History
Gospel Quote:
"For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us."
Romans 15: 4
Subject Quote:
"History cannot give us a program for the future, but it can give us a fuller understanding of ourselves,
and of our common humanity, so that we can better face the future."
Robert Penn Warren
Introduction:
At Our Lady’s we want every child to be happy, enthusiastic learners of history and understand what it means to be a historian. We want our pupils to acquire the knowledge, skills and vocabulary that will help them understand and interpret the people and events from the past, to better understand themselves, the society they live in and their place in the world.
Intent:
Pupils at Our Lady’s will have the opportunity to respond to key enquiry questions which will invite discussion and research to enable them to draw their own conclusions on significant people, events and civilisations from the past; this will include references to their locality to develop an awareness of their heritage. These questions will encourage pupils to question, investigate, discover, interpret and reason, predict and surmise.
Pupils will learn about how historians learn and recognise how views on significant people, events and civilisations from the past can evolve as historians unearth more about the past…
Key historical skills will be taught year on year in response to key enquiries so pupils will become more confident historians: understanding chronology; identifying continuity and change; understanding cause and effect; recognising similarities and differences; analysing and interpreting sources; communicating their ideas through key vocabulary.
Pupils will be able to have a voice and use their historical skills and knowledge to construct answers, opinions, arguments, debates…
Implementation:
A new long term plan ensures complete coverage of the NC and more. The emphasis in each half-term block is on high-quality enquiry and subsequent investigation rather than simply looking to ‘pack in as many facts’ as possible.
During each enquiry, pupils will develop several skills, outlined in Intent, as well as key vocabulary. Pupils will revisit key vocabulary as certain threads such as power, hierarchy and religion, run through each year group’s investigations.
Chronology allows pupils to revisit previous eras and civilisations and compare, looking for evidence of similarities due to influence, continuity and legacy, or indeed changes or differences.
As well as studying three areas of the past across three half-terms, pupils will also engage in whole-school focus topics across the academic year: Black History, Women in History, Inspirational Historical ‘Waxwork’ Figures and Local Heritage History. Each year group will have a specific aspect of these topics to investigate…
Long Term Overview:
Cultural Capital:
There are rich opportunities throughout the curriculum to learn about significant individuals and events that have shaped our nation and the world around us. Children are given the chance to learn about themes like democracy, laws, royalty, religious beliefs, social hierarchy and how historically these have developed over time, to influence society today.
As well as looking at ancient civilisations from across the globe and key periods in British history, the pupils also learn about their own local heritage and the significance of local people, places and events.
Pupil Progress & Voice:
Black History:
Y1: Significant Individuals...
Y2: Significant Individuals...
Y3: Windrush Generation - who were they and what impact did they have on Britain?
Y4: Apartheid - what was it and how was it challenged?
Y5: Civil Rights Campaigners - who were they and how did they push for change?
Y6: Y6: Who fought against the slave trade?
Women in History:
Rec. & Y1: In living memory...
Y2: Explorers & Discovery:
Y3: Sporting Greats:
Y4: Medicine, Science & Technology:
Y5: Creative Arts & Entertainment:
Y6: Power, Authority & Change:
Significant Individuals in History (Waxwork Museum!):
Year 5 rsearched historical figures who interested them and wrote a short autobiography as if they were that person. They then learnt their autobiography and found costumes and props before finally presenting themselves as Waxwork Figures in the school hall, for parents and pupils alike to listen to them and learn about them!
Local Heritage History:
Rec. : Homes - my house and houses long ago. Compare with a local figure’s house eg Cromwell’s house. Compare to their own.
Y1: Religion - Walking Day - origins, purpose, participants memories. Comparison - old and new church buildings.
Y2: School - Our Lady’s School - continuity and change (uniform, curriculum, resources including technology). Past pupil memories - interview.
Y3: Transport - building of the ship canal - How? Who was involved? Cantilever bridge (and swing bridge) - design; building process. Latchford Locks...
Y4: Significant Local Buildings - Are any listed nearby? (2) Should any others become listed? Look at the history of local buildings including on Wash Lane (those with ground floor well above the road (floods); plague house (information in Warrington Museum).
Y5: Industrialisation - pre and post war; factories and workers; centre of steel, especially wire, hence ‘The Wire’ ; chemicals and soap manufacture.
Y6: How war affected the local area - RAF Burtonwood; casualties; female workforce…
Core Values:
Within history there are many opportunities for pupils to learn about how the British values we focus on today have been influenced by the events of yesteryear.
Pupils will have the chance to explore inequality within past civilisations and generations; they can reflect upon how the drive for equality, and also mutual respect, has been present through time…
Pupils can identify how law and order shaped past civilizations, such as the Romans, Greeks and Vikings; they can compare this with modern law and order, appreciating its importance for society to function.
Pupils can trace the concept of democracy back through eras to its birth among the Athenians in Ancient Greece.
The importance of free speech can be witnessed throughout history - including its suppression - and pupils can see examples of its importance when looking at topics like the work of the Civil Rights Activists including Martin Luther King or the Suffragette movement's key figures including Emmeline Pankhurst and local figure Mabel Capper.
Pupils can learn about the concept of tolerance in society, and the need for it to continually develop, identifying examples of intolerance and extreme nationalism and segregation from the past and learning from those events to foster a better future.