History

History at our school helps children understand the past and how it shapes the world they live in today. Pupils explore exciting stories, significant people, and important events from different times and places. Through investigating artefacts, asking thoughtful questions, and using evidence, children learn to think like young historians. We aim to spark curiosity, build understanding, and help every child develop a sense of identity and belonging by discovering the rich history of their community, country, and the wider world.

Subject Leader - Helen Pratten

Curriculum Intent

At Longton Primary School History education should be fully inclusive to every child. Our aims are to fulfil the requirements of the National Curriculum for History; providing a broad, balanced and differentiated curriculum; ensuring the progressive development of historical concepts, knowledge and skills; and for the children to develop a love for history. Furthermore, we believe that history helps pupils understand the world they live in, develop a sense of identity, and appreciate how the past has shaped the present. Through the study of history, pupils gain curiosity, critical thinking skills, and respect for different cultures and societies. (The 2014 Primary National Curriculum in England).

History is taught by class teachers using the Kapow scheme of work.

Kapow Primary’s History scheme of work aims to inspire pupils to become curious and analytical thinkers with a broad understanding of the past – in other words, to think like historians. The intention is for pupils to develop the confidence to question and investigate evidence, explore different perspectives and build informed interpretations of events, people and societies.

The scheme aims to build pupils’ awareness of how History shapes identities, cultures and communities over time. The goal is to inspire them to become reflective, active citizens who can draw on historical understanding to make sense of the present and contribute thoughtfully to the future.

The scheme supports teachers in developing their subject knowledge and skills, enabling them to confidently deliver engaging, well-informed lessons. The curriculum is designed to be both accessible and ambitious, ensuring all pupils’ participation and achievement.

Special Educational Needs Disability (SEND) / Pupil Premium / Higher Attainers

All children will have Quality First Teaching. Any children with identified SEND or in receipt of pupil premium funding may have work additional to and different from their peers in order to access the curriculum dependent upon their needs. As well as this, our school offers a demanding and varied curriculum, providing children with a range of opportunities in order for them to reach their full potential and consistently achieve highly from their starting points.

Curriculum Implementation

To ensure high standards of teaching and learning in History, we implement a curriculum that is progressive throughout the whole school. History is taught as part of a termly topic, focusing on knowledge and skills stated in the National Curriculum and follows the structure of KAPOW. At Longton, we ensure that history has the same importance given to it as the core subjects, as we feel this is important in enabling all children to gain ‘real-life’ experiences.

Kapow Primary supports teachers in delivering the History curriculum effectively through clear and informative CPD videos. The videos are designed to help teachers feel confident in their role by providing guidance on key concepts, teaching strategies and best practices.

Each lesson begins with a short activity that revisits prior learning. This helps reinforce key knowledge, activate long-term memory and create connections between past and new learning.

Recap and recall activities are varied to keep the start of the lesson engaging while still supporting active recall.

Kapow Primary’s History scheme incorporates a spiral curriculum model, ensuring that pupils revisit and develop their understanding of key themes and concepts as they progress. This approach allows them to make meaningful connections, reinforce their learning and achieve mastery over time.

Revisiting key concepts – pupils encounter the same ideas multiple times throughout their education, with each revisit adding more complexity.
Progressive depth – concepts are not just repeated but expanded upon, helping pupils to make connections and develop a richer understanding over time.
Knowledge retention – regular exposure to key ideas strengthens memory and prevents knowledge from being forgotten.
Skill development – pupils refine and apply their skills in different contexts, improving their ability to think critically and solve problems.
Adaptive learning – by building on prior knowledge, the curriculum meets pupils at their current level and supports all learners, including those who need extra reinforcement and those who are ready for greater challenges.

History provides excellent opportunities to enhance the learning of more able pupils through the investigations, analysing sources and writing extending pieces. These children will be selected for appropriate enrichment opportunities throughout the year.

At Longton Primary School we provide a variety of opportunities for history learning inside and outside the classroom. Educational visits are an opportunity for the teachers to plan for additional history learning outside the classroom. At Longton Primary School, the children have had many opportunities to experience history on educational visits. The children have explored local museums and have visitors into school to share history learning and have hands on experiences.

Curriculum Impact

This section outlines how the curriculum checks what pupils know, understand and are able to do as a result of studying History.

Formative

Kapow Primary History lessons include ongoing assessment opportunities, such as questioning, retrieval practice and interactive activities. These enable teachers to assess understanding in real time and adapt their teaching accordingly.

Summative

Each unit provides an Assessment quiz and Knowledge catcher, which allow teachers to measure pupils’ understanding at key points. These tools help gauge how well pupils have retained key knowledge and skills over time.

Evidencing progress

Written outcomes

· Pupils demonstrate their learning and provide tangible evidence of progress through a variety of activities, including structured written work, annotated diagrams and creative responses.

· Moderation staff meetings where pupil’s books are scrutinised and there is the opportunity for a dialogue between teachers to understand their class’s work.

· Marking of written work in books.

Pupil voice

· Lessons encourage discussion, reflection and verbal explanations. This allows teachers to capture pupils’ understanding through questioning, class discussions and recorded responses, supporting a broader view of progress beyond written work.

· Formal reporting of standards across the curriculum.

· Annual reporting of standards across the curriculum to parents.

· Subject tracker

The History subject leader will continually monitor the impact History teaching is having on the children’s learning through book looks and pupil chats to ensure the progress of knowledge and skills is being taught. They will also ensure the knowledge taught is retained by the children and continually revisited and that the learners are able to apply the skills they have been taught to a variety of different settings, showing independence with their learning.