Intent of our history curriculum, provision and enrichment

The intent of our History curriculum is to inspire curiosity and critical thinking through the exploration of local, national and global history.
Pupils will develop a secure sense of chronology and understand how significant people, places, and events have shaped the world over time. Through engaging historical enquiries, they will build the confidence to ask questions, analyse evidence, and consider multiple perspectives.
By exploring key historical concepts such as power, invasion, migration, and civilisation, pupils will deepen their understanding of society and develop empathy through learning about diverse lives and cultures. They will flourish as reflective, inquisitive learners with a life-long interest in the past and its impact on the present.

Implementation

We use Kapow History revised scheme of work for our History curriculum which is designed in order to meet the aims of the National curriculum for History and in response to the Ofsted Research review into History.

The Kapow Primary scheme emphasises the importance of historical knowledge being shaped by disciplinary approaches, as shown in the diagram above. These strands are interwoven through all our History units to create engaging and enriching learning experiences which allow the children to investigate history as historians do.

Each six-lesson unit has a focus on chronology to allow children to explore the place in time of the period they are studying and make comparisons in other parts of the world. In EYFS, children explore the concept of history by reflecting on key experiences from their own past, helping them understand that they each have their own histories. Then, they engage in activities to compare and contrast characters from stories, including historical figures, deepening their understanding of how individual lives fit into broader historical narratives. Children will further develop their awareness of the past in Key stage 1 and will know where people and events fit chronologically. This will support children in building a ‘mental timeline’ they can refer to throughout their learning in Key stage 2 and identifying connections, contrasts and trends over time. The Kapow Primary timeline supports children in developing this chronological awareness. Collection units offer single lessons embedded within the curriculum to add depth to children’s learning.

There are two EYFS units focused on each of the history-related Development matters statements. These units consist of a mixture of adult-led and child-initiated activities which can be selected by the teacher to fit in with Reception class themes or topics. In Key stage 1 and 2, units are organised around an enquiry-based question and children are encouraged to follow the enquiry cycle (Question, Investigate, Interpret, Evaluate and conclude, Communicate) when answering historical questions.

Over the course of the scheme, children develop their understanding of the following key disciplinary concepts:

• Change and continuity.

• Cause and consequence.

• Similarities and differences.

• Historical significance.

• Historical interpretations.

• Sources of evidence.

These concepts will be encountered in different contexts during the study of local, British and world history. Accordingly, children will have varied opportunities to learn how historians use these skills to analyse the past and make judgements. They will confidently develop and use their own historical skill set. As children progress through the Kapow scheme, they will create their own historical enquiries to study using sources and the skills they have developed.

Substantive concepts such as power, trade, invasion and settlement, are introduced in Key stage 1, clearly identified in Lower key stage 2 and revisited in Upper key stage 2 (see Progression of skills and knowledge) allowing knowledge of these key concepts to grow. These concepts are returned to in different contexts, meaning that pupils begin to develop an understanding of these abstract themes which are crucial to their future learning in History.

The Kapow scheme follows the spiral curriculum model where previous skills and knowledge are returned to and built upon. For example, children progress by developing their knowledge and understanding of substantive and disciplinary concepts by experiencing them in a range of historical contexts and periods.

History in Action videos explain the careers and work of those in history and heritage-related fields. Historians, archivists, archaeologists, museum curators, teachers and heritage experts discuss their love of history, how they became interested in the subject, how they got into their jobs and what their jobs involve.

Lessons are designed to be varied, engaging and hands-on, allowing children to experience the different aspects of an historical enquiry. In each lesson, children will participate in activities involving disciplinary and substantive concepts, developing their knowledge and understanding of Britain’s role in the past and that of the wider world. Children will develop their knowledge of concepts and chronology as well as their in-depth knowledge of the context being studied.

Guidance for how to adapt the teaching is available for every lesson to ensure that lessons can be accessed by all pupils and opportunities to stretch pupils’ learning are available when required. Knowledge organisers for each unit support pupils in building a foundation of factual knowledge by encouraging recall of key facts, concepts and vocabulary.

Strong subject knowledge is vital for staff to be able to deliver a highly-effective and robust history curriculum. Each unit of lessons focuses on the key subject knowledge needed to deliver the curriculum, making links with prior learning and identifying possible misconceptions. Kapow has been created with the understanding that many teachers do not feel confident delivering the History curriculum and every effort has been made to ensure that they feel supported to deliver lessons of a high standard.

History teaching is taught on a fortnightly cycle in tandem with Geography. Units of lessons are sequential, allowing children to build their skills and knowledge, applying them to a range of outcomes. The formal elements, a key part of the National Curriculum, are also woven throughout units. Key skills are revisited again and again with increasing complexity in a spiral curriculum model. This allows pupils to revise and build on their previous learning.

Inclusivity 

Valuing every child as a unique individual, teaching and learning will be adapted to ensure equitable provision, representing all protective characteristics. 

Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 

Within our history curriculum, we explore and make connections with a balance of spiritual, moral, social and cultural aspects in order to prepare our children for life in modern Britain and our diverse world. 

Progression of knowledge

We have created comprehensive documents which include our whole school curriculum progression for History. 

For copyright reasons, this document is not published on our website, but is available on request.

Subject gallery

Pupil voice

My favourite periods in history are the Jurassic and Palaeolithic. I‘m really interested in how people during the Palaeolithic were nomads, always adapting to their environment and the animals that were around them. Palaeolithic peoples were very different to us but some aspects of their lives were similar to ours.

Useful websites: