and pupils are expected to use them in their independent practice (which may look different depending on the age and stage of the child).
What subject-specific adaptations are made in History?
A key goal of our History curriculum is to bring all pupils into the conversation of the lesson and into the knowledge that is being disseminated. We do not exclude pupils from learning and therefore there is little, if any, ‘differentiation’ by curricular input; all pupils will encounter stories, repeat the vocabulary and participate in recalling them together.
We recognise however that for some pupils, because of severely limited prior knowledge or specific barriers, extra time and help to access materials may be necessary and the following adaptations could be made:
- Building knowledge through oral work: our aim is for pupils to be familiar with historical vocabulary aurally and orally.
- Spurts of punchy, pacy, whole-class work: all pupils will be able to join in choral response to help them to follow the text or story of the lesson.
- Pre-teaching of content or specific vocabulary before moving onto reading the high-quality text (applies to all children): we check that particular pupils have understood this vocabulary through small amounts of information followed by reinforcement and retrieval.
- Prioritising attention to lower-attaining pupils or pupils with SEND when teaching core historical vocabulary: these pupils take part in choral response and are quizzed when revisiting.
- Simple adaptations to learning materials: use of cloze procedures, simple annotation of map/diagram using pictures, matching pictures to definitions, drawing/labelling a feature or event.
- Simplification of the ‘story’ element of a taught session so that the abstract concepts are given extra concrete reinforcement through talk and visuals.
How is History assessed?
It is recognised that assessment of pupils’ learning and understanding is only useful if it informs future practice, is used to address misconceptions or is used to address understanding of key concepts. Therefore, assessment in History is most useful at the point of teaching and learning, so that immediate actions can be taken.
There are specific assessment techniques that are used in History at our school, some of which are school-wide (rather than within the subject itself) and others that are specific to the teaching of History at either Key Stage One or Key Stage Two. In brief they include (but are not limited to:
- Say the words
- Ask five not one
- No to guesses
- Speedy quizzing
The careful sequencing of the curriculum – and how concepts are gradually built over time – is our progression model (although we have set out progression in concepts and knowledge in a separate document). If pupils are ‘keeping up’ with the curriculum, they are making progress.
Examples of further formative assessment in History include:
- Questioning in lessons: teachers check understanding so they can fill gaps and address misconceptions as required.
- Pupil conferencing with books: the subject leader and SLT talk to pupils about what they have learned – both disciplinary and procedural – and how this connects to the vertical concepts that they have been developing in previous units and previous years. For examples pupils in Year 4 may be asked to talk about how the Roman Republic states were different to Ancient Greek city-states, which they learned in Year 3, and using the historical concept of similarity and difference.
- In Key Stage One, a post-learning quiz at the end of each unit, and in Key Stage Two a synoptic task at the end of each unit; these give teachers an understanding of the knowledge that pupils can recall and can be used to identify any remaining gaps to be filled.
- Pre-learning quizzes at the beginning of a unit (in Key Stage One), and at the beginning of some lessons where appropriate (Key Stage Two).