Those that fail to learn from history, are doomed to repeat it. - Winston Churchill

“How we got to now” is the overriding aim of the History secondary curriculum at DACA. Through a shared understanding and knowledge of our past history, we aim to give our students the ability to understand who they are and their place in the world.

We aim to inspire a love of learning and the ability to ask questions. Our History curriculum allows our students to ask and develop perceptive questions to help them understand the past and the present. In an ever-changing world, History allows our students to look to past examples, learn from them and ensure that as citizens we do not make the same mistakes that those before us may have done.

The History curriculum aims to give pupils a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world. It inspires students’ curiosity to know more about the past. Teaching equips pupils to ask enquiring questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments, and develop perspective and judgement. History helps pupils to understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups, as well as their own identity and the challenges of their time.

What we teach and when we teach it

History Team

The History faculty comprises a committed and hardworking team with a range of experiences and skills.

Mr Adam Turner - Head of History
Miss Rachel Duckworth - Teacher of Religious Studies and History
Mrs Anne Farrar - Teacher of Health and Social and History

Intent

We aim to engender a love of learning, self-belief and aspiration through several intentions that are unpacked further. Those intentions are removing barriers to learning; developing knowledge and skills for learning in a range of subjects; developing personal attributes and to enrich students’ experiences and broaden their horizons.

Through our curriculum provision we intend to develop the opportunity to:

• study issues at a local, national and international level in Ancient, Medieval, Early Modern and Modern time periods
• understand Britain’s influence on the wider world
• study the history and influence of different peoples and places across time
• assess the impact of events on individual and communities
• be exposed to a high level of historical and conceptual vocabulary
• learn to interpret a broad range of sources including visual sources and propaganda
• be exposed to different peoples’ perspectives on issues and events
• develop an understanding of how to apply and write about historical concepts such as causation; continuity and change; significance; consequence; diversity
• challenge received wisdom about historical figures and issues
• develop confidence in orating and debating historical issues and evaluate historical interpretations

Implementation

Students learn within a coherent chronological framework because it allows key concepts and themes such as civilisation, society, government to be interwoven and promotes the ability to see the evolution of concepts. It provides the opportunity to measure pace, extent and trends in change and continuity over time and it means that students are able to make relevant links between historical episodes such as the black death and the industrial revolution. There is progression between key stages 2, 3 and 4, with students being exposed to themes and content that will allow all students to access KS4 and alongside this there is an increasing level of challenge and complexity to enquiries. There is appropriate division of time between Ancient, Medieval, Early Modern and Modern topics and students will develop a narrative of British history which is supported by theories of cognitive load.

Our curriculum is delivered in such a way that students are presented with enquiry based studies set within a broader historical context, with a focus on developing students’ analytical writing by focussing on description, explanation and evaluation. The regular use of live modelling and exemplar answers to demonstrate processes, standards and expectations and a range of strategies to deepen knowledge so that it is committed to long term memory are all used in order to support the progress that students make. We recognise the importance of giving students regular opportunities to improve work by providing real time and live marking; closing gaps as they appear.

Students are presented with opportunities to interrogate current historical debates and they will develop new skills through a variety of interesting contexts to foster enjoyment.

We enrich our curriculum by establishing cross-curricular links and providing on and off-site subject or topic related experiences. We aim to offer opportunities for children to learn outdoors where appropriate and encourage students to contribute to the life of the school and the community, including remembrance activities. We develop partnerships with external providers that extend children’s opportunities for learning and build on their understanding of the importance of British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and tolerance and respect. This in turn improves their spiritual, social, moral and cultural understanding.

Impact

We will assess if we are having the positive impact we aim for through regular monitoring (for example book scrutinies and learning walks) to ensure we are leading to positive progress for all. The curriculum will be evident across all lessons and students will be able articulate their learning confidently. This will also be reflected in student voice surveys, with students indicating that they are engaged and enjoying their History lessons.

Assessment data will be collected and utilised in a meaningful way, for example, to address misconceptions in learning and to target intervention to improve individual outcomes and monitor progress. This is done via the use of real time feedback and live marking of students’ work, providing them with the opportunity to correct and close gaps in the moment. In terms of planning for learning, data is used to ensure that lessons provide appropriate stretch and challenge to those who are most able and provides appropriate learning experiences to those that struggle to access particular aspects of the curriculum. We use do now activities and recall questions to re-affirm prior learnt knowledge. This data will also be used to seek out and close gaps in students’ knowledge so that all students are able to make progress. Key pieces such as half termly assessments and GCSE practice questions are marked in full with raw marks/ grades given. Strengths and areas to improve are noted by the teacher.