At SWINS we plan for a history curriculum which inspires pupils curiosity and fascination about Britain’s past and that of the wider world.  We want our pupils to develop an awareness of the past, and an appreciation of human achievements and aspirations.

Our History curriculum enables children to learn about and from the past in a meaningful way.  Pupils are given opportunities to consider the past and the ways in which it is different from the present.  We help pupils begin to develop a sense of chronology which will enable them to organise their understanding of the past. Children are taught and scaffolded to use appropriate vocabulary relating to the passing of time. We teach children to understand how events in the past have influenced our lives. We aim for this to support them to develop a sense of identity within this chronology and an appreciation for our historical heritage. This helps pupils understand and contribute to the world in which they live. Through our curriculum children will develop an awareness of famous people, events and significant changes in History.

Pupils at SWINS are taught to investigate these past events using a range of sources and, by doing so, we develop the skills of enquiry, interpretation and problem solving in a well planned progression.

At SWINS, we use a well developed, consistent and coherent planning that ensures children are provided with planned lessons, assessment, progression, and engaging resources to support all the requirements of History within the National Curriculum and related strands of the EYFS.

Across KS1 History topics are planned across the year and delivered in blocks as a weekly lesson or as part of a cross curricular topic to ensure full coverage is met.

Planning refers to previous learning and builds on the skills and knowledge that the children have already been taught in this subject area.

The children will develop a variety of enquiry based skills through the study of artefacts, books, video and photographs. Where possible and relevant children are given the opportunity to take part in place based learning which brings alive their study.

We also plan to ensure children are aware of the impact and influence of the events of the past on their lives today and the skills they develop within its study such as empathy and decision making for their future lives.

Our History curriculum is a rigorous and ambitious approach to teaching the subject. Pupil voice demonstrates the children are enthusiastic and excited about exploring the topics and have good recall of previous learning. Thorough teacher formative and summative assessments, book monitoring and capturing student voice, we are able to see the impact of our teaching, guide future planning and ensure that our standards of teaching are high.