History at Alanbrooke
Intent
At Alanbrooke Academy, we want to develop a love of history and a curiosity about the past and how it has shaped the world that we live in. This is done throughout our broad and balanced curriculum which interests and intrigues learners whilst meeting and supporting the needs of all our children. Teaching of History at Alanbrooke is based on the aims and purposes outlined in the National Curriculum.
Alongside the National Curriculum, we aim to ensure that all children:
- know and understand the history of these islands as a coherent, chronological narrative, from the earliest times to the present day: how people’s lives have shaped this nation and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world
- know and understand significant aspects of the history of the wider world
- gain and deploy a historically grounded understanding of abstract terms such as ‘empire’, ‘civilisation’, ‘parliament’ and ‘peasantry’
- understand historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance, and use them to make connections, draw contrasts, analyse trends, frame historically-valid questions and create their own structured accounts, including written narratives and analyses
- understand the methods of historical enquiry, including how evidence is used rigorously to make historical claims, and discern how and why contrasting arguments and interpretations of the past have been constructed
- gain historical perspective by placing their growing knowledge into different contexts, understanding the connections between local, regional, national and international history; between cultural, economic, military, political, religious and social history; and between short- and long-term timescales.
Implementation
Children at Alanbrooke first experience History within the Early Years setting. This is as part of the ‘Understanding the World’ section of the EYFS framework.
By the end of EYFS, children will:
- Talk about the lives of the people around them and their roles in society.
-  Know some similarities and differences between things in the past and now, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class.
- Understand the past through settings, characters and events encountered in books read in class and storytelling.
History is planned and delivered using a 2 year rolling programme in Key Stage 1 and a 4 year rolling programme in Key Stage 2.
At the start of each history unit, there is a strong focus on chronology and the use of timelines which are on display in each classroom. Here, links to previous learning are made to support retrieval practise. Links to geography are made as children explore ‘when’ and ‘where’ in the world they are learning about and develop their coherent and concurrent historical understanding. Key vocabulary is discussed and explored with children and knowledge organisers are shared and referred to throughout units of learning to support understanding.
Disciplinary knowledge is defined as learning how historians have studied and analysed the past, and how they have constructed and presented accounts of the past. The areas of disciplinary knowledge taught are called second-order concepts. Each history unit has one or two focus second order concept(s). Examples of this include ‘cause and consequence’ and ‘change and continuity’. These are taught through school and allow children to become confident with these concepts and allow children to build on their understandings as they move through school and become more confident historians.
Consistent learning walls in every classroom provide constant scaffolding for children. Subject specific vocabulary is displayed on the learning wall along with key facts and questions, and model
exemplars of the work being taught.
History is a subject that children love to learn and are very enthusiastic about. Alongside high quality lessons, we also ensure that there are additional opportunities to enrich the History curriculum through: Curriculum assemblies, whole school assemblies, class trips and visitors. We also ensure that there are planned opportunities for children to recall previously taught history learning.
