Saint Patrick’s Catholic Primary School

‘We arise today, to learn, love and grow through Jesus.’

At Saint Patrick’s we aim to create an environment in which each individual has the opportunity to thrive supported by values of Christ firmly built into our everyday foundations. Education, welfare and wellbeing are at the heart of everything we do. Above all else, we want to foster a strong belief in all our children that they can succeed in all they do, no matter what. Working with all school parties, we wish to nurture each child’s potential and foster high aspirations. It is essential that we give them the tool kit needed to achieve their goals regardless of background or starting points.

Intent

The national curriculum for history aims to ensure that all pupils:

• 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: the nature of ancient civilisations; the expansion and dissolution of empires; characteristic features of past non-European societies; achievements and follies of mankind
• 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

At Saint Patrick's, we believe that, through the study of History, children make sense of their world and enrich their understanding of it. Through our curriculum, we aim to ensure that our children understand the similarities and differences between societies and cultures, and the impact of changes on people and place.

Throughout EYFS, children explore and talk about the lives of the people around them and their roles in society. By the end of EYFS, they should know some similarities and differences between things in the past and now. Children should understand the past through settings, characters and events encountered in books read in class and storytelling.

In KS1, children develop their awareness of the past, using common words and phrases relating to the passing of time. They explore where people and events fit within a chronological framework and identify similarities and differences between ways of life in different periods. Throughout their work in history, children should use a wide vocabulary of everyday historical terms, asking and answering questions, choosing and using parts of stories and other sources to show that they know and understand key features of events. They should understand some of the ways in which we find out about the past and identify different ways in which it is represented.

In KS2, children continue to develop a chronologically secure knowledge and understanding of British, local and world history, establishing clear narratives within and across different periods of history. They should note connections, contrasts and trends over time and develop the appropriate use of historical terms.  In developing their historical knowledge, children should address and devise historically valid questions about change, cause, similarity and difference, and significance, constructing informed responses that involve thoughtful selection and organisation of relevant historical information. They should understand how our knowledge of the past is constructed from a range of sources.

Our curriculum aims to ensure that pupils: 

• Know and understand the history of the UK, and how it shaped the world, as a coherent, chronological narrative, from the earliest times to the present day.
• Know and understand significant aspects of the history of the wider world, such as ancient civilisations; empires and past non-European societies 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 these to analyse.
• Understand the methods of historical enquiry such as using evidence to support arguments.
• Gain a historical perspective by placing their growing knowledge into different contexts, understanding the connections between local, regional, national and international history.

The curriculum at Saint Patricks is organised into five topics per year group. The topics are grouped into historical skill strands taken from the National Curriculum (historical enquiry, chronological understanding, range and depth of historical knowledge, interpretations of history and historical study) a strand will be taught across the school at the same time enabling knowledge, skills and resources to be shared and developed as well as monitoring and assessment of the subject to be undertaken.

Our curriculum is driven through the following historical concepts (similarities and differences; significance; continuity and change; movement of people; cause and effect; concurrence) which are explored in a wide breadth of topics. Our curriculum is arranged so that pupils return to these same concepts repeatedly, gradually building an understanding of them. Our long-term plan details how pupils will be given opportunities to relate topics to previously studied topics to deepen understanding.

The curriculum learning experiences of our children are greatly enhanced by the wide variety of visitors and visits planned. We take full advantage of the history on our door step with each year group exploring places of historical interest from the birth place of George Formby to the Roman Bath house remains located in the town centre.

Implementation

History teaching focuses on enabling children to think as historians. Our principal aim is to develop the children’s knowledge, skills and understanding in history. We believe that children learn best when:

• They have access to, and are able to handle artefacts.

• They go on visits to sites of historical significance and places of interest.

• They have access to secondary sources such as books and photographs.

• They can talk to visitors/family members about their personal experience of the past. 

• They listen to and interact with stories from the past.

• They are shown, or use independently, resources from the internet and videos.

• They are able to use non-fiction books for research.

• They are provided with opportunities to work independently or collaboratively, to ask as well as answer historical questions.

• They are given time to reflect on their own learning by giving them opportunities to create visual prompts enabling them to recall how they learned about this period, thus creating opportunities to identify links and relate periods of history together.

We recognise that we have children of differing abilities in History and we seek to provide suitable learning opportunities by matching the challenge of the task to the child’s ability. We achieve this by:

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• Setting open-ended tasks which can have a variety of responses.
• Grouping children by ability and setting different tasks for each ability group.
• Providing resources of different complexity depending on the ability of the child.
• Using Teaching Assistants to support children individually or in groups.
• Organising children in such a way that they receive support from their peers.

In addition to the National Curriculum each year group studies an element of local History. Our curriculum reflects the rich history that our local area holds. Children are encouraged to consider the role they play and how they can make positive contributions to the local community. Trips and visitors are organised so that the children can develop a deeper understanding as to how our local area has changed.

Impact

At Saint Patrick’s We believe, the welcoming, respectful environment, enriched in catholic morals and teachings, continues to enhance the educational and pastoral experience of every individual passing through our doors, to ensure that they develop and become well-rounded individuals within the community, with the ambition to reach their potential and succeed.

We recognise the unique needs of each child and support them in developing the whole child. We have a supportive ethos and our approaches support the children in developing both their collaborative and independent skills. The impact of our History curriculum is measured in the experiences, confidence and competence of our children within the subject. We ensure children receive the experiences they require, both within and beyond the curriculum, to develop their skills and knowledge and become confident historians. By revisiting historical concepts, children will deepen their understanding and be able to identify links and be able to relate periods of history together. The progress children make in History throughout school is outstanding. Children typically enter school at below the expected level for ‘Understanding the World’, but the average percentage of children for the past 3 years achieving Secure or above, at the end of Year 6 is 89%.

Saint Patrick's Purple Mash portal: https://www.purplemash.com/sch/stpatrickswn1

• Use this website to explore history topics that are taught throughout school

KS1 BBC Bitesize: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/levels/z3g4d2p

• Use this website to revise history topics taught in school
• Access educational games and quizzes

KS2 BBC Bitesize: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/levels/zbr9wmn

• Use this website to revise history topics taught in school
• Access educational games and quizzes