History

The subject lead for History is Louise Glover

At St John Evangelist Catholic Primary School, we provide children with a rich and diverse History curriculum that teaches them about the past whilst highlighting the links to the present day. Being based in Islington allows us to include lessons about our borough’s own rich history whilst still being in line with the National Curriculum. It is important that our children learn about the historical context of their local area.

We do this through inspiring lessons and enrichment activities, such as visits to local museums: these allow the children to develop a deeper understanding of their local area. During these visits, we encourage parental involvement to allow children to learn with their families. We plan lessons that are sensitive to the needs and interests of the children within our local community, giving them the opportunity to discover more about where they live and the place that it holds within history. It is crucial to us that our children are able to see their own place in history: how they are connected to the past and how they can influence the future. Our school community is very diverse: we value this and promote this through teaching a variety of historical figures, all with different backgrounds.

Children are encouraged to make their own connections between historical periods and trends over time in our creative approach to lessons. It is key that children are able to make links between their prior learning, and knowledge, and their current learning: this helps to develop their interest in the subject and their metacognition. New topics are introduced with reference to the chronology of all previous learning. Teaching history is best done using artefacts and primary sources. We are fortunate to have links with Islington Library Services who can provide the children with these services, making our lessons much more hands on and involved.

Children present their work in a topic book, allowing them to showcase all of their topic learning in one place. These books are opportunities for children to reflect on their learning through photos, diagrams, writing and drawing, as well as providing a stimulus for discussion about their learning. Children can speak confidently and articulately about their history units, both past and present, using appropriate vocabulary. History is loved by children in all year groups as a result of these engaging lessons. Teachers hold very high expectations for history: for the lessons, for the children’s enjoyment, and for the presentation in topic books. Teachers use progression maps to ensure they are consolidating previously taught skills at the same time as teaching new content.

They also allow teachers to identify areas that need future consolidation. These allow the children to see the trajectory of their learning for each topic, and how each unit fits into the wider chronology. History is not only an opportunity to learn about what has happened. Our lessons provide children with the necessary key skills to allow them to analyse, discuss, predict and discover: four key components to learning.