At North Lakes School the History curriculum is designed to be engaging and relevant to children growing up in Penrith in the 21st century, developing their knowledge and understanding of local, national and global themes and events. It reflects and examines modern day British Values such as democracy, the rule of law, respect and tolerance over time.
Five vertical concepts have been chosen provide a coherent framework of big ideas, and historical events are taught within this context. Chronology is emphasised with all learning set against a timeline as this gives children an understanding of continuity and change. Not all topics can be taught sequentially for reasons of relevance and links to other curriculum areas.
The five big ideas woven through the curriculum are:
Continuity and Change
Similarity and Difference
Cause and Consequence
Beliefs and Values
Power, Empire and Democracy
Our Knowledge Organisers plan a sequence of lessons to embed core disciplinary knowledge, and encourage children to approach learning using enquiry, questioning and a range of sources.
In learning about the past, we aim for the children to be engaged, excited, and curious, and to develop key learning attributes including resourcefulness and reflectiveness as they consider impacts on the lives of others and the meaning for their own lives.
History is overseen by a Subject Leader who provides a Long-term plan, Progression map and a Knowledge Organiser. Teachers plan together as to how they will effectively implement this including use of resources, planning visitors and other curriculum enhancement.
Our History Curriculum is carefully planned, well sequenced and planned to ensure progression. The Knowledge Progression Map is designed so that, if children are fully engaged and demonstrate mastery of the key performance indicators within a unit of work, they are making good or better progress.
Teachers measure progress through observation, questioning, discussion, scrutiny of pupil’s books and low stakes quizzes
We enhance our curriculum especially for the most disadvantaged by organising guest speakers and visitors. We provide additional opportunities such as school trips to enrich pupil’s understanding and provide context through first-hand experiences.
This curriculum promotes the children’s cultural capital and deepens their understanding of key ideas including democracy, respect, tolerance and the importance of law in a civilised society.
Subject Leader: Ms C Rollings
September 2022