History at Battle Hill Primary School provides the children with a broad and rich curriculum, which allows the pupils a true insight into past times. Our curriculum gives the children the opportunity to visit historical sites to interest and motivate them, encouraging questions and the desire to create links between our world and the past. We strive to develop a passion for history which will nurture our pupils’ curiosity and inspire them to ask how and why…Can the same event be interpreted in many different ways? To promote this we provide a range of sources to evaluate and challenge the pupils’ own, and others, views and opinions. History lessons at our school aim to help the pupils understand the complexities of people’s lives, of different societies and groups, as well as looking at the challenges of their lifetime. Are there lessons we can learn from the past?
We do this by:
- Investigating people and events in the past and comparing them to modern day lives, and placing the children’s growing knowledge and understanding into different contexts.
- Teaching high quality research skills, showing the children how to examine evidence and appreciate there is more than one point of view and looking at a range of evidence, investigating which are reliable sources, then using this information to support explanations and judgements
- Presenting primary sources for the children to examine and think critically about.
- Enhancing our ties with the local community by inviting local residents into school to relay their stories of the past, including showing artefacts from their own histories which provide a meaningful opportunity to engage, discuss, ask questions and initiate lines of enquiry
- Visiting sights of historical importance to enrich and enliven the topics studied, and encouraging drama activities which create empathy and understanding, and the possibility of communicating to a range of audiences
- Gaining full understanding and embedding abstract vocabulary ie parliament, Empire and civilisation, by continually revisiting these terms across topics and year groups (where appropriate).
- Understanding historical concepts and using them to make connections and draw contrasts
- Understanding chronology by providing a timeline in each classroom to chart the passing time
History-Statement of Impact
The history curriculum at Battle Hill Primary promotes a natural interest and enthusiasm for times gone by. It provides the opportunity to develop the skills and confidence to extract the truth from the past by studying interesting artefacts and documents. Pupils are given the chance to ask precise questions, apply research skills and use deduction methods wherever possible. Over time the children in our school can form arguments and communicate these arguments to others, using historical concepts and the correct vocabulary.