At Our Lady of Lourdes we aim to promote a love of learning about history through more active, hands-on and engaging lessons. Children will use the language of sequencing and higher level, age-appropriate vocabulary to order events and make links between the periods and people they study throughout school. Pupils will be equipped with knowledge of the past and understand how it has impacted their lives today. They will learn how this can help support their future. Children will explore different sources, interrogating them which will support them in realising there are different interpretations of the past. Opportunities to build on children’s cultural capital are embedded in all aspects of the history curriculum. History is enhanced through cross-curricular links in many other subjects; children record their learning in a variety of ways. Diversity is taught and, in line with our mission statement, children will learn how religion has changed throughout the past and how people from a variety of cultures have influenced society today. 

Our history curriculum develops skills throughout the year groups, with each year adding more technical historical vocabulary and gaining more in-depth knowledge, which is to be built upon. The building blocks children are given in Early Years lay a foundation for the rest of their learning.

Teachers will plan opportunities for the use of artefacts, visitors, visits and workshops

At the beginning of a theme teachers should activate children’s prior knowledge drawing upon any information they can recall about history topics they have studied. They should record what children already know and any questions children would like to find out. This prior knowledge should be used as a baseline for planning lessons. Teachers ensure learning takes place through practical and engaging lessons, including outdoor and adventurous activities linking with PE.

Evidence of work is collected through theme books, as well as floorbooks. Discussions and more active learning is recorded using photographs and other notation.

The pupils’ knowledge of history is collected through knowledge leaves that are attached to the learning tree. The development of their knowledge of history can also be collected through discussions, classroom walkthroughs, lessons observations and work scrutinies. At the end of each theme, children will present and reflect their learning and new skills through an assortment of different ways.