History at Chennestone Primary School

Creating a sense of ‘Here and There’ and ‘Then and Now’, as well as 'Curiosity and Wonder' has provided the basis for the Chennestone History curriculum to ensure that all children develop a secure understanding of the past. A clear vision that History forms a key part of our curriculum, ensuring that all of our children have the opportunity to find out about the world around them and explore their place within it.

A sense of rigour and clear structure means that the National Curriculum is set as the minimum expectation for all schools. Going beyond this, at Chennestone, we maximise the diverse history of Sunbury and our diverse experiences and cultures to bring about a sense of belonging.  Ambitious substantive and disciplinary knowledge, a sense of chronology and the development of complex historical ideas are used create flow within the history curriculum. Local context is vitally important to give our children an idea of Sunbury and the South's role in local, national and world history. At Chennestone, our aim is to incorporate the history of our immediate area to allow the children to see how important the local context is to the local community and the school. We believe it is vital to explore, learn about and compare the history of different cultures around the world, for example the Mayan civilization, and how this have shaped the world we live in today. 

EYFS

History within the EYFS curriculum at Chennestone is covered through the Understanding the World curriculum. This allows the children in EYFS to develop a sense of time and understand how some things have changed. Through their environment, such as visual timelines, learning journeys, seasonal changes etc, children grasp the idea that things have already changed and are constantly changing; supporting their understanding of then and now. High-quality texts which further enhance and highlight changes. A continual emphasis of talk, development of language through play and adult interaction in provision also creates the building blocks for history in the future. Children draw on their relevant experiences of change (for example when they were a baby to now) and are exposed to learning about important events and people across the year.

Key Stage One

Children at KS1 develop an idea of their own lives as well as those close to them. The curriculum allows this to be the focus for the youngest children, before moving onto topics that give them an early awareness of both life beyond Sunbury Upon Thames and beyond living memory.   Complex historical ideas and concepts are introduced and explicitly taught and referred to whilst a sense of chronology and timelines are also being developed (e.g. The Great Fire of London).

Key Stage Two
As they move into KS2, the content and development of these key ideas progresses. British History is taught in a chronological order, whilst other key topics (Ancient Greece, Roman Empire, Ancient Egypt and Mayan civilisations), ensure that the children develop a clear knowledge of how other civilizations and nations have created key elements of today’s world. Children continue to apply their knowledge of history to a range of historical concepts including exploring continuity, change and chronology, similarities and differences, causes and consequences, significance and evidence and interpretation. Complex ideas and recapped or newly introduced, linking previous learning.

Our aim is to develop clear knowledge and understanding of a wide range of historical contexts, ideas and progressive historical concepts and for our children to be able to use these to make links to the 21^st century world that they live in today. At the same time, a whole school focus on improving oracy skills and frequent vocabulary development is very important in the teaching of History. This approach provides the opportunity for language development and ensures that disadvantaged groups, as well as SEND and EAL children, can access the History curriculum at Chennestone.

Children record their learning in their history books which is an ongoing resource to demonstrate their progress in this subject. Progression in history is supported through the use of techniques such as Flash Back 4 retrieval questions, quizzes and hinge questions. These techniques, combined with responsive, adapted teaching which consider children's knowledge, understanding and misconceptions ensure that children understand and remember key knowledge.  History is assessed through listening to children’s responses and contributions to discussions, low-stakes end of topic retrieval quizzes and evaluating their written work. The progression document and summative assessments will also support the age-related assessment given at the end of the year to parents/carers on reports. Assessment is formative and responsive. This is then used to inform any interventions and responses in following lessons.