Curriculum Statement: History
‘Excellence, Truth and Grace’
‘Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.’
Philippians 4: 8-9
Curriculum Intent
The purpose of our history curriculum is to develop confident and knowledgeable pupils who are able to draw on their experiences, and those of people in the past, to build a well-informed understanding of the world. Children will develop skills and knowledge to become effective learners and 21st century citizens.
Middleton is a town with a rich and diverse history. As a learning community, we celebrate Middleton’s contribution to the local, national and international historical stories through our history curriculum. Middleton Parish Church School is passionate about our children embracing the historical and local links within our community. We are committed to developing our children’s cultural capital by starting with the history of themselves, the community and the local area before studying the past in Britain and the wider world. Our history curriculum offers a coherently planned sequence of lessons to help teachers ensure they have progressively covered the skills and concepts required in the National Curriculum. Our curriculum aims to develop historical skills and concepts which are transferable to whatever period of history is being studied and will equip children for future learning. These key historical skills and concepts, which are revisited throughout different units, are: Historical Interpretations; Historical Investigations; Chronological Understanding; Knowledge and Understanding of Events, People and Changes in the Past; Presenting, Organising and Communicating.
Middleton Parish Church School’s children will be:
- Ready to Learn: Children will have a positive, confident attitude towards learning. They will be physically and emotionally ready to learn and make links between different historical periods and build on prior knowledge.
- Respectful: Children will understand history in context and be respectful of the journey of other communities and cultures into the modern world.
- Reflective: Children will learn about historical events that inform how they live and think in today’s society, reflecting on how these have impacted on their own lives and on the lives of those around them.
- Aspirational: Children will be inspired, through a climate of high expectation, excellence and challenge to fulfil their true potential, both at Middleton Parish Church School and in their life ahead and be history makers of the future.
Curriculum Implementation
In order for children to know more and remember more in each area of history studied, there is a structure to the lesson sequence whereby prior learning is always considered and opportunities for revision of facts and historical understanding are built into lessons. Through revisiting and consolidating skills, our lessons help children build on prior knowledge alongside introducing new vocabulary, skills and challenge. Key time periods are indicated on timelines within all classrooms and will be referred to during teaching providing context to learning and helping to consolidate chronological understanding. Timelines move through year groups with children so previous learning can be documented and referred to. Through these lessons, we intend to inspire pupils and practitioners to develop a love of history and see how it has shaped the world they live in.
Middleton Parish Church School’s children will be:
- Ready to Learn: Our clear steps of progression ensure all children are ready to learn and build on their prior knowledge. Children are encouraged to ask their own questions which captures their interest and encourages them to want to know more.
- Respectful: Our curriculum promotes the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs. At Middleton Parish we reinforce these values regularly throughout the history curriculum. Throughout the curriculum they develop an understanding and respect for different cultures and faiths and the impact these have had on modern society.
- Reflective: Children are taught to reflect on what they have learnt and on how their knowledge has developed. They will reflect on the usefulness of sources of information and on how the past has informed the present.
- Aspirational: Children will be encouraged to be inquisitive; generate their own questions; interrogate evidence and will have a thirst to find out more
Curriculum Impact
The learning environment across the school will be consistent with historical technical vocabulary displayed, spoken and used by all. History is loved by teachers and pupils across school, and they to want to continue building on this wealth of historical knowledge and understanding, now and in the future. Children will improve their enquiry skills and inquisitiveness about the world and events that have shaped it. They will be confident in forming and sharing opinions based on evidence and will use reflection and feedback to evaluate and improve their work.
Middleton Parish Church School’s children will be:
- Ready to Learn: Children have confidence in what they have learnt and speak positively about history. Children can confidently make links between history and other curriculum areas.
- Respectful: Through the history curriculum, children will have learnt and considered multiple people’s journeys into the modern world and will have an understanding and respect for the history of their communities and others.
- Reflective: Children are able to reflect on what they have learnt, ask questions and make links to a variety of subjects and situations.
- Aspirational: Children will be inspired, through a climate of high expectation, excellence and challenge to fulfil their true potential, both at Middleton Parish Church School and in their life ahead and be history makers of the future.
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