Intent

At Knowle Park Primary School our aim is to provide all of our pupils with a broad knowledge of local, national and worldwide history fostering a deeper appreciation for and understanding of the diversity of events and cultures that have influenced and shaped our modern history. 

We aim to provide them with opportunities to inspire their curiosity and enthusiasm for discovering more about the past and equip them with the skills to follow a historical line of enquiry: comparing, making connections and critically evaluating evidence in order to formulate and regularly challenge their own judgments and opinions about historical events.  This will be achieved through engaging them in a range of experiences including opportunities for enquiry-led discussion, video clips, a range of historical sources, visitors, trips and drama – all of which are recorded in different ways.

We would like our pupils to understand the implications of historical events and how things impact the future. This will enhance their understanding of the significance and purpose of historical enquiry. Where possible, we will put local studies at the core of their learning.

By teaching this effectively we are confident that our pupils will be well equipped to contribute positively to their own diverse communities in their life journeys and discover more about their own identities. This will enable them to effectively understand and navigate their way through the challenges of their time with the knowledge that throughout history, mistakes have been made and we can learn from them.

Implementation

When teaching our History Curriculum at Knowle Park, we focus on our golden threads.

Monarchy/power:

Children will learn about who holds power, and what does this mean for different people in the civilisations? They will also learn about how is power wielded and legitimised and how people’s rights different in different historical contexts? 

Empire/invasion:

We teach children about invasion and empire as it enables them to understand how society has changed and developed. It's important for our children to realise that societal changes have been fluid, and if they've changed once, they can change again. We also encourage our children to have an opinion about various societal changes that have happened and we also encourage them to stand up and question things.

Life: 

Our children will learn what life is like for people in different societies and how these societies structured.  There is also a lot of discussion about the similarities and differences around family and community relationships. There are opportunities for all pupils to see themselves reflected in the curriculum, but also to be taken beyond their own experiences. 

Every History has: 

• A front cover which will include:
  • A historical question that enables children to tackle real historical issues.
  • A space for them to answer the question.
  • The KPPS logo.
  • All significant people linked to that unit (BAME/Historical figures)
  • All local links.
  • All visitors, trips or workshops for that unit.
  • All Eco links for that unit.
  • All reading material or cross curricular links for that unit.
  • Many lessons will use sources giving children the opportunity to develop skills to work historically.

 A knowledge organiser:

The first two lessons:

• Recaps prior learning using the KO from a previous year.  (For example, when Year 4 teach ‘’Romans’ they must use the Year 3 ‘Greeks’ KO.)
• Will be a stimulus or hook to engage the children.
• The teacher will introduce the KO focussing on the vocabulary and definitions and the children then stick these into their books so they can refer to them during all lessons.
• Will always be based on a timeline which will be in the knowledge organiser.

Every lesson will include:

• Oracy starters which are linked to the lesson – e.g ‘If the Romans is the answer, what is the question? – Odd one out? What if?  And lots more.
• Recap prior learning from the previous lesson(s) (Use images from KO to do this).
• Weekly recap vocabulary from the unit. (Can be snipped from KO)
• Practical lessons – The children will investigate sources as much as possible. Historical sources encourage children to investigate and ask questions.
• Plenty of discussion and higher order thinking.
• Include one of the golden threads (monarchy/power; empire/invasion; life)

All books have:

• The vision and pupil voice (explaining why they learn history) on the front cover.
• A title and date underlined for every lesson.

 Every practical lesson will include:

• A photograph. (Children can explain their learning easier when looking at a photograph).
• A focus – (One of the golden threads).
• At the end of the lesson children will be given the opportunity to explain their learning (orally or written) which will link to the lesson (title, oracy and golden threads).

Impact

The children at KPPS will:

• Be introduced to a range of significant people from the past who have impacted the lives of others.
• Recall knowledge and understanding of people, events and contexts from historical periods covered.
• Think, reflect, debate, discuss and evaluate the past.
• Think critically about history and communicate confidently their interpretations about what they have learnt.
• Consistently support, evaluate and challenge their own and other’s views derived from a range of sources.
• Convey a passion for history, which develops their sense of curiosity about the past.
• Respect historical evidence and the ability to make robust and critical use of it to support their explanations and judgments.
• Embrace challenging activities, including opportunities to undertake high-quality research across a range of history topics.