History

INTENT

From inspirational recounts of individual endeavours to tales of destruction, war and romance, history has it all. History at St Mark and All Saints aims to be ambitious, inspiring and motivating. Ambitious, in our coverage of History and thorough teaching of Historical skills. Inspiring, in fostering a curiosity and fascination about Britain's past and that of the wider world. Motivating, through engaging activities, trips and visitors that give all students an opportunity to question the past. In order to instill a love of History in all our children, we have developed a broad, balanced and differentiated skills-based curriculum that encompasses British Values throughout. This ensures the progressive development of historical concepts, knowledge and skills for the children to study life in the past. 

At St Mark and All Saints, we have designed our History curriculum with the intent that our children will acquire an excellent knowledge and understanding of people, events and contexts from a range of historical periods and learn about changes in and beyond living memory. We aim for children to develop the skills to become increasingly critical and analytical thinkers, draw on similarities and differences and differentiate between source types to explain how interpretations in History may differ. Through our learning enquiries, we intend for children to investigate Historical themed matters and form their own opinions and interpretation of the past. From this, students will develop a well-rounded knowledge of the past and its events, with the intention to improve every students’ understanding of the world around them and their own heritage. 

IMPLEMENTATION

In ensuring high standards of teaching and learning in history, we implement a skills-based curriculum that is progressive throughout the school. Through our teaching, the use of historical artefacts and a range of visitors and trips, we attempt to excite and intrigue our children to find out more about events and people from the past. By building up their knowledge and developing skills of analysis, children are taught to look at the reliability of evidence and sources so that they are equipped to determine a better future for themselves.  Through our enquiry-led approach, children are encouraged to ask questions, learn from the mistakes of the past and shape the future through an understanding of the customs and beliefs of the community we belong to. By the end of year 6, children will have a chronological understanding of British history from the Stone Age to the present day. They will be able to draw comparisons and make connections between different time periods and their own lives. 

IMPACT

Our History curriculum is high quality and planned to demonstrate a clear progression in skills. An emphasis is placed on analytical thinking and questioning which helps pupils gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past, that of the wider world and are curious to find out more. This results in pupils who have developed their enquiry skills and pursue their own interests within a topic. As historians, children learn lessons from history to influence the decisions they make in the future. Our curriculum is designed to support this and ensure that children at St Mark and All Saints are equipped with historical skills and knowledge that will enable them to be ready for the curriculum at Key Stage 3 and for life as an adult in the wider world. 

USEFUL WEBSITES:

History Homework Help

History/Geography Overview