History at Fox Hill
Intent
At Fox Hill Primary School, we:
- Have the belief that all pupils can achieve
- Aim to deliver inspiring, engaging and exciting history lessons
- Keep the class working together so that all children can explore the past as a team
- Embed a rich vocabulary within every lesson to deepen children’s understanding of past events and key figures
- Revisit key vocabulary and concepts to ensure all children have a strong understanding of them and can provide examples from a range of units
- Aim to provide a wider picture of British and worldwide history through the use of an on-going timeline that is carried up with each class from year 3 to year 6.
- Encourage children to explore the links between different periods of study and countries in the world
- Spend a longer time on unfamiliar concepts, judging the needs of all children and classes individually and adapting our planning appropriately
- Demonstrate the skill of debate and how to assess the reliability of evidence thus allowing our children to become true historians
- Provide opportunities for children to ask their own questions and research potential answers independently
- Insist children show respect to others during any historical debate or discussion
- Expect a high level of literacy skills to be used within history lessons
- Encourage children in Upper KS2 to explore and compare the opinions of key historians, preparing them for KS3 History
Implementation
What might you typically see?
- An introduction lesson at the beginning of each new topic that explores ‘Meanwhile, Elsewhere’ around the world and why the period is said to start at that point in time.
- An opportunity to carry out a ‘Knowledge Harvest’ at the beginning of each topic which then informs future planning
- Children accessing a range of materials- reports, artefacts, photos, websites, appropriate books, off site visits and visitors
- A ‘Big Question’ being posed to the class at the beginning of the study, which will guide the overall direction of teaching
- Whole class direct teaching with lots of opportunities to discuss and explore concepts, events and key figures
- Talk partners of mixed ability (with lots of opportunities to talk and reason)
- Teachers using AFL to assess children’s understanding
- Children speaking in full sentences
- Children working in small groups to investigate, record and present their findings to their peers and teachers
- Children engaging in a respectful and informative debate
- The unit ending with a written answer to their overall ‘Big Question’ of that particular period of history
- The unit ending by exploring why it is said to end when it does and what comes next in British or worldwide history
- A class timeline displayed clearly within the room, including key dates, figures and vocabulary.
- Children ‘note-taking’ from resources rather than copying large amounts of text
What won’t you see?
- Children left behind due to a lack of understanding
- Children using unreliable internet websites when researching
How we provide additional support to those struggling and stretch and deepen the learning of the ‘rapid-graspers’:
- AFL will be used throughout lessons to determine a child’s level of understanding; class TAs may be used to support discussion for those children who need extra help.
- Teachers may plan short ‘pre-teaching’ sessions for those who need help understanding key concepts, events or vocabulary
- Children who have demonstrated that they have a secure understanding are challenged further through pre-planned deeper questions or by being asked to demonstrate their understanding of a key concept by finding examples from a previously taught period of history and discussing the similarities and differences e.g. trade, empire, invasion.
- Misconceptions are addressed to the whole class promptly
- Parents are kept up to date on their child’s progress and given ideas to support at home if necessary.
Impact
Formative assessment
- Immediate feedback and mini plenaries are used throughout lessons so that teachers can intervene swiftly to help pupils having difficulties
- Peer to peer feedback where appropriate
- Individual stamping or verbal feedback to any written pieces of work
Summative assessment
- Photographic evidence on the school P drive or in children’s learning logs
- Written pieces of work, particularly at the end of the unit addressing the ‘Big Question’