History

Intent 

At Lynch Hill, we know that history is so much more than merely a record of events; it is the examination of the past and this demands critical use of evidence. For us, history is the process of enquiry, the search for evidence, and the examination of this evidence by sorting, evaluating and weighing it. This can be a simple explanation of how we know an object is old in EYFS, through to an analysis of fragments of pot evidence when studying the role of women in Ancient Greece in Year 6.  

History at Lynch Hill can perhaps be summed up in just a few statements: we want children to be able to order events in time; find differences and similarities; write and talk about the past; use different sources for information; ask and answer searching questions. All classes in each year group will do all of these at some point and aim to link ‘then’ with ‘now’ so that they recognise an ever-changing world and their place in it. 

Our curriculum is designed to develop knowledge and skills that are progressive, as well as transferable such as research, observation, recording and presentation. We intend for our history offer to be an offer for all, where necessary adaptions are planned and implemented so that all children are suitably challenged and can achieve. 

Children at Lynch Hill make progress in history by knowing and remembering more history content. Pupils develop their substantive knowledge of the past and their knowledge of history as a discipline. The intent in KS1 is for children to acquire an understanding of time, events and people within their own living memory as well as their parents’ and grandparents’ memories. The intent in KS2 is that children work in chronological order from Year 3 to Year 6 on the core British history study units taken from the national curriculum. This will start with prehistoric Britain taught in Year 3 and onto more modern history in Year 6 with the World War II unit. Year groups will also teach about ancient civilisations. The aim is for children to develop and embed a sense of time, understand how civilisations were interconnect and to be exposed to a diverse range of history topics.  

Implementation 

At Lynch Hill, history is taught discretely. The key knowledge is clearly identified for each area of learning and consideration has been given to ensure progression across the school. History learning will start in the Early Years. This will allow all children to develop a foundation knowledge to enable them to access more complex schema in the later years. By the end of Year 6, pupils will have developed a chronological understanding of British history from the Stone Age right through to the present day. They will be given the opportunity to draw comparisons and make links between different historical periods; they will also be given the opportunity to study civilisations such as Ancient Greece and Ancient Egypt.   

At the beginning of each unit of learning, children are able to convey what they know already as well as what they would like to find out using a knowledge harvest. Within lessons, children are given the opportunity to question, to present their thinking in different ways and to reflect upon their learning of new knowledge and skills. Learning is broken into small, manageable chunks and posed as questions for the children to answer within each lesson. 

The content of lessons and units of work has been carefully selected and sequenced. Repetition of the key content and concepts will ensure that children have multiple encounters with this learning to support memorisation and strengthen children’s developing schema. Knowledge organisers are used within each year group to help the children to acquire subject specific vocabulary and remember key information.  

To help children with real-life context, the local area is utilised where appropriate to achieve targeted outcomes and specific trips are planned to enhance learning. Oracy is developed within lessons and key sentences are repeated to help children to remember more. The children are given opportunities to revisit concepts using ‘flashbacks’ within lessons. This ensures that children are remembering more and making links to previous learning.   

Key texts have been carefully selected to throughout the history curriculum to promote a love of reading but also to enrich historical understanding and help the children to empathise and make sense of specific time periods.  

Impact 

Lesson visits, discussions with pupils, informal assessments and outcomes in books demonstrate children’s acquisition of identified key knowledge and skills. Displays, used as working walls, will map out the pupils’ learning journey. As they progress through the school, they develop a deeper knowledge, understanding and appreciation of Britain, the wider world and how it has changed over time. Learning presentations showcase to a wider audience the children’s depth of understanding. 

A strong emphasis is placed on analytical thinking and questioning which helps pupils gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of the past and make them more curious to know more about it, recognising how our past influences the present and the future. Through the study of history, our pupils learn to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments, and develop perspective and judgement. Such skills will serve them well as they move onto secondary school and beyond. 

Assessment of history at Lynch Hill focuses on the content and concepts that we are teaching within each area of learning. Informative assessments are used to provide useful info about gaps and misconceptions and inform future lessons. Knowledge checks at the end of each lesson ensure that the key learning for the lesson is recapped and can be used as an informative assessment. These are presented as low-stake quizzes. Children are able to demonstrate their knowledge through discussion, evidence in their books and assessment against key learning outcomes. 

Knowledge organisers for each unit provide pupils and parents with the key vocabulary, knowledge and skills to be developed throughout the unit. These can be used to help the pupils to remember and apply their learning within lessons and reflect upon what they have learnt. 

Please follow this link to find out which areas of learning are being covered in each year group. 

The key texts for each unit can be accessed here: