History at Southey Green Primary School

History Lead: Miss K Harvey

Intent
 

At Southey Green, we aim for a high quality history curriculum which inspires pupils’ curiosity and fascination about Britain’s past and that of the wider world. Topics are informed by the national curriculum and are sensitive to children’s interests, as well as the context of the local area. The history curriculum at Southey Green is carefully planned and structured to ensure that current learning is linked to previous learning and that the school’s approaches are informed by current pedagogy.

Our history lessons give children a broad and balanced view of the history of Britain and other societies and times. We ensure that pupils leave the end of key stage 2 with a secure set of skills that could make them a historian in the future. History at Southey Green is motivating, ambitious, relevant to the needs and awe-inspiring. Children at Southey Green enjoy a range of opportunities including attending educational visits, working with special visitors and developing historical skills using real life artefacts from our topic boxes.  Our history curriculum has been designed and sequenced to ensure each topic, where possible, begins with a Chronological Understanding objective. This allows children to identify and place key events so that they can relate them to themselves, previous and current learning as well as the wider world. 

At Southey Green we understand the importance of teaching children about the diverse world around us. Our children learn about diversity which is woven into our history curriculum, through looking at the diversity within societies. They are able to study a range of significant individuals who have shaped and influenced our world in numerous ways, reminding them that sometimes significant individuals do not bring positive change.

Significant Individuals:

• Elizabeth I
• Ole Kirk Christiansen
• Christopher Columbus, Amelia Earhart
• Henry VIII, Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth II
• Edward the Confessor, Harald Hardrada, Harold Godwinson, William the Conqueror
• Julius Caesar and Augustus
• Alfred the Great
• Mary Seacole
• Winston Churchill and Adolf Hitler
• Noor Inayat Khan

As stated in our curriculum policy, we aim for all of our children to

• Literate
• Numerate
• Being able to articulate ideas, understanding and opinions in a confident manner at all levels using rich vocabulary
• With raised aspirations with children ready to take on new challenges
• Have experiences that provoke curiosity and deepen understanding
• Become responsible and respectful members of our society
• Have strong cultural capital

There are many ways in which we strive to achieve this and below are just a few examples

History Key Knowledge, Skills and Concepts

At Southey Green, we recognise the importance of children understanding key concepts, skills and knowledge and how these support children’s learning.

Here are Southey Green’s key history concepts which are woven into our history curriculum.

We pride ourselves on our History teaching and learning. As a school, we have developed our ‘End of Year Expectations’. These are a selection of skills and knowledge that we feel are crucial to the child as they move forward throughout primary school. Opportunities to revisit these are provided throughout the current academic and upcoming academic years as well as initial robust teaching.