History at Berrymede
At Berrymede we intend to develop young historians through historical enquiry. We aim to inspire children’s curiosity about the past and give them an understanding of how relevant history is to their lives. Our diverse curriculum enables children to develop a spark and fascination about British and global history and how it has shaped our present day through historical interpretation.
Implementation
Historical topics at Berrymede are set across the years in a chronological order. Pupils have daily access to timelines and events that have occurred in the past and are able to make connections to the modern world. All learning starts by revisiting prior knowledge through our KWL strategy (What I know, What I would like to Know and What I have Learnt). This is scaffolded to support children to recall previous learning and make connections. Staff model subject-specific vocabulary, knowledge and skills relevant to the learning to allow them to integrate new knowledge into larger concepts.
We also develop children’s critical thinking skills from questioning historical sources. Examples include using historical artefacts, attending trips linked to the curriculum, understanding the relevance of black history and exploring the vast history the school and the local area has to offer.
Through our enquiry approach pupils develop a secure knowledge and understanding of British, local and world history. This is achieved by pupils investigating one overarching key question in their topic which is explored weekly. Pupils are given the opportunity to construct informed responses using and selecting relevant historical sources and evidence.
Our history curriculum is high quality carefully planned to demonstrate progression and deep learning. We focus on progression of chronological understanding, knowledge and understanding of events, people and changes in the past, historical interpretation, historical enquiry, organisation and communication. Discreet vocabulary progression also form part of the units of work.
Impact
We measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:
- Assessing children’s understanding of topic linked vocabulary before and after the unit is taught.
- Images and videos of the children’s practical learning.
- Interviewing the pupils about their learning (pupil voice).
- Moderation staff meetings where pupil’s books are scrutinised and there is the opportunity for a dialogue between teachers about the teaching and learning across the school.
- Termly reporting of standards across the curriculum.
- Marking of written work in books.
- Summative assessment
- Child-friendly targets which allow pupils to take ownership of their learning and assessment which is tracked throughout their time at Berrymede.
By the time our children leave Berrymede, we want them to have an appreciation of historical events and places and how they have influenced modern life; to be inspired to seek further knowledge and understanding in preparation for the next phase of their lives
