History

Intent

At St. Richard’s we know that understanding the past is vital to paving the way for the future and our curriculum is designed to encourage children to ask questions, enquire and explore the topics.

 We want our children to be curious about what lays beyond the borders of Dover in the world around them. By using a wide range of evidence and sources available, we strive to develop the key skills of chronology and enquiry. We believe these core skills are critical in developing children as historians enabling them to gain the ability to explore important questions about historical events. The focus of all our teaching is to build the children’s worldview of history, foster enjoyment of the subject and their development as historians.

Implementation

St Richard’s have developed their own curriculum programme which provides learning (according to our progression of skills documents and the National Curriculum) to engage pupils and encourage curiosity about their own local history and  world history.

 We teach engaging lessons that bring the past to life; we arouse the children’s curiosity and encourage them to become active and independent learners.

We encourage children to think carefully and critically as they develop their own questions and research the past. We develop historical enquiry skills and build on knowledge gained in previous years to create an inquisitive historian, who has the building blocks of skills and knowledge in place to be able to assess and understand history.

 We use a wide range of resources, drama and historical artefacts to inspire historical inquiry and support this with a variety of history-based school trips to local museums, historical sites and places of historical interest. Wherever relevant, we think about British Values and how these impact on events from the past.

Impact

Our history curriculum starts the children off on a learning journey, which ensures they have the knowledge, skills and processes needed for their next step to secondary school so they can develop into well-rounded historians.

Through powerful memories created by teachable moments, going beyond the national curriculum through enrichment experiences for children such as trips, visits and workshops.  Children will leave St Richard’s with a well-developed curiosity of events and people from the past. They will understand the significance of events including similarities and differences. The impact is that the children have become enthusiastic and reflective learners who have a clear understanding of the historical events taught. By the end of Year 6, children will understand how historical events link and their chronological order.