Subject Lead: Mr Tennant
Curriculum Intent
At St. Cuthbert’s, we believe History is all around us; in our families with their unique backgrounds, cultures and traditions and in our local and wider communities.
Our intent, when teaching history, is:
- To stimulate pupil’s curiosity about the past,
- To develop their knowledge, skills and understanding of why people interpret the past in different ways.
- To offer a high-quality history education that will help pupils develop a passion for learning
- To gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world.
Implementation
As a school within Bishop Hogarth Catholic Education Trust, we teach a scheme of work designed by a transition team of our primary school staff working with subject specialists from our secondary schools. This means our curriculum has been designed to ensure clear progression, in the acquisition of knowledge and for key skills, building on pupil’s prior learning. We teach termly, discreet topics for all pupils from Year 1 to Year 6.
The curriculum units of work have clearly identified minimum knowledge ‘end points,’ and have been sequenced to ensure that pupils know more and remember more as they move through primary school and transfer into KS3.
Our curriculum covers the National Curriculum and is underpinned by the building blocks of History (Threshold Concepts) which are emphasised and reinforced in the history curriculum across our schools from KS1 to KS5.
- Developing chronological understanding
- Communicating History
- Investigating the Past
- Thinking like a Historian
Each unit of work has a clear rationale, key topic vocabulary, builds on pupil’s prior learning and defines the minimum knowledge and skills (end points) that pupils will learn. Assessment strands in topics give pupils the opportunity to demonstrate their learning and the knowledge companions that we call ‘Learn it! Link It! help pupils to remember the key elements of the topic. This helps pupil organise their learning into relevant areas and make links to other areas and subjects. Conceptual (Golden) threads of History are woven through our curriculum to ensure consistency, add focus and promote purposeful learning.
Impact
When pupils leave our school, pupil will know more, remember more and understand more about History. They will have developed a secure knowledge and understanding of people, events and contexts from the historical periods covered and developed the ability to think and write like a historian.
The outcomes in History books evidence a broad and balanced history curriculum and demonstrate the pupil’s acquisition of key knowledge and topic, ‘end points’. They will have the firm foundations in History and are well placed to make good progress at Key Stage 3.
