History

At Westvale Park Primary Academy we aim for children to develop an understanding of key concepts within history and explore the past by becoming historians themselves. We have created a rich curriculum, which allows children to build on prior knowledge and foster a love of learning about the past. 

By the time children leave Westvale Park, they will have built a deep understanding of our key concepts in History, which are leadership; cause and consequence; similarities and differences; civilisation and connections. Each year, the children will revisit these concepts through their different learning journeys. This allows the children to make progress and deepen their understanding of the key concepts within History by making connections. 

Development of vocabulary is key to our history curriculum as it allows the children the opportunity to gain a rich knowledge of each learning journey and enables them to communicate their ideas successfully. In addition, children are taught to have a secure understanding of chronology, which builds throughout their time at our school. The history curriculum is designed to develop knowledge and skills that are progressive, as well as transferable, throughout their time at Westvale Park and also to their further education and beyond.

Teachers use the progression documents and carefully designed lessons to ensure the children’s prior knowledge is built upon; allowing the children the opportunity to relate their learning back and develop their chronological understanding in and between different time periods. To support children in these areas we use knowledge organisers that include a timeline of all events and time periods studied; the history concepts; the key vocabulary and the identified key knowledge that the children are required to acquire throughout the learning journey. 

As part of our history curriculum, the children have the opportunity to study a local historic events. This allows the learning to be relatable and relevant to the children and their local community. Through local studies children develop an understanding of how local, national and world-wide history link  together to create the colourful story of our past.

Children at Westvale Park are curious and inquisitive learners and this is fostered by the enquiry-based learning that they experience. Enquiry learning in History is inclusive for all learners and we use a range of pictures, sources and artefacts to allow children to find out about the past for themselves. Enquiry lessons are carefully planned and guided by the class teacher whilst still allowing for the children's own exploration. Through this approach, we encourage curiosity, allowing children to slowly piece together the puzzle of  history and the past. 

We use a range of assessments to measure the impact of the learning in history. Children complete a pop quiz and a thinking square at the beginning and end of each learning journey. This allows the children to share everything that they have learnt and enables teachers to see the impact and improvements, over time. Children and teachers enjoy seeing the improvement across the learning journey as it shows them how they are developing as historians through their acquisition of knowledge.