History

History at St George's

Intent 

At St George’s, we use a coherently planned sequence of lessons to help teachers ensure they have progressively covered the skills and concepts required in the National Curriculum. We aim to develop historical skills and concepts which are transferable to whatever period of history is being studied and will equip children for future learning.

We have developed a progression of skills with each year group, which enables pupils to build on and develop their skills each year. In Early Years, History begins by looking at the children’s own personal history and introduces them to the idea of chronology and timelines.

The coverage of recent history in KS1 such as  ‘Travel and Transport’ enables children to acquire an understanding of time, events and people in their memory and their parents’ and grandparents’ memories. In KS1, History will look at significant events and people who have shaped society, locally, nationally and globally.

The intent in lower KS2 is that children can work in chronological order from ancient history such as ‘Stone to Iron Age’ and ‘Ancient Egypt’ to then be able to progress onto more modern history in Upper KS2 such as ‘World War 2’. The repeat in KS2 of chronological order from ancient to modern allows for children to truly develop and embed a sense of time and how civilisations were interconnected. Children start to understand how some historical events occurred concurrently in different locations, e.g. Ancient Egypt and the Stone Age.

Implementation

 In order for children to know more and remember more in each area of history studied, there is a structure to the lesson sequence whereby prior learning is always considered and opportunities for revision of facts and historical understanding are built into lessons. 

Children are given a knowledge organiser at the start of each topic which details some key information, dates and vocabulary. This is not used as part of an assessment, but to support children with their acquisition of knowledge and are used as a reference document. In order to support children in their ability to know more and remember more, there are regular opportunities to review the learning that has taken place in previous topics as well as previous lessons with use of their knowledge organisers for support. 

A specific series of lessons for each key stage are used, which will offer structure and narrative but the teaching and learning of History at St Georges is not restricted to the resources and planning provided. Children are given opportunities, where possible, to study artefacts leading to enquiry, investigation, analysis, interpretation, evaluation and presentation. We plan for effective use of educational visits and visitors, to enrich and enhance the pupil’s learning experience of history. Through these lessons, we intend to inspire pupils to develop a love of history and see how it has shaped the world they live in.

Impact

Teachers use highly effective Assessment for Learning at different points in each lesson to ensure misconceptions are highlighted and addressed. Pupils are regularly given the opportunity for self or Peer Assessment, which will then be used to inform planning, preparation, differentiation and address misconceptions within that lesson, or for the next lesson. 

The impact of using the full range of resources, including display materials, will be seen across the school with an increase in the profile of history. 

We want to ensure that history is loved by teachers and pupils across school, therefore encouraging them to want to continue building on this wealth of historical knowledge and understanding, now and in the future.

Knowledge Organisers

Please click on the links below to download.

Files to Download