"For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us." Romans 15:4

History Vision Statement

“We are not makers of history. We are made by history.”  Martin Luther King Jr

At Our Lady of Lourdes, our intent is to deliver a curriculum which fulfils the duties of the National Curriculum but is also purposeful and relevant to the children. Our vision is to ensure that history is accessible to all and that it will maximise the outcomes for every child so that they know more, remember more ad understand more about the past. As a result of this they will be able to:

• Increase and develop their historical skills, concepts, knowledge and attitudes
• Increase their understanding of the present in the context of the past
• Develop and use their skills in enquiry, analysis, evaluation, debate and discussion
• Develop their interest in the past, arousing their curiosity and motivation to learn
• Develop a sense of identity through learning about the past.

History Intent Statement

The national curriculum for history aims to ensure that all pupils:

• know and understand the history of these islands as a coherent, chronological narrative, from the earliest times to the present day: how people’s lives have shaped this nation and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world
• know and understand significant aspects of the history of the wider world: the nature of ancient civilisations; the expansion and dissolution of empires; characteristic features of past non-European societies; achievements and follies of mankind
• gain and deploy a historically grounded understanding of abstract terms such as ‘empire’, ‘civilisation’, ‘parliament’ and ‘peasantry’
• understand historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance, and use them to make connections, draw contrasts, analyse trends, frame historically-valid questions and create their own structured accounts, including written narratives and analyses
• understand the methods of historical enquiry, including how evidence is used rigorously to make historical claims, and discern how and why contrasting arguments and interpretations of the past have been constructed

Implementation of the History Curriculum

The curriculum is led and overseen by the History lead. A regular programme of monitoring, evaluation and review and the celebration of good practice will contribute to the ongoing commitment to evolve and improve further.   

The teaching, learning and sequencing of the History curriculum is implemented through: 

• A blocked curriculum approach to ensure coverage and progression in all skills relating to History: Chronological Understanding , Knowledge and understanding of events, people and changes in the past , Historical Communication, Interpretations of History  and Historical Enquiry 
• Through the use of the Progression of Skills document, teachers will have a clear view of what they expect children to know by the end of each topic.
• Clear learning objectives on which to plan, teach and assess knowledge.
• In EYFS History will be taught through their knowledge of the world around them and a developing sense of time and place.
• In KS1, the Historical skills will focus on the world around them and their living memory of History before moving to events that go beyond living history. This will ensure a firm foundation for KS2 History. 
• In KS2, the History curriculum is set out in chronological order to allow children to reference the previous events in time and to refer to this prior learning year-on-year and within the year.  
• The study of common themes which will be taught throughout the school (Black history, Remembrance and Manchester)
• Lessons will develop long term memory by allowing for repetition of learning within the year and year on year.  
• The use of knowledge organisers and KWL grids are to aid teachers in ensuring that extra points of interest are discussed at some point during the unit.
• Subject specific vocabulary to be identified and taught throughout topics.
• Whole school resources are available to support the teaching of History at Our Lady of Lourdes.