Statement of Intent - History
At St. John the Baptist, the National Curriculum underpins our history planning, with skills and knowledge mapped out carefully to ensure our children have a good understanding of Britain and the wider world. Our intent is that our children understand how the past influences the present, and through learning about past events, the children develop transferable skills and a sound progression of knowledge as they move through the school.
Our aim is to enable children, regardless of background, ability and additional needs to be motivated, effective and independent life-long learners. By offering a stimulating and carefully structured experience in history, the children have the opportunity to revisit their previous learning, deepen their understanding and develop the necessary skills to enable them to succeed.
IMPLEMENTATION
Our history curriculum is planned using the knowledge and skills outlined in the National Curriculum, in Key Stage 1 and 2. The Early Years Foundation Stage framework is followed by our reception children. The children are guided to explore their surroundings to make sense of the physical world around them and their community. They explore, observe and discover things about people, places, the environment and technology with the support of the EYFS staff.
Year 1 & 2 follow the same topics, planned and delivered at their individual year groups to ensure support and challenge is present across all their historical learning.
Key Stage 2 have split the curriculum objectives across the three classes, to ensure depth and breadth as well as opportunities to build on previous learning. For example, Rowan Class will learn about Ancient Egypt in ‘Year A’ and The Shang Dynasty in ‘Year B’, while Holly Class will learn about Maya Civilisation in ‘Year A’ and Benin in ‘Year B’. Oak Class will learn about Ancient Greece in both ‘Year A’ and ‘Year B’, to further develop depth, meaning that all children will always revisit the Ancient Civilisations, no matter which class they are in, making learning memorable, relevant and easy to retrieve.