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History

What is the intent of our history curriculum? 

Our ambitious, knowledge-rich curriculum has been sequenced to equip our pupils with the knowledge and skills to ensure they are happy, healthy global citizens, ready to take their place in modern Britain. The broad and balanced curriculum is creative, coherent and inclusive and, together with our Christian values, enables the pupils to be self-motivated, independent learners.

At John Keble school, we aim to provide a curriculum that meets the aims of the National Curriculum whilst providing a structure and sequence to support teachers in inspiring our pupils to become curious learners and give them an understanding of how relevant history is to their lives in a global world. Our curriculum content allows pupils to gain a secure, chronological knowledge of local, British and world history.

We aim for our pupils to be able to ask questions about the past, to experience and interact with objects and locations of historical significance, evaluating sources and forming their own understanding of the story of history. As our pupils progress, they will be well-equipped to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments, and develop perspective and judgement.

History teaching at John Keble will support 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.

How do we implement the history curriculum at John Keble School?

All learning begins by revisiting prior knowledge to support pupils to recall previous learning and make connections. Staff model explicitly the subject-specific vocabulary, knowledge and skills relevant to the learning to allow them to integrate new knowledge into larger concepts. Learning is supported through the use of knowledge organisers that provide pupils with scaffolding that supports them to retain new facts and vocabulary in their long term memory. Knowledge organisers are used for pre-teaching, to support home learning and also as a part of reviewing the learning.

Consistent learning walls in every classroom provide constant scaffolding for pupils. Subject specific vocabulary is displayed on the learning wall along with key facts and questions, and model exemplars of the work being taught. History assessment is ongoing throughout the relevant cross-curricular themes to support teachers with their planning and adaptive teaching. Summative assessment is completed in the form of synoptic tasks at the end of each unit. Our historians will be given a variety of experiences both in and out of the classroom where appropriate to create memorable learning opportunities and to further support and develop their understanding.

What is the impact of our history curriculum? 

Pupils at John Keble develop as confident historians and are able to talk about what they have learnt in history using subject-specific vocabulary. Pupil voice also demonstrates that pupils enjoy history and are able to recall their learning over time. Pupils work demonstrates that history is taught at an age appropriate standard across each year group with opportunities planned in for pupils working at greater depth. Work demonstrates that pupils are acquiring knowledge, skills and vocabulary in an appropriate sequence.

For a more in depth look at our history curriculum, download the link: