History

Welcome to our History Curriculum Page! 

On this page you will find:

1) A brief overview of our pupils' journey in history from EYFS to Year 6

2) Our history intent, implementation and impact.

3) Photographs of history activities throughout Gainsborough Primary and Nursery school - pupils' history work, visitors, themed weeks and displays.

As a result of school closures due to the recent pandemic, for the academic year 2021/22, we will be prioritising the teaching of missed content to ensure that our pupils can make sense of work that comes later on in the curriculum, including key knowledge, skills, vocabulary and links between concepts.  This forms part of the school’s Recovery Curriculum.

In History we will :

Teach a range of detailed period specific knowledge.

Give pupils the opportunity to situate this knowledge in realtion to other significant historical events studied.

We will help pupils develop a strong chronological framework so they can have a sense of the relationships between different historical events and periods.

We will be ensuring that pupils develop knowledge of how historians study the past.

A brief overview of our pupils' journey from EYFS to Year 6

Here at Gainsborough Primary and Nursery school, pupils gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world. Our sequential history curriculum is chronological. It builds on prior knowledge, skills and vocabulary and helps our children know and remember more. Teachers encourage pupils to ask questions, think critically and make judgements about their learning.

Early Years and Reception pupils learn age related historical vocabulary through their topic based lessons.

Key Stage 1 pupils develop an awareness of the past and are taught about changes within and beyond living memory. They learn about historical events that are significant locally, nationally and globally. For example, Year 2 study the Fire of Nantwich and compare the events with the Great Fire of London. Additionally, pupils explore the lives of significant individuals from the past who have contributed to national and international achievements. Grace Darling, Guy Fawkes and Samuel Pepys are a few individuals studied in this key stage. Developing our pupils' awareness of local historical evidence is important in both key stages. 

Key stage 2 pupils continue to develop a chronologically secure knowledge and understanding of British, local and world history. Year 4 for example, visit Chester, a local Roman city, where they can see first hand Roman architecture and explore artefacts in the museums. At Gainsborough Primary and Nursery school, we believe looking for historical clues in our locality is crucial, as it brings the past alive and deepens the children's knowledge of their surrounding towns and cities. 

Within each historical study, pupils use a range of sources and are encouraged to see connections, contrasts and trends over time. Recognising the importance of broadening our pupils' vocabulary, children develop knowledge of historical terms appropriate to the intent for learning. For example, Year 4 pupils are taught Egyptian words like Pharoah, a term required for their learning.

To see our curriculum overview, click at the bottom of this page.

2) Our History intent, implementation and impact.

Intent

At Gainsborough Nursery and Primary School our history curriculum has inclusion at it's heart; it fulfils the formal requirements of the National Curriculum and it inspires motivation for learning. Our broad and balanced curriculum is bespoke to our pupils and to the community in which they live. Using a sequential approach to learning, children build on previous historical knowledge and skills. Recognising the importance of enriching our pupil’s vocabulary, pupils are introduced to topic specific vocabulary, given opportunities to use this new historical language and revisit it in future lessons.

Our teaching equips pupils with knowledge about the world around them. Through a variety of teaching styles, children gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world.

The aims of teaching History in our school are:

• To help children develop a chronologically secure knowledge and understanding of local, British and world history. By using a wide vocabulary of everyday historical terms, pupil's note connections, contrasts and trends over time.

• To teach pupils where the people and events they study fit within a chronological framework, using common historical words/phrases, identify similarities/differences between ways of life in different periods of time.

• To inspire pupils' curiosity and interest in the past so they ask historically valid questions that stretch their knowledge and understanding.

• To show our children that knowledge of the past is constructed from a range of sources and encourage the use of these artefacts, documents and resources to enable children to find answers to their questions and reflect on their new learning.

• To encourage children to reflect on cause and consequences and create their own viewpoint once a sound knowledge of a topic has been acquired.

Implementation

Teaching and learning at Gainsborough Primary and Nursery school is designed to help pupils remember, over time, curriculum content and to apply their knowledge in different contexts. History lessons focus on developing historical skills with children working as historians.

We plan our curriculum to ensure that we meet the requirement of the national curriculum and the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum by ensuring that:

• long term plans are developed collaboratively between the curriculum leader and year group colleagues, to ensure coverage for the academic year.

• medium term plans are written creatively and collaboratively, drawing on ideas from CPD (training) opportunities.

• short term plans are used to specifically tailor learning for all abilities.

Each year group has a bespoke yearly curriculum overview, which includes local and British historical knowledge building on previous skills and understanding. Cross curricular links are planned for, with strong links between the history curriculum and high quality texts, that are studied in English. The local area is utilised with opportunities for learning outside the classroom embedded in practice.

In addition to this, the children participate in whole school activities and opportunities within/outside school, all of which aim to enrich and develop the children’s learning and language.

Impact:

Our History curriculum is high quality, well thought out and is planned to demonstrate progression, ensuring that pupils are prepared for the next stage of their education. As children progress throughout the school, they build up a broader historical vocabulary, developing a deeper understanding/appreciation of their local history and its place within the wider context.

Outcomes in books demonstrate evidence of  a broad and balanced history curriculum, reflecting pupil's acquisition of identified key knowledge. 

Pupils' progress is tracked through ongoing assessment for learning. Pupils who keep up with the curriculum objectives are deemed to be making good or better progress. Objectives are revisited at the start of new learning. The impact of our curriculum is also measured through regular book scrutiny, lesson observations and pupil conferences.

3) Photographs of history activities throughout Gainsborough Primary and Nursery school - pupils' history work. visitors and displays.

Files to Download

Educational visits to bring History lessons to live.

Educational visits to reinforce learning

Using artefacts to inspire lessons

History artefacts to ignite curiosity

Visitors to school to reinforce history knowledge

Visitors

History taught through drama

Cross curricular links, history and art

History display from around school

History displays from around school

History displays around school