At Peninsula East Primary Academy, we believe that our children foster positive and enthusiastic opinions of the past through the philosophy of the International Baccalaureate. They are able to form meaningful and significant opinions of the world around them, that is a direct result of decisions and events that have taken place to make the world the way it is today. We are confident that our children should be able to understand key historical events and can understand the place of such occasions in chronological order. It is a fundamental skill that our children have to be able to understand how the past has impacted the modern world.
As they progress through the school, our children will continuously develop and build upon key skills that will enable them to become global citizens. They will evolve their understanding of historical events in a local and global context with an understanding of how they have instigated social change and movement, with a focus on diversity and how this has been challenged and embraced through history; thus building and developing our children’s understanding of the world around them and how they are and will continue to be active participants as part of the modern world and how the history we inquire about also contributes to their lives.
At Peninsula East Primary Academy, we believe that developing our children’s understanding of historical thinking and associated skills should be taught from the outset in our Early Years Foundation Stage. This begins with early conversations in our shared learning of Understanding the World and thinking about historical information and key events within childrens’ lives and what this means for them. Our children are then able to make sense of their own experiences and can move forward making connections between occurrences in the wider world. By consolidating our children’s awareness of key events and their living memories, it helps the children to develop an understanding of how these contribute to the world around them which is further built upon as they progress through the school. We are able to take this forward by making further connections both locally, nationally and globally. Using carefully modelled, subject-specific vocabulary, the children are able to talk with confidence about their learning of history and significant events.
As a school, we draw upon both primary and secondary sources of information to ensure thorough engagement for all pupils. By doing this, we are able to develop our children’s understanding of history, particularly when it predates when they were born. We believe that it is our responsibility to convey a realistic understanding of the world around them and the significant events that have impacted how the world is today. The subject leader uses a variety of methods to monitor the progress and teaching of history throughout the academy, this includes: book looks, learning walks and pupil voice – all of which is underpinned by the Foundation Subject Tracker.
Teaching our children of chronological order is at the core of our history curriculum. We ensure that the children have an awareness of where the significant events can be situated in time and place; by doing so we can be confident that the children have an understanding of how events have impacted the world we live in today. By teaching this, the children will be able to draw upon previous learning experiences and knowledge to help them make comparisons and informed judgments about new learning they’re exposed to. Children will be able to talk about their learning, including: significant events, people and time periods. They will be able to and will continue to form their own opinions and hypotheses based on the knowledge they learn whilst at our academy.