History                     

                     at Alwoodley Primary School

Our vision for History is that all children develop skills through an enquiry approach.

INTENT, IMPLEMENTATION AND IMPACT

In History pupils are encouraged to question their understanding of the past. History develops skills in critical thinking, sifting information and comparing past and present. We also learn to make links with today's society and consider the impacts of people and events. Without History, there would be no future!

Intent

At Alwoodley Primary school, our aim across all subjects is to ensure that learning is meaningful and memorable whilst weaving our Alwoodley Golden Threads through the curriculum. We intend to develop children's thinking skills (Golden Thread 1) through the use of enquiry questions. Cognitive education will be promoted so that children can leave primary school with analytical skills built from a progression of enquiry-led learning. We also intend to build on the children's vocabulary and skills as they progress through school (Golden Thread 2). Children will be encouraged to read and analyse different sources of evidence to gain a further insight into History. We also intend for our pupils to have excellent knowledge of local history and understand how their locality has changed through the ages. They are therefore able to make relevant, real life links to the history around them in their city. It also develops their cultural, moral and social understanding of themselves as citizens (Golden Thread 3).

Implementation

Our curriculum offers a range of exciting units that each has an overarching key 'enquiry' question to delve into. In KS1, children think about 'time' and what it means to them. They think about living memory and compare to experiences of their parents/grandparents and then learn about some memorable events in History. In KS2, children study a range of time periods in chronological order and create links to prior learning and comparisons to create depth in their understanding.

How do we implement History at Alwoodley?

• Enquiry-led learning
• Enrichment opportunities such as trips, visitors, artefacts and workshops
• Child led investigations to encourage curiosity
• Cross-curricular links to other subjects to broaden our understanding of cultures and events
• "Big finishes" at the end of each unit to bring our learning together.

Impact 

We use a range of strategies to assess what skills and knowledge the children have attained each term including the following:

• Book looks
• Use of super six 
• Pupil Voice 
• Regular feedback each lesson
• A well maintained benchmarking folder.

To see our Hard-working Historians in action, please look at our Twitter page @AlwoodleyPS

If you have any questions regarding the curriculum we teach please contact the school directly.