History Policy

Aims:

The purpose of teaching history in our school is:

to introduce pupils to what is involved in understanding and interpreting the past
to help pupils to understand how the past has influenced the present
to encourage pupils to understand the nature of evidence by emphasising history as a process of enquiry and develop the range of skills required to interpret primary and secondary source material
to help pupils develop a sense of identity through learning about the development of their local area, Britain and the world
to develop understanding of how the past is represented and interpreted
to help pupils develop their own values and attitudes about the past and to have an increasing understanding of the values and attitudes of others

Objectives:

As part of the Foundation Stage of the National Curriculum, children’s work is related to the objectives set out in the Early Learning Goals.

At Key Stage 1 pupils

Develop an awareness of the past and the ways in which it is different from the present. They are taught about the lives and lifestyles of people in the recent past and about famous people and events in the more distant past. They will begin to develop an understanding of change over time.
Begin to develop an awareness of time through their own lives and experience of family. This foundation is built upon through discussion, looking at photographs, books, stories, and through information technology, to encompass a greater appreciation of time, and of the differences between their own lives and times past.

During Key Stage 2 pupils build on the work begun at KS1. By the end of year 6 they have studied the following units from the NC programme of study:

A local study
Romans, Anglo-Saxons and Vikings in Britain ( in depth study of one of these)
Britain and the wider world in Tudor times
Victorian Britain
Britain since 1930
A European study: The Ancient Greeks
A world history study: Ancient Egypt
A civilisation : The Aztecs

Across both key stages pupils develop their knowledge, understanding and skills as identified within the five common strands or aspects. These are chronological understanding, historical interpretation, historical enquiry, knowledge and understanding of events and people and organisation and communication skills.

Agreed approach to teaching and learning:

· the organisation of the classes dictates that long and medium term planning cycles are on a two yearly rotational basis in an attempt to ensure that pupils have completed coverage of the NC programme of study.

· when planning the schemes of work across the key stages, attention is paid to providing pupils with i) learning experiences that provide a balance of knowledge and understanding appropriate to the key stage and ii) a balanced range of perspectives on the lives of people and societies ( political, economic, technological. social, religious, cultural and aesthetic.

· opportunities to assess pupils’ progress are identified within the short term planning. Records are kept of pupils’ achievements in history through both the teacher’s notes and the recording system for project work

· A large proportion of work undertaken by pupils has an investigative/enquiry approach. By studying primary and secondary evidence pupils ask questions, analyse information and communicate their knowledge and understanding in a variety of ways.

· Activities are created to provide opportunities for pupils to develop, apply and make progress within the wide range of historical skills and concepts e.g. chronology; change over time; social; cultural; religious and ethnic diversity; historical interpretation.

· as teachers/adults we have an awareness of the messages or bias that we might unwittingly pass on either through our questioning/discussions or selected resources/materials.

· visits and fieldwork are an important part of a pupil’s entitlement. They meet the requirement as set out in the Health and Safety policy in relation to school visits. Careful preparation ensures pupils are given tasks appropriate to their ability, which will develop their skills of observation and questioning.

· history makes a significant contribution to the development of language, literacy and occasionally numeracy. Pupils are given the opportunity to use ICT in all areas of their learning.

· activities are created within units, which will encourage pupils to reflect their own values and attitudes in relation to a wider world e.g. moral issues, democracy and tolerance. Whenever possible material is chosen so that a range of multicultural opinion is represented and women and minority groups in past societies are accurately portrayed.

· the work in history is planned to provide appropriate links with other subjects. In KS1 it is often taught as part of an integrated topic. In KS 2 it may be taught as a focussed history unit or alongside other subjects as a broad theme ( with the history objectives identified). Aspects of cross- curricular themes, citizenship and PHSE will be included where appropriate.

Inclusion: we ensure that the history curriculum is available to all pupils, with equal appropriate access regardless of sex. race, faith or ability.

Role of the co-ordinator:

The co-ordinator is responsible for the monitoring and development of the subject throughout the school.

This includes:

attending cluster group meetings and relevant courses
working alongside colleagues at both key stages
updating resources/resource boxes
checking medium term plans
monitoring progression
looking at project books and talking to pupils about their work

AMENDMENT SHEET FOR ALL POLICY STATEMENTS

HISTORY POLICY

POLICY NUMBER 7 Version 2005

DATE POLICY RATIFIED 1994

DATE POLICY LAST REWRITTEN: MAY 2005

Review Date	Amendment
Autumn 1994	Written
Spring 2005	Rewritten