The purpose of History at Ratby
Our aim for History at Ratby Primary school is to offer a high quality education in order to inspire children’s curiosity about the past and enable them to ‘develop coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain and the wider world, as well as their local community.’ Through developing children enquiry skills, we aim to equip children to become critical thinkers and perceptive learners.
History is delivered through subject specific teaching organised within an overarching topic theme. Meaningful links are then made with other subjects in order to strengthen connections and understandings for pupils.
At Ratby Primary School, our history curriculum is designed so children develop; chronology, further their knowledge and understanding of change, continuity and cause and consequences over time. Children have the opportunity to analyse between different source types and know that interpretations of historical events may vary.
How we teach history at Ratby
Ratby History curriculum is based upon the 2014 Primary National Curriculum in England, which provides a broad framework and outlines the knowledge and skills taught progressively in each Key Stage. We have also incorporated suggestions for quality history teaching from the Ofsted 2021 research review.
To ensure high standards of teaching and learning in history, we implement a progressive curriculum through the school. EYFS children are introduced to the initial concepts that will allow them to understand history such as past and present and the story of their life and family. Our History is taught as part of a termly overarching topic using ‘Cornerstones Maestro’ to help us to design, deliver and manage our primary history curriculum through creative, exciting and engaging topics, e.g. ‘Towers, Tunnels and Turrets’ (year 2) and ‘Off with Her Head’ (year 5.) This online system also helps us to ensure broad coverage of the history curriculum’s key objectives and enquiry skills. In order for children to understand and build on their knowledge we have developed four substantive threads running through our curriculum for Key Stage 2. These threads allow children to make connections between the different periods of history that they learn about. Our threads are:
- Society
- Invasion and Conflict
- Exploration and Invention
- Hierarchy and Power.
At Ratby, we provide a variety of learning experiences both inside and outside of the classroom in order to create memorable learning opportunities and to further support and develop their understanding. These include educational visits to museums and other historical sites such as Coventry Cathedral (Year 6 in relation the World War Two) and Warwick Castle (Year 2 looking at history from beyond living memory).
History assessment is ongoing each term in order to inform teachers planning, lesson activities and differentiation throughout the school year. Additional regular monitoring takes place to evaluate the effective use of resources and good teaching practice around the school.
At Ratby children show that they are confident and enjoy talking about their learning in History using subject specific vocabulary. The impact of History learning is measured through a variety of ways such as pupil interviews, book scrutinise and images of practical based learning.
History Lead
Mrs Jagger
