Brookburn’s Intent:
History at Brookburn is a powerful subject. Studying history helps us understand how events in the past made things the way they are today. In teaching History, we aim to inspire a curiosity to know about the past.
Our History curriculum will enable children to know and understand people and different societies. Our children will know and understand change and how today’s world was built on the events and people from the past.
History knowledge contributes to moral understanding. Brookburn’s children will learn about their own identity and the identities of others, in order to understand and value diversity. We want them to question how people have lived in the past, to examine how and why things have changed and make connections between events that have occurred to support gaining sense and meaning of new knowledge acquired. We also hope that they develop their own thoughts and opinions about the past.
Children are encouraged to be open minded, analytical and become enquiring thinkers who can compare, contrast, develop an understanding of cause and effect, continuity and change and similarities and difference. The curriculum is coherently planned and sequenced towards cumulatively sufficient knowledge and skills for future learning.
With lessons from the past, Brookburn children will learn about themselves, their place in their community, their city, in Britain and their place in the wider world.
Our Implementation:
The historical units have been designed to ensure lessons, activities and tasks, deliver appropriately our curriculum intentions.
The three key historical strands across our school are:
- Legacy of Monarchy
- Voyage, Discovery and Legacy
- Legacy of Manchester
Our children study History every term. We have selected knowledge that we need our children to know by the end of year 6.
Key historical ideas or Thinking Concepts are returned to each lesson and help children to know and remember more.
The Thinking Concepts are:
Our curriculum plans outline the essential knowledge, thinking concepts and sources for each history unit. There are three history concepts that will be studied: chronology, historical significance and the historical society. The history unit connects to previous knowledge and prepares for future knowledge. The curriculum plans will include key vocabulary and links to key significant events, places and people.. Our curriculum has been designed so that children connect and revisit through careful curriculum sequencing. Each lesson builds on from the previous lesson
From our curriculum design, lessons are carefully planned so that the knowledge and skills are delivered through purposeful and appropriate tasks building knowledge, skills and understanding from one lesson to another, one historical unit to the next, one year to the next. Our curriculum is designed so children are taught the knowledge and then use their knowledge.
Impact
Children at Brookburn enjoy History. We know this because our children tell us – they talk about things that they have loved learning and compliment these discussions with facts and wider knowledge they have gained because of their own interest in researching and reading beyond the curriculum.
The knowledge and skills the children develop, and the progress they make, is evidenced from the pupil interviews, observations and book looks carried out over the year.
By the end of Key Stage 2, children have a sound understanding of the chronology, historical significance and an understanding of the society in the periods studied. They can question, use evidence and think critically to understand the past and make sense of the present.
We teach knowledge and children use knowledge, children move from a basic understanding to an advanced model where understanding is applied. Our lessons build on prior knowledge and link back and forwards to embed knowledge.
Cross curricular writing throughout the school demonstrates how children use their knowledge and understanding of history to enhance and strengthen the quality and purpose of their ideas
