We want all our children to SHINE as historians, researchers, chronologists and curators of past events. 

Intent

As teachers, our intent is to have a clear, purposeful and well-delivered curriculum. History at Cookham Rise is taught through engaging units posed as questions to help build enquiry-based learning. Utilising a scheme of work called Kapow, we can guarantee a clear path for progression, delivering a consistent approach across the school. Our ambition is to stimulate the children’s interest and understanding about the past and the people who lived at different periods of time. We teach children a sense of chronology and also how to use a broad range of sources to investigate, compare and contrast. We hope that the children at Cookham Rise have an understanding of how events in the past have influenced our lives today and that they develop a sense of identity based on their cultural heritage. Our aim is to inspire pupils to be curious and creative thinkers who develop a complex knowledge of local and national history and the history of the wider world. We want pupils to develop the confidence to think critically, ask questions, and be able to explain and analyse historical evidence.

We intend to develop pupils’ understanding of how historians study the past and construct accounts and the skills to carry out their own historical enquiries. In order to prepare pupils for their future learning in History, our aim is to introduce them to key substantive concepts including power, invasion, settlement and migration, empire, civilisation, religion, trade, achievements of humankind, society and culture. Kapow Primary’s History scheme of work enables pupils to meet the end of Key stage attainment targets in the National curriculum and the aims align with those set out in the National curriculum. Through accumulating knowledge on their journey through Cookham Rise, we hope that we create a base of understanding where information passes from a child’s short-term memory to their long-term memory.

Implementation

At Cookham Rise, through quality first teaching, children gain and employ a historically grounded understanding of abstract terms which are built on through their school career. Our aim is for all of our pupils to access the curriculum and support children who may have difficulties with this through scaffolding their learning. 

The Kapow Primary scheme of work that we use at Cookham Rise emphasises the importance of historical knowledge being shaped by disciplinary approaches, as shown in the diagram above. These strands are interwoven through all the History units to create engaging and enriching learning experiences which allow the children to investigate history as historians do. Each six-lesson unit has a focus on chronology to allow children to explore the place in time of the period they are studying and make comparisons in other parts of the world. Children will develop their awareness of the past in Key stage 1 and will know where people and events fit chronologically. This will support children in building a ‘mental timeline’ they can refer to throughout their learning in Key stage 2 and identifying connections, contrasts and trends over time. Key use of timelines support children in developing this chronological awareness. Units are organised around an enquiry-based question and children are encouraged to follow the enquiry cycle (Question, Investigate, Interpret, Evaluate and conclude, Communicate) when answering historical questions.

Over the course of the scheme, children develop their understanding of the following key disciplinary concepts:

• Change and continuity.

• Cause and consequence.

• Similarities and differences.

• Historical significance.

• Historical interpretations.

• Sources of evidence.

These concepts will be encountered in different contexts during the study of local, British and world history.

Substantive concepts such as power, trade, invasion and settlement, are introduced in Key stage 1, clearly identified in Lower key stage 2 and revisited in Upper key stage allowing knowledge of these key concepts to grow. These concepts are returned to in different contexts, meaning that pupils begin to develop an understanding of these abstract themes which are crucial to their future learning in History. Our scheme follows the spiral curriculum model where previous skills and knowledge are returned to and built upon.

Knowledge organisers for each unit support pupils in building a foundation of factual knowledge by encouraging recall of key facts, concepts and vocabulary. Vocabulary lists for each unit are also used. These are readily available to all pupils by being stuck into their exercise books for quick reference.

The relationship between school and home is vital for us at Cookham Rise. We increase parental involvement in children’s learning through sharing curriculum overviews and sending parents detailed weekly curriculum letters produced by the class teachers. This will help encourage parents to talk with their children about what they are learning, do additional research at home and even visit places that may have a link to the unit they are studying. Using our online platform Seesaw, parents are also able to view and respond to work children complete in class.

At Cookham Rise we have chosen three key drivers which are reflected within each of the units that we cover:

Opportunities - this encompasses our desire to introduce the children to as many possibilities as possible. We enhance this through inviting speakers into school, as well as going on school trips. History in Action videos explain the careers and work of those in history and heritage-related fields. Historians, archivists, archaeologists, museum curators, teachers and heritage experts discuss their love of history, how they became interested in the subject, how they got into their jobs and what their jobs involve.

Community - we are at the heart of a lovely school community, but want the children to learn about and understand the wider communities they are part of, both in the UK and the wider global community. We believe we have a responsibility to help children understand and embrace diversity.

Creativity - we aim to be as creative as possible in how we teach our children, but also want to encourage their creativity to blossom across the curriculum. From using drama and role-play through to giving access to a broad selection of historical sources, our objective is for children to be inspired by their learning and be able to present this in a variety of ways. Digital media and literacy is a real strength at Cookham Rise and we use this to help children express themselves and their ideas. 

Impact

The impact of history at Cookham Rise Primary School is that children show enjoyment through enquiry-based learning. They are eager to investigate different periods of time and have been taught the skills to help compare and contrast these events to others as well as to present day. There is clear progression from our Early Years Foundation Stage up to Year 6, which covers the fundamental skills needed to be good historians. Children are able to share their knowledge creatively through digital media and the work produced in class. We hope that children leave Cookham Rise with the skills needed to investigate historical sources, a drive to learn more and to continue their love of history.

The impact of Kapow Primary’s scheme can be constantly monitored through both formative and summative assessment opportunities. Each lesson includes guidance to support teachers in assessing pupils against the learning objectives. Furthermore, each unit has a skill catcher and knowledge assessment quiz which can be used at the end of the unit to provide a summative assessment. At the end of each year in Cookham Rise, teachers assess whether children have reached ARE (age Related Expectations), are working with greater depth within the subject or working towards the expected standard. This information is then shared with parents via end of year reports and entered onto the school tracking system – iTrack.

After the implementation of our enquiry-based units, pupils should leave school equipped with a range of skills to enable them to succeed in their secondary education. They will be enquiring learners who ask questions and can make suggestions about where to find the evidence to answer the question. They will be critical and analytical thinkers who are able to make informed and balanced judgements based on their knowledge of the past.

The expected impact of following the Kapow History scheme of work is that children will:

● Know and understand the history of Britain, how people’s lives have shaped this nation and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world.

● Develop an understanding of the history of the wider world, including ancient civilisations, empires, non-European societies and the achievements of mankind.

● Develop a historically-grounded understanding of substantive concepts - power, invasion, settlement and migration, civilisation, religion, trade, achievements of mankind and society.

● Form historical arguments based on cause and effect, consequence, continuity and change, similarity and differences.

● Have an appreciation for significant individuals, inventions and events that impact our world both in history and from the present day.

● Understand how historians learn about the past and construct accounts.

● Ask historically-valid questions through an enquiry-based approach to learning to create structured accounts.

● Explain how and why interpretations of the past have been constructed using evidence.

● Make connections between historical concepts and timescales.

● Meet the end of key stage expectations outlined in the National curriculum for History.