At Bolney our intent for teaching History is that the children will gain a meaningful understanding of the Britain’s past as well as the rest of the world’s. We aim for children’s understanding to be clear and in context, to help children gather the essential knowledge but more importantly the skills to work as historians. This primarily involves questioning, thinking critically, weighing up contrasting opinions, developing perspective and reaching informed judgements.
We aim to help children understand people’s lives throughout history, understand how and why societies, groups and relationships change. We also discuss how the past has shaped and continues to shape the world today.
Developing curiosity about history is essential and we encourage children to develop ownership of their learning. Topics can be tailored to follow children’s interests and teachers will plan and adapt topics to meet the needs of the children.
History at Bolney is enquiry based and children develop research skills as they seek answers to probing questions.
Children learn best when they are able to experience things first hand. We use drama as an essential tool for understanding the past. This develops empathy, allows children to consider different perspectives and gives purpose for learning. History is about more than remembering facts and as children have a wealth of information at their fingertips it is important to teach children what to do with information and how to interpret it. In an ever-changing world, we equip children to consider and challenge what they have read rather than to simply accept what they have been told.
Children in key stage two will present history learning in a variety of ways. Where possible, learning will be interwoven with other curriculum areas. In particular reading and writing, computing and technology and geography.
Work is assessed as teachers refer to our progression of skills as well as through written work. It is also important to recognise that historical understanding is not the same as evaluating writing skills therefore debates, discussions and participation in drama or class work also makes up a key part of assessment in history.