History

History is all around us. At Cravenwood, we want the study of History to : 

• Ignite children’s curiosity about the past in the local area, Britain and the wider world. 
• Pupils are encouraged to think like historians, finding out about events from the past, and gaining an understanding of how the past influences the present.  
• Learning History enables children to develop a context for their growing sense of identity and a chronological framework for their knowledge of significant events and people.  
• We intend to equip pupils to ask questions about the past, analyse evidence, think critically, appreciate different perspectives and develop informed judgements.

When planning the History Curriculum at Cravenwood, teachers plan with the three vertical concepts in mind and understanding the end point. As part of this planning process, teachers plan the following:    

• A knowledge organiser which outlines knowledge (including vocabulary) all children must master. 
• ​A Pre-Learning Quiz provides teachers with the children's prior knowledge, therefore informing planning. 
• A cycle of lessons for each subject, which carefully plans for progression and depth as well as weaving in both disciplinary and substantive knowledge. 
• Low stakes quizzes which are used regularly to support learners’ ability to retrieve and recall knowledge and increase space in the working memory. 
• Challenge questions for pupils to apply their learning 'as Historians' . 

Our History Curriculum is high quality, well sequenced and planned to demonstrate progression. We believe that if children are keeping up with the curriculum, they will be making good or better progress. The impact of our pupils learning in History can be measured in many ways: 

• Formative assessment in each lesson enables teachers to reflect on whether the intended outcome has been met or whether any additional lessons or adaptations to future planning are needed. 
• ​Low-stakes quizzes such as a post-learning quiz is provided for every unit. These questions aim to assess whether pupils have learned the core knowledge for that unit. The results of these quizzes will enable teachers to fill gaps and address misconceptions before moving on. 
• Discussions with pupils about their History topic as well as learning in their books allows us to assess how much curriculum content is secure. These conversations are used most effectively to determine whether pupils have a good understanding of the vertical concepts, and if they can link recently taught content to learning from previous units.