History

Intent

At Wistaston Church Lane we are as INQUISITIVE as historians!

We believe that the History curriculum should lay the foundations of an enquiring and questioning mind. We strive to ensure that when our pupils leave in Year 6, they are fully equipped with the necessary skills to become excellent historians in the future and have enhanced their understanding of historical sequence and cause and effect. Ultimately, we aim to provide children with a secure understanding of the link between past and present that will enable them to envision how their own actions will significantly impact the future of our world.

Implementation

During their time at Church Lane, pupils study the key topics listed within the National Curriculum. Although we teach history discretely, we aim to link historical learning to other foundation subjects and core subject topics as much as possible in order to encourage children to make cross-curricular links to deepen their understanding. We also ensure that crucial historical skills such as chronology and enquiry are deeply embedded within each topic that is taught. These essential skills are then built on more and more as the children progress through each year group.

As part of the planning process, teachers are expected to include the following:

• A warm-up task that is set at the beginning of each unit of work. This task will identify the children’s current knowledge and provide a baseline for end of unit assessment.
• A vocabulary lesson that introduces topic specific terms. (New vocabulary can be added throughout the unit of work)
• A sequence of lessons, which plans for progression and deeper understanding of the historical skills covered.
• Opportunities for children to work practically as a means to illustrate historical knowledge.
• A hot task (this can be the same as the warm up task) which is used to highlight progression of skills at the end of a taught unit.

Impact

As pupils conclude their time at Church Lane, we hope that they leave us having developed a true adoration for history and with a sound and secure knowledge of how past events have shaped the present. Having spent their formative years sharpening their chronological understanding and their ability to question, enquire and analyse, we hope that our pupils will become conscious adults, fully aware of their potential to make a positive impact on the world.