History

Intent

At Maidenbower Infant School we are respectful, kind, curious and ambitious learners and this is demonstrated throughout our history learning. We believe it is important for children to learn about the past and have a good understanding of how the past has shaped their lives, giving them a true sense of identity. Quoted from Robert Penn Warren, “History cannot give us a program for the future, but it can give us a fuller understanding of ourselves, and of our common humanity so that we can better face the future”. We aim for the children at Maidenbower Infant School and Nursery to begin to gain a coherent understanding of Britain’s past and leading to future history learning about our wider world. We intend for all children at Maidenbower Infant School and Nursery to demonstrate curiosity about the world around them and to have secure knowledge and skills about history topics that have impacted on our future. We ensure that our history learning is accessible and ambitious for all.

Implementation

We provide an engaging and hands on approach to our History curriculum at Maidenbower Infant School and Nursery. We bring the past alive through workshops and visitors and real artifacts, such as old toys brought in by Horsham Museum. This enables children to learn about History in an active and practical way. We have a carefully sequenced plan of lessons, which are topic based, where children learn about changes within living memory, events beyond living memory, and significant individuals. We make it relevant for the children by thinking about their experiences and environment.

The curiosity begins in Early Years where the children explore how they have changed since they were a baby. We then take this a step further in Year 1 where they explore the history of their grandparents’ era through toys. When looking at how events beyond living memory have shaped their lives, we start off locally thinking about the history of our school and of Maidenbower itself, before branching further afield in Year 2 to learn about the Great Fire of London, and then the era of Dinosaurs.

The lives of significant individuals are also carefully planned for by ensuring we have a range of diverse and influential people of the past. In Reception, we introduce the children to Amelia Earhart and her influences on aircraft and women’s rights. In year 1, children study key influential people involved in space travel such as Neil Armstrong and then in Year 2, children learn about the importance of Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole’s work to improve healthcare.

During our history teaching, we ensure that children learn to compare and make comparisons between events, objects and places. Children learn how to sequence key events chronologically by placing them on a timeline, which also provides opportunities for previous learning to be revisited on a spiral curriculum. This also supports children to remember more and know more over time. We teach children how to effectively research and collect important and significant facts, and ask relevant questions which help to expand and consolidate their learning, demonstrating the behaviours, skills and knowledge of real historians.

Impact

By the end of their time at Maidenbower Infant School and Nursery, children will have gained a coherent understanding of Britain’s past which will provide them with the foundations for future history learning which has helped shape our world.

By the end of their history learning at Maidenbower Infant School and Nursery, children will be able to:

Demonstrate a love of finding out about the past and an understanding of how to do so by using different resources such as books, videos, artefacts, questioning etc.
Talk about the historical key events that have been covered during their time at the school and understand the importance and significance of these, such as the key historical figures or the key events of that time period.
Understand where these key events fit onto a ‘timeline,’ and be able to identify the order of these events.
Use the correct vocabulary when talking about the past and events that have occurred.
Use effective questioning which directs them to carry out the relevant research to help them uncover more about the past.

As teachers we formatively assess the children by taking the opportunity to ‘recap’ prior learning at the start of sessions. This could be done through quizzes, questioning etc. For History we will also make great use of ‘pupil voice’ as a way of children demonstrating understanding and we ensure that ‘significant’ quotes from individuals are captured and shared on key pieces of learning. Our history subject leader monitors history teaching and learning to ensure that our curriculum is current, adaptive and meets the needs of all our pupils. Precise monitoring is key to ensure that children are grasping the key knowledge and skills required.

Below, you will find our history curriculum overview. This shares our vision for history at our school, what the children will learn about in history lessons, the end of year expectations for EYFS and Key Stage 1 and the enrichment opportunities that we provide in history.