History

At Shiplake CofE Primary School, we deliver a History curriculum that inspires and immerses pupils in British History. Our intent is to provide pupils with the experiences necessary to gain knowledge and skills to understand significant aspects of our history and their impact on Britain and the wider world. We aim to promote curiosity within our pupils, encouraging them to think critically, weigh both primary and secondary evidence, and form their own opinions, thereby deepening their understanding of the history of Britain. Children learn key facts and concepts alongside skills such as chronological understanding, how to analyse and evaluate historical evidence, how to empathise with people from different eras, and how to compare and contrast life in different periods. Through classroom learning and local educational visits, pupils develop a love for history, allowing them to discover first-hand links and connections to their locality.

To ensure high standards of teaching and learning in history, we implement a progressive curriculum throughout the whole school. History is taught as part of a termly topic, focusing on the knowledge and skills stated in the National Curriculum. When teaching history, teachers should follow the children’s interests to ensure that their learning is engaging, broad, and balanced. History teaching focuses on enabling children to think critically.

All learning will begin by revisiting prior knowledge. This will be scaffolded to support children in recalling previous learning and making connections. The use of our whole school history timeline helps children see where their history topics fit within previously taught ones, as well as celebrate the learning for each term, demonstrating progression across the school.

Learning will be supported through the use of knowledge organisers (which outline key knowledge and vocabulary) that provide scaffolding to help children retain new facts and vocabulary in their long-term memory. Knowledge organisers are used for pre-teaching, daily review, and assessment of children’s learning at the end of a topic.

Pupil voice demonstrates that pupils enjoy history, find their learning experiences memorable, and are able to recall their learning over time. Pupils’ work shows that history is taught at an age-appropriate standard across each year group, with opportunities planned for pupils working at greater depth.