History has always been held in high regard at Crudgington, with the academy’s own rich history and in accordance with the context of the local area. Our History curriculum includes termly topics for all children from Year 1 to Year 6. We aim to offer a high-quality history education that will help pupils gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world. We celebrate, and have incorporated, the rich history of our local area and the significant people into our curriculum. Our curriculum 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 the relationships between different groups. It also helps children gain a sense of their own identity within a social, political, cultural and economic background. Because of this, we feel it is important for the subject to be taught discretely, as well as incorporated within other curriculum subjects such as English and Art.

Our history curriculum will enable all pupils to become successful pupils, through exploring the breadth and depth of the national curriculum and to learn within a coherent, carefully sequenced and progressive framework that will inspire their curiosity to know more about the past. They will develop a rich and deep subject knowledge, developing new knowledge and skills through a variety of interesting contexts, which will enable them to see clear links between different aspects of their learning. Teaching will equip children to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments, and develop perspective and judgement. Our children will develop and demonstrate their creativity and will experience the challenge and enjoyment of learning. History will help 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. They will be helped to understand the purpose and value of their learning to see its relevance to their past, present and future. “A high-quality history education will help pupils gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world.”

Children will:

• Know and understand the history of Britian 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 humanity;
• 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 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;
• Explore different beliefs, experiences, faiths, feelings and values towards different times in History; Enjoy learning about the work of others around them and the surrounding world;
• Use imagination and creativity when working and will be encouraged to reflect on their experiences; Learn to appreciate cultural influences throughout History and use this learning to inform their ideas;
• Understand, accept, respect and celebrate diversity throughout History.

Our History curriculum will:

• Give children the opportunity to use a range of social skills to make a positive contribution to the local community and beyond;
• Allow children to appreciate diverse viewpoints about historical events throughout the ages; participate, volunteer and cooperate when working collaboratively; and resolve conflict, when it arises;
• Show children how to respect and tolerate the opinions of others;
• Be part of a system where everyone will be free to express views and ideas.
• Will give children the opportunity to learn in a peaceful and supportive environment where they will get to work in a range of groups and settings, build respectful friendships and recognise that people are good at different areas in across the historical spectrum. Children will learn how to respect themselves and others and to develop their self-esteem and confidence in their abilities. They will reflect and think mindfully about their learning and will be encouraged to follow their interests and to be themselves;
• Give children the opportunity to express their opinions on a range of different historical events. They will take part in age-appropriate discussions and make choices about the work that they complete. Children will be asked to share what they like and dislike about their learning and will be invited to contribute to the planning of their learning journey. All children will be encouraged to make a positive contribution to the school and local community and explore ways of using outcomes to become a responsible global citizen;
• Be taught through a pedagogy that excites, promotes and sustains children’s interest, enabling and fostering their natural curiosity. They will be offered a memorable experience at the start of every topic and will learn how to problem solve, how to be creative and how to communicate. Our history curriculum will enable the children to reflect on and evaluate their learning and will promote their innovation;
• We will enrich our history curriculum by using quality resources in and out of the classroom as well as offering opportunities for the children to learn outdoors. We will provide on and off-site subject or topic related activities. It is important for us to welcome parents and carers to take part in children’s learning and experiences, and we will develop partnerships with external providers that extend children’s opportunities for learning.