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At Cromer Road we aim to deliver a high quality, broad, balanced and inclusive history curriculum.
We strive to inspire and instill in pupils a curiosity and fascination about Britain's past and the wider world and how this has influenced the present and shape the world we live in today. We believe that by learning History, children develop their identity as citizens of the world; understanding their place in the world community and equipping them to engage with and challenge current issues. We take a Humanities based approach making links with Geography where appropriate to deepen children’s understanding of the world around them. Through this approach children are explicitly taught what History is and what Geography is so they can differentiate the skills they are using.
As they progress through the school, children develop their historical skills in:
- An overview of world history
- An understanding of the timeline of history and different civilisations
- Investigation and interpretation
- Historical enquiry
- Historical periods
- Make connections between British, local and world history
At Cromer Road we follow the key primary history principles:
- Questioning - learning is about asking and answering questions. Questions focus attention, rouse curiosity and interest, elicit views and stimulate discussion.
- Challenge - challenging pupils to speculate, to debate, to make connections, to select, to prioritise and to persist in tackling real issues and important questions.
- Depth - real knowledge demands study in depth. Children's expertise and confidence develop as a result of deep knowledge.
- Authenticity - challenging children with authentic materials
- Economy - our children learn from a few well chosen resources which they can focus on rather than from an unstructured set of resources
- Accessibility - we make learning accessible to all children by starting with what they know and can do, and building on that. We also find a key; something they can identify with that will unlock the door to engagement and learning.
- Communication - this is essential for consolidating learning and to give it purpose.
We develop children's historical knowledge and understanding of chronology by providing opportunities to:
- Question
- Research
- Consider evidence
- Make comparisons
- Reason
We take an enquiry based approach to our projects with a key question at the start of the learning process. For example:
- How have houses changed over time? (Year 2)
- Who were the Ancient Greeks? (Year 4)
- How did World War 2 affect us? (Year 6)
Our principles of progression are to:
- Use common techniques across the school.
- Practise the same skills at different ages over and over again, and ask ourselves do the children tackle them better each time?
- Revisit key areas of content and key vocabulary.
- Keep an integrated model of History in mind. Aim to improve children's enquiry skills, knowledge and concepts so they develop an even deeper understanding of people and societies.
- Plan teaching activities that challenge and engage children, as well as yielding evidence of progression.
Key vocabulary is identified and shared with the children at the start of each project. Throughout the sequence of learning children become more confident in the meaning of the identified vocabulary and begin to use the words in their written and discussion based activities, embedding the rich vocabulary.
Educational trips are used to enhance the children's learning through visiting museums, the local area and taking part in themed workshops. We also celebrate Black History Month every year with a focus on notable black Britons and black artists from around the world and their contributions to society.
History Overview and Key Vocabulary
