History
In line with the 2014 National Curriculum for History, we want all our pupils to be equipped with the knowledge and skills to be historians. At Alvaston Junior Academy being a historian means
- Having an understanding of chronology to place local, British and World history in context
- Investigating and interpreting the past using a range of sources and where necessary question those sources to be able to develop their reasoning about continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance of historical events
- Reflecting on and being inspired by events from the past and be curious about how they have impacted on our lives
- Think critically about historical events and to communicate their ideas and learning confidently about events from the past in different ways to a wide range of audiences
- Developing a progressive historical vocabulary that enables them to express their learning, ideas and opinions
- Identifying recurring themes throughout history to understand the connections between cultural, social, political, military, religious and economic history through time
CORE
Confidence
Knowledge about the past gives you the cultural capital to be part of the present. Pupils are given the tools to discuss, make links to and evaluate the past as a means make links to the present day.
Oracy
We want pupils to talk about and discuss the past. Pupils will be provided with sentence stems to structure their talk about the past. Children will also be encouraged to ask historical questions and discuss them with their peers. Pupils will encounter a lot of Tier 3 vocabulary (words specific to history and to different time periods studied). Pupils will also use a range of Tier 2 vocabulary (explain, discuss, analysis, study).
Reading
History at AJA encourages pupils to use a range of sources, online and in paper form. Pupils will be expected to read, understand and evaluate historical texts or texts about historical events. They will be encouraged to read fictional texts with a historical back storty.
Experience
Children’s?experience?of?History?is positive in a respected,?valued and safe environment.? They experience a wide range of practical activities which encourage them to challenge?views?and question?theories.??History is embedded throughout our curriculum and the children?become immersed in the unit and deepen their understanding.
Through all of these the teacher will build in opportunities to identify and work on The Harmony Trust character competencies.
Concepts
Key concepts are included in our curriculum to help pupils integrate new knowledge into existing schema. The concepts in history are
- Continuity – how things stay the same from one time period to the other
- Consequence – how historical events have different effects
- Similarities and Differences – how we can compare different time periods and ask what is the same and what is different
- Cause and Effect – of any historical event we can ask what lead to it and what happened as a result of it
- Significance – the idea that certain events are particularly important. Perhaps because they lead to change or are especially bad.
- Chronology – the concept of time
Mrs Saunby is our History Curriculum leader. If you would like to know more about the History curriculum, please contact her at: DSaunby01@alvaston.theharmonytrust.org.
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“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots”
(Marcus Garvey)
