History Curriculum vision:
At South Walney Junior School we have a clear, coherent vision for our History curriculum.
The study of History supports our pupils to build a temporal awareness and a developing sense of identity as they come to understand their place in the story of human development. As a school we recognise that engaging children and young people in investigating questions about people and events in the past helps them to better understand their lives today, the contested nature of knowledge and prepares them for the future as more informed citizens. Engaging our pupils with a relevant, exciting and challenging History curriculum, which inspires curiosity and is appropriate for preparing them for an adult life in the 21st century, is essential since it:
• Helps them to understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups, as well as some of the challenges of their time;
• Develops skills of critical thinking which means making reasoned judgements that are logical and well thought out and not merely accepting arguments and conclusions as they are presented but having a healthy, discerning and questioning attitude about new information;
• Supports them to appreciate that all knowledge is socially constructed and its objectivity and reliability is therefore open to critiquing through asking perceptive questions, weighing evidence, sifting arguments and developing perspective and judgement;
• Helps to build a sense of identity and belonging on a personal, cultural, national and global level as pupils come to appreciate the diversity of human experience and consequently understand more about themselves and as members of society;
• Enables pupils to understand core concepts such as cause and consequence, similarity and difference, continuity and change, change and progress/regression, significance, evidence, chronology, empathy, context, diversity, perspective, interconnectivity and validity which have broad relevance and significance in the modern world.
We believe we have an inspirational, ambitious and coherently planned knowledge-rich History curriculum. We believe our curriculum helps them to ‘know more, remember more, do more’ about the past through specific teaching of key vocabulary and substantive and disciplinary knowledge.
Our curriculum aims to be transformative, raising aspirations to see beyond our locality as well as valuing the uniquely rich experience of the past in our locality and its impact on the present. We are aware that some of our pupils have limited historical and cultural experience and so are passionate about expanding their knowledge and understanding using fieldtrips and visits/visitors when we can. We want to deliver a curriculum that will break the cycle of disadvantage that traps some of our pupils and History can help them overcome adversity.
Our History curriculum is underpinned by our core principles, using the mnemonic SAFE:
A Supportive school
helping children to Achieve
And Flourish
On a foundations of Excellence
