History Curriculum Intent

At Chudleigh, we believe that a high-quality history education will help pupils gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of local history, Britain’s past and that of the wider world. History should be engaging and inspirational, teaching pupils to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence 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.

A sense of history begins from an early age, with children’s own personal experiences and memories. Through their relationships with grandparents and other family members, they start to explore deeper into the past, but still in a way that is relatable to them.

It is our goal that all children should develop:

● a sense of chronology and time and an understanding of how people lived in the past.

● an awareness of life in different societies or cultures and a knowledge of how beliefs and cultures influenced people’s actions.

● an understanding of cause and effect such as how events in history have changed our lives or affected the way in which we live as well as an understanding of how historical events and people have influenced our lives today.

● an awareness of significant events and people in British and world history and a knowledge of local, national and international historical events.

● the skills of enquiry, investigation, analysis, interpretation, and evaluation.

We want our children to connect with historical periods through a meaningful context. From KS1, we teach history through an Enquiry-based approach. Skills, knowledge and vocabulary are planned for and extended through progressive Enquiries through the school, where ‘historian’ is a lead or supporting ‘state of being’.

Rather than teaching historical periods in isolation, we gradually build up an understanding of the past through examining events that are relevant and accessible to the children. For example, in the Year 1 Enquiry ‘Who helps whom?’, we use our proximity to the coast to explore the role of the RNLI; how they might have helped people in the past and how their role has changed over time, with a specific focus on the life of Grace Darling.

As pupils’ historical skills develop, we consider the question ‘How can we find out about people in the past?’ in Year 3, where pupils examine a range of primary and secondary historical sources, considering their value and what we can learn and infer from them.

In Year 6 ‘Who were the greater engineers, Ancient Britons or Victorians?’ gives the children to use their analytical skills to make a direct, informed comparison, using carefully examined evidence to back up their findings.

At the beginning of new Enquiries, children complete an initial vocabulary assessment in order to ensure teaching is appropriately pitched and pertinent to the needs of the pupils. This task is then repeated as the Enquiry draws to an end and used as an assessment tool. At the end of Enquiries, we also plan an independent challenge, where children have the opportunity to show what they have learnt.

History Subject Overview