ArundelHistory
A high-quality History education will help pupils gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and
that of the wider world. It should inspire pupils’ curiosity to know more about the past. Teaching should equip pupils to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments, and develop perspective and judgement. History helps pupils to understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups, as well as their own identity and the challenges of their time.
We want the children to:
- 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 contrasting arguments and interpretations of the past have been constructed.
- Gain historical perspective by placing their growing knowledge into different contexts, understanding the connections between local, regional, national and international history; between cultural, economic, military, political, religious and social history; and between short- and long-term timescales.
Through our History curriculum, we develop children to become free thinkers and the ability to use their inquiring minds to ask questions. Our History curriculum helps children to develop their voices, to share their opinions about the past and to enable them to make a positive difference to the world they are living in. Children will develop their understanding of key issues linked to social justice and inequality. We also ensure that all stereotypes such as gender equality are challenged.
The History curriculum provides opportunities for children to develop their cultural capital. This is achieved through well-planned development of schemas throughout the school, which ensures that there is a long-term depth of learning and development of ‘word power’ through the direct teaching of high level subject specific vocabulary. Every year, all children will enhance their cultural capital by participating in a historical based visit which will support their classroom-based learning. Over time, children will understand how the past influences the present and that they can learn from this and improve their future choices, as global citizens.
By subject leads - Mrs L Ames and Mr A Simpson
Implementation - how we teach it
At ACE, we teach the National Curriculum, supported by a clear skills and knowledge progression map and a whole school long term plan. This ensures that skills and knowledge are built on, year by year, and sequenced appropriately, using a schema approach, to maximise learning for all pupils. We believe it is important for our pupils to develop the progressive skills of an historian throughout their time at ACE, ensuring that there is a philosophy of knowing more rather than just simply remembering facts. As a result, and to further enhance curriculum opportunities, there is a requirement that each class has a history themed school trip. For example, pupils have visited a local historic site (St Nicholas’ Church) to help support their unit on the impact of the Civil War in the local area and visited sites where people from Arundel worked before setting off to World War 1, during our World War 1 week.
Over the term, pupils then answer smaller, broken down questions to help them find the answer to their main historic question. As aspiring historians, pupils will have the necessary skills to research, interpret evidence (including primary and secondary sources) and have the necessary skills to argue for their point of view; a skill that will help them in their adult life and across other subjects too.
- Through History, our children think analytically, take responsibility and see beyond their own horizon.
- Through History, our children know more, remember more and do more.
- Through History, our children have the opportunity to grow spiritually, to be resilient and challenge themselves and each other in order to succeed together.
- Through History, our children are encouraged to be courageous advocates who challenge inequalities in society and are able to articulate spiritual and ethical issues.
Progression Grid
