History curriculum

Transitional Plan for Geography & History for academic year 2023.24 only

Following cyclical review, and reflecting current research and Ofsted Subject Reviews, History and Geography long term plan have been refined. This is grounded in our thinking that a successful curriculum reflects careful thinking and rationale behind what is taught, the sequencing of learning and the relationships between the different forms of knowledge.

In the refined long term plan, KS2 History is now delivered in chronological order. Geography blocks are now directly followed by History blocks so that links in learning can be built in the vast majority of units. This enables us to better contextualise locations in aspects of the History block where possible, in order to strengthen developing schema and acquisition of knowledge, as well as to provide greater opportunity to apply knowledge into a range of writing forms.

Transition to the new long-term plan will require a four-term transitional period (See Below). The strategic thinking underpinning this is to ensure there is no repetition whilst enabling children to still cover all strands of the History and Geography National Curriculum.

Intent for TVED History

We aim for our history curriculum to provide children with an understanding of chronology and the knowledge to communicate the impact of significant historical events and individuals on our lives today, and the lives of others, using appropriate vocabulary. We want children to be curious to know more about the past and to have the skills required to explore their own interests. It is important for children to develop a sense of identity through learning about the past and we want them to know how history has shaped their own lives. For reference, take a look at the Department for Education history curriculum guidance here.

Outcomes

By the end of KS1 most children will be able to:

• speak and write about familiar and famous people and events from the recent and more distant past, using everyday terms concerned with the passing of time;  
• distinguish between aspects of their own everyday lives and the lives of people in the past;  
• identify some ways in which the past is represented;  
• find out about the past by asking and answering questions using a range of sources of information.

By the end of KS2 most children will be able to:

• describe the contribution made by people, events and developments in the recent and more distant history of Britain and other countries and make links across the periods of history studied;  
• give some reasons for, and results of, main events and changes and provide explanations about why people in the past acted as they did;  
• find out about the past by asking and answering questions using a range of sources of information;  
• give some explanations for the different ways the past is represented and interpreted;  
• record their knowledge and understanding about the past in a variety of ways using dates and historical terms.