History
"History, the study of the past, is all around us; we are continually making history through our thoughts, words and actions. History is personal and global; it is everyday life and momentous occasions. History is about people." - Historical Association
The History Curriculum at Athersley North Primary School intends to offer all pupils the opportunity to act as historians and think critically about the past and engage in their own community heritage.
Pupils at Athersley North Primary School will have the opportunity to develop their enquiry and reasoning skills using primary and secondary sources as well as artefacts. This will allow them to make their own conclusions about significant historical events which have shaped and influenced the world.
Enquiry Skills
The pupils at Athersley North Primary School will develop their enquiry skills through the process of answering a key question within their history topic. Each lesson within a topic will act as a stepping stone in order to help pupils answer the main enquiry question and form their own opinion at the end of a topic.
Disciplinary Progression
At Athersley North Primary School, we have chosen eight disciplinary areas of history which we believe will engage pupils in their history learning. We have developed these into disciplinary knowledge progression stands and believe that these eight progression areas will enable pupils to embed a strong understanding of the history curriculum and in turn leave as “Historians”.
Disciplinary Vocabulary
At Athersley North Primary, we ensure that children speak like a Historian by introducing specific historical vocabulary that children will use within a range of topics. This vocabulary is progressive and children will build a bank of historical terminology throughout each key stage.
Substantive Knowledge
Our history curriculum is also driven by our eight key concepts of substantive knowledge. We believe that these key substantive concepts act as the “golden nuggets” of history and will help to develop a pupil’s understanding of vital moments from the past. A strong understanding of these eight substantive concepts will also help pupils make strong connections and links between a range of historical events.
Substantive Vocabulary
At Athersley North Primary School, we ensure that all children can articulate their understanding of a substantive concept by giving them opportunities to use a range of vocabulary linking to the substantive concept being taught.
The Key Stage One history curriculum introduces pupils to a range of topics and concepts that they will cover during Key Stage Two.
Within Key Stage Two, the chronology of the past will be studied in order to showcase how societies and cultures have developed over time. This will allow pupils to make their own connections to significant chronological historical events. Throughout the year, both Lower and Upper Key Stage Two study history topics in chronological order. This will enable pupils at Athersley North Primary School to embed an understanding of “deep time” and have a good understanding of when and where important historical events took place.
Our whole school timeline is on display and can be easily accessed by all key stages.
Our history curriculum will encourage pupils to respect and build strong relationships within their community and in turn develop a strong and positive outlook for the pupil’s own future.
Examples of Learning
Throughout history sessions, high expectations are set to ensure that good quality work is produced.
