History

Our aim at Paddox is to instil a love of History in all our children and to establish an appreciation and understanding of the past. The study of history engages students in investigating past events and people to help them understand their lives today and become informed citizens. It develops critical thinking skills, allowing pupils to differentiate between bias, fact and opinion. Guided by the Cornerstones Curriculum all the skills, knowledge and understanding will be covered, as set out in the National Curriculum. We want to ensure children gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world which helps to incite pupils’ curiosity to know more about the past. We aim to equip our pupils to be able to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence and develop perspective and judgement. The curriculum is chronologically sequenced for deeper understanding, includes relevant inquiries and progressively increases in complexity from Years 1 to 6.  Furthermore, it is inclusive, ensuring all students, regardless of learning needs, receive the same curriculum with the same opportunity to develop a love of learning in history.

We follow the Cornerstones Curriculum to carefully map our History curriculum. Our projects have been carefully selected to prompt curiosity, ensure that each project builds on prior knowledge and skills are progressively built upon throughout their journey at Paddox. We adopt an enquiry-focused approach to history, fostering pupils as young historians who build knowledge and critical thinking skills. We will tackle ‘big questions’ related to relevant historical topics, ensuring it is knowledge-rich, which allows for mastery of critical thinking and challenging outcomes.  Opportunities to develop the children’s understanding of the past are also provided through the use of historical artefacts and historical documents, including reports, photographs and numerous written sources. Throughout their school journey, our pupils will develop an awareness of the past by studying significant individuals, as well as developing their understanding of local, British and world History, making connections and contrasts over time.  Emphasis on using appropriate historical vocabulary and having a greater appreciation of chronology are embedded throughout the curriculum.  Pupils record their work through various differentiated methods, ensuring knowledge retention and progression.

Through the high-quality teaching of History taking place, we will see the impact of the subject in different ways. We want learners to discuss, reflect and appreciate the impact history has on their learning, development and well-being. The children will be engaged in History lessons and be passionate about wanting to find out more. We encourage our children to enjoy and value the curriculum we deliver. They will also complete research independently in order to further their own enjoyment about the topic. Work will show a range of topics being covered, is differentiated appropriately, and cross curricular links are made where possible. We measure the impact of our curriculum by monitoring the overall progress of the pupils, making a summative judgement on pupil achievement against the subject learning goals at the end of each term.