History
Curriculum Leader: Miss Mollie Turner
Intent: At Pilgrim Academy, our aim is to deliver a high-quality history curriculum that inspires children to want to know more about the past and to think and act as historians. By linking learning to a range of thematic topics, children have opportunities to investigate and interpret the past, understand chronology, build an overview of Britain’s past as well as that of the wider world, and be able to communicate historically.
Our aim is to ignite this curiosity at an early age in Early Years, through the Understanding the World module, where children begin learning about the past, in a number of ways. For example, through work connected to older generations and family members but also through reference to key events such as the Gunpowder Plot.
We want to bring history alive and develop skills such as empathy, supported through a range of teaching methods, including making and producing replica artefacts, such as Greek pots. In addition, our wider enrichment programme enhances the importance of local and national events and also helps to engage pupils and develop interests. For example, we participated in the Mayflower 400 Project, a key focus for Immingham, and important in helping to promote a sense of pride and belonging for the children. Where relevant, specific visits or visitors will be considered to further knowledge and skills, and again, to excite and enthuse.
When the children leave and embark on their secondary education, our aim is to have developed young historians who have:
- An excellent knowledge and understanding of people, events and contexts from a range of historical periods, including significant events in Britain’s past;
- The ability to think critically about history and communicate ideas confidently to a range of audiences;
- The ability to support, evaluate and challenge their own and others’ views using historical evidence from a range of sources;
- The ability to think, reflect, debate, discuss and evaluate the past by formulating and refining questions and lines of enquiry;
- A respect for historical evidence and the ability to make critical use of it to support their learning;
- A desire to embrace challenging activities, including opportunities to undertake high-quality research across a range of history topics;
- A developing sense of curiosity about the past and how and why people interpret the past in different ways.
What approach do we take to teaching History? Most curriculum subjects are taught through a thematic approach. For example, the theme topic may focus on Life in Ancient Greece; Around the World in 80 Days; The Animal Kingdom, amongst many other areas. Our medium-term plans then identify the following, where staff will ensure coverage and skills across the curriculum subject areas, including History:
- Intent: What wider skills do we want the children to have developed by the end of this theme, supporting future learning and life skills?
- Intent: Outline the factual/topical areas that will be covered, enhancing the development of knowledge and cultural capital?
- Intent: What opportunities will there be to develop literacy and numeracy skills?
- Intent: Cross-Curricular links: Which curriculum areas will be covered during this theme, developing cross-curriculum knowledge and skills?
- Impact: What opportunities will be provided to assess the development of knowledge and skills?
- Impact: What specific areas of knowledge/skills will be developed during this theme, which will be assessed at different times by the teacher and by the pupil?
- Impact: What specific wider skills will be developed during this theme, which will be assessed at different times by the teacher and by the pupil?
Alongside this, we use Milestones for teachers and Curriculum Leaders to monitor coverage and track progress across the curriculum, ensuring appropriate sequencing is in place. We use the milestones created by Chris Quigley Education, in conjunction with our thematic planning to ensure the children develop their knowledge and skills as they move from Early Years through to Key Stage 1 and 2. If you click on the tabs below, you will see the milestones for Early Years; Years 1 & 2 Years 3 & 4 and Years 5 & 6.