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

Intent

As a staff, we have spent a great deal of time developing a curriculum that is both relevant and exciting for the children, as well as being in line with the National Curriculum. We are passionate about what we teach and believe that all of our pupils should access a broad and balanced curriculum.

History at Cookham Rise is taught through engaging topics that are modified and updated by teachers each time they are studied. Our aim is to balance skills and knowledge which will help give children the essentials needed to succeed in later life.

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.

As a school, each phase group produces detailed topic webs to ensure full coverage of the required standards in pupil knowledge and skills from the National Curriculum.  Our themed topics are taught on a two-year rolling cycle that has been mapped carefully from the Foundation Stage through to the end of Key Stage 2.

Cycle A

Cycle B

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, lessons are coherently planned and sequenced to ensure that they build on children’s prior learning and identify any gaps in their understanding. We have a knowledge rich curriculum, which is ambitious and designed to give all learners the tools in which they need to succeed. 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 relationship between school and home is vital for us at Cookham Rise. We increase parental involvement in children’s learning through sharing topic webs 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 topic 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 topics 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.

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 class assemblies, 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.