We believe that the teaching of History at Eskdale encourages our pupils to become curious and critical thinkers, preparing them for further historical enquiry beyond Key Stage Two.
The learning of History at Eskdale is rooted in all five of our core values and will help pupils gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world. It will inspire pupils’ curiosity to know more about the past and equip them to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments, and develop perspective and judgement. History helps pupils to understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups, as well as their own identity and the challenges of their time.
Our core intent is to enable all pupils strive to:
✓ Develop an enthusiasm for and foster an interest in history.
✓ Develop an understanding of chronology.
✓ Gain a knowledge and understanding of past societies (British, local and the world).
✓ Understand and use methods of historical enquiry.
✓ Develop critical thinking when considering sources; analysing trends and change; drawing connections and contrasts; and considering significance.
History is taught through different contexts and pupils and staff follow a process model to ensure children become increasingly adept at ‘Thinking Like A Historian’ as they move through the key stage.
This incorporates the following stages of learning:
✓ Chronology – Creating and using timelines, to gain an understanding of key dates associated with the time period.
✓ Enquiry – Using and critically thinking about primary and secondary sources to gain an understanding about aspects of a historical time period. ✓ Analysis – Comparing the time period studied with the 21st Century or other time periods. Analysing findings to identify similarities, differences, trends, impacts, causes and effects.
✓ Present Findings – Presenting the findings of the enquiry in order to answer the Big Question.
For our pupils to achieve, both learning more and remembering more, our method of teaching (pedagogy) incorporates meta-cognitive strategies to enable all pupils to retain the learning of both skills and knowledge.
This is typically applied by:
✓ Activating prior knowledge
✓ Small step teaching delivery
✓ Independent practice
✓ Feedback