History
Why is History part of the RFA curriculum?
History is an integral part of developing ‘The whole child’. We believe it is essential that children have an understanding of the past and can see how history will shape their future. We believe that through our history curriculum, children will continuously develop their sense of curiosity as well as their enquiry skills. They are actively encouraged to ask critical questions and answer these using a wide range of sources. By becoming critical thinkers in history, pupils are able to use evidence, provide reasons for their ideas and challenge the ideas of others. Students will explore things that happened in the past and the impact they have had on the present day, in order to move forward as members of the local and global community. Pupils at RFA receive consistently high quality, captivating and engaging history lessons; these are linked to a range of engaging topics. During history lessons, children have the opportunity to explore a wide range of physical artefacts as well as high quality images and videos. We seek to broaden pupils’ cultural capital by providing them with the opportunity to visit a range of museums or other sites explicitly linked to their topic.
What is taught as part of the History curriculum?
At RFA, we follow teach designed topics that ensure the development of historical skills and ensure that pupil knowledge is consolidated, developed and extended over their years at primary school. The topics we have planned aim to ensure that the component knowledge builds up to ensure a deep knowledge that can be easily remembered and accessed from long term memory.
The youngest pupils (EYFS) begin by exploring their own personal history, in order to develop their sense of chronology and discuss how their life is different from someone of a previous generation. They think carefully about their local community and how and why it is important.
In Key Stage 1, children will continue to develop their awareness of the past and explore a wider range of historical vocabulary. Pupils will learn about significant individuals and discuss why they are important. They will learn about events beyond living memory such as The Great Fire of London and use a range of artefacts and historical sources to ask and answer questions. Children will have the opportunity to explore the history of their locality, exploring how their school has changed over time. Children will explore changes within living memory and discuss how these have led to changes in national life.
In Key Stage 2, pupils continue to develop their understanding of chronology and build their knowledge and understanding of British, local and world history including topic such as ‘The Ancient Greeks’, ‘The Kingdom of Benin’ and ‘Britain at war’.