History at Ben Rhydding
Intent
History is taught by class teachers through “Topic” lessons. Teachers often use the subject of History to enhance and develop the learning in other curriculum areas e.g. art or DT. Throughout their time at Ben Rhydding, children will gradually build up a toolkit of skills that will encourage analytical thinking of past events to compare, contrast and evaluate the impact on our lives today and be curious in their learning.
Teachers look for opportunities to work towards a real purpose e.g. living Museum, Home Learning Gallery or a public exhibition and will compliment class-based learning with external sources in the form of educational visits and or experts.
Implementation
The Big Ideas that we want pupils to develop on their journey through school fall into 5 themes or concepts: Culture, Stories, Legacies, Individuals and Belief. These help us make the connections between different historical periods as we compare these themes which are common to all. Our learners can build links, deepen understanding and therefore make them more able to consider the impact on our lives today.
At Ben Rhydding we recognise the importance of vocabulary. All teaching sequences start with a “Defining Frame” and “Vocab Map”. In addition, we have substantive concepts running through Year 1 to Year 6. These concepts allow for common threads to be created in different topics. That allows the children at Ben Rhydding see links running throughout different Topic areas.
Impact
In “Topic” lessons we encourage “Topic Partners” which enables all children to take responsibility for their learning. Through History we aim to foster a sense of pride in our work and an understanding of one’s role in developing self-regulation and becoming excellent historians.
Supporting SEND
We support SEND in Topic through a variety of different ways. These include: open ended outcomes with an emphasis on showing their learning through multiple ways not just reading and writing; Peer support through carefully decided ‘Topic Partners’; communication friendly classrooms with task planners visible for all children and explicit teaching of ‘key vocabulary’ for their topic.
What pupils say…
Child A has an excellent understanding and reflected on how history makes you think about your own lives and how others are different. He found the comparative work really interesting i.e. Egypt and Stone age. He remembers Romans from Year 4 because he is particularly interested in that time period. He liked learning about Linnaeus as it linked science and history. He expressed a desire to have more time to ‘ask’ historical questions and explore these rather than being taught a set amount of information.
Child B has a passion for history and she has enjoyed making links between Romans and Shang Dynasty. She has enjoyed a carousel approach where you have multiple different activities in one afternoon. She has enjoyed researching more on the topics learnt at school with the Home Learning Galleries. She has liked working with topic partners between Year Groups.