Christ Church Primary School
History
‘Enquire and Aspire’.
Intent
What are our aims and what is our ethos?
History fires pupils’ curiosity and imagination, moving and inspiring them with the dilemmas, choices and beliefs of people in the past. It helps pupils develop their own identities through an understanding of history at personal, local, national and international levels. It helps them to ask and answer questions of the present by engaging with the past.
At Christ Church, we teach children how to be a historian through having wonder and curiosity about the past. Children learn how to research and gather information, develop their skills of enquiry and analysis, as well as questioning information gathered and its reliability. We believe that educational visits, artefacts and engaging knowledge-rich lessons linked to historical study enhance and enthuse pupil’s learning by bringing to life classroom knowledge.
Our vision is that pupils leave Christ Church Primary with an enquiring mind that has developed a chronological knowledge of key historical periods and facts, combined with knowledge of significant individuals who have helped shape society as it is today. Our belief is that this knowledge will help pupils make more informed life choices and aspire to be open-minded citizens who make a valuable contribution to society.
We also endeavour for children at Christ Church to acquire an appreciation of the impact of change, cause and consequence, similarities and differences and an awareness of life in our past and that of other civilisations and cultures.
Our school community is enriched by the values taught through history, such as the acceptance of different viewpoints and an appreciation of our common heritage. We make links to our five school values - as well as the promotion of fundamental British values - in our history lessons as much as possible. As a school, we value and celebrate the diverse heritages of everybody. Alongside this, we value and celebrate being part of Britain. As well as celebrating traditions and customs during the course of the year, we also value and celebrate national events, e.g. The King's Coronation. Children at Christ Church learn about being part of Britain from different perspectives. They learn where Britain is in relation to the rest of Europe and other countries in the world and about significant events in British history such as ‘The Great Fire of London’ and key historical figures such as Amelia Earhart, Edward Wilson (who was born and educated in Cheltenham) and Floella Benjamin.
Remembering Queen Elizabeth II and linking our learning to our British Values
Implementation
How do we deliver History lessons?
History at Christ Church is taught each week as part of a half-termly topic as a discrete subject, however cross curricular opportunities are planned for where possible, for example in Geography or in English lessons. Each lesson begins with a retrieval question or quiz, which, where possible, is linked to our focus on chronological awareness.
Our history curriculum begins in EYFS with 'Understanding the World'. Here, our children develop their understanding of ‘past’ and ‘present’ through learning about themselves, building up their personal experiences, understanding the diverse world and widening their vocabulary through inspiring activities. All of our teachers have received training from the EYFS lead so that they know where learning in History begins. Building on this, in Year 1 our curriculum takes the children on a thematic journey to build up their knowledge of continuity and change. In Year 2, children study significant events and people, including (but not limited to) an investigation into what happened to the Titanic and Captain Scott From From Years 3 - 6 children are taken on a chronological journey, alongside depth studies in world history.
Our History curriculum focuses on knowledge (facts) and disciplinary knowledge (skills). In addition to substantive and disciplinary knowledge, children will develop their experiential knowledge through museum visits and handling artefacts which we have on loan each half term from The Wilson Museum. Knowledge organisers support children to see the topic as a whole and give them the autonomy to revisit core knowledge (see some examples of these below).
Timelines are displayed in (or close to) each classroom in order to make sense of chronology within a topic and place the topic in its wider sequence.
Children at Christ Church make progress through:
- their knowledge about the past (substantive knowledge or facts)
- their knowledge about how historians investigate the past, and how they construct historical claims, arguments and accounts (disciplinary knowledge or skills)
At Christ Church, we have key historical concepts, also known as our golden threads that children repeatedly revisit. Our golden threads are: chronology, causation, similarity and difference, significance, change and continuity. In practice, children are able to make links between their learning from one topic and year group to another, as well as using this knowledge to make connections with the present day and their own lives.
Examples of our knowledge organisers
Impact
How is History assessed?
(See document below)
History Overview 2023 - 2024
Progression in History at Christ Church
On Monday (02.10.23), the school came together for a service to mark the start of Black History Month. Black History Month 2023 is a momentous occasion to recognise and celebrate the invaluable contributions of black people to British society and across the globe, both today and historically. The service was underpinned by Christ Church’s visions, values and school rules – respect (the value in focus for this term) was a key part of this. During the service, the children learnt about the Bristol Bus Boycott of 1963 which arose from the refusal of the Bristol Bus Company to employ black or Asian bus crews in Bristol, as well as the Race Relations Act of 1968. The children also learnt about Tyler Roberts (a Gloucestershire-born professional footballer), Rider Shafique (a Gloucester born and bred creative) and Carol Francis (Gloucester’s first black woman councillor. Throughout this month, the children will learn lots more relating to Black History Month. They will also have the opportunity to borrow books from our newly updated ‘Reading for Pleasure’ display which is of the same theme.
25/10/23 - Year 4 studied the story of Henry Box Brown and his fight for freedom. They empathised in his role and wrote detailed diary accounts in pen.
Year 2 History learning about The Great Fire of London
Each week in singing service, children learn about a new musicians. This also helps us with our continual awareness and chronological understanding, one of our 'golden threads' at Christ Church!
An example timeline from one of our singing services:
Year 5's learning about World War Two is off to a flying start! Autumn 1 2023
Photographs of some of the amazing History learning and experiences throughout Christ Church in 2023
Year 2 - Titanic
15th February 2022 - Year 3 Roman town investigation task led by student teachers from the University of Gloucestershire.
1st February 2022 - Year 2 Edward Wilson polar workshop.
