History and Geography
‘Learning for life’
History Curriculum
Intent
At Thornton Hough we provide a rich and varied History curriculum that has been carefully designed to inspire in our pupils a curiosity and fascination about Britain’s past and the wider world.
We aspire for our children to develop into active learners who not only have a passion for History, but who are equipped with the skills to think and make decisions as historians now and in their futures.
The core aims of our History curriculum are for our children to be inspired, engaged and challenged. We want them to be able to ask perceptive questions, to think critically, to weigh evidence and sift arguments. These skills will enable our learners to develop their perspective and judgement as historians.
Through the study of History at Thornton Hough, we want our children to be able to begin 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 History curriculum has been designed to cover all of the skills, knowledge and understanding as set out in the National Curriculum. Our curriculum is enriched by exciting and meaningful opportunities with the aim to inspire children to be thoughtful, reflective and curious historians. It makes strong links to our wider local area to enable children to develop a deep understanding of the rich history around them; our village of Thornton Hough, Wirral, Merseyside and the North West. This supports our children to develop perspective of how our locality is part of the story of history and helps pupils to gain a sense of their own identity within a social, political, cultural and economic background.
Implementation
At Thornton Hough, our History curriculum is planned in line with the National Curriculum throughout KS1 and KS2.
Our Foundation 2 class follows the Early Years Foundation Stage framework. 'Understanding the World' involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community through opportunities to explore, observe and find out about people, places, technology and the environment. This is done through topics such as 'All About Me', 'People Who Help Us' and 'Me and My Healthy Body'.
At KS1 and KS2, we follow a topic-led approach to our curriculum and throughout the academic year, with 6 topics across the year being driven by History, Geography or Science. In our school, topics are shared between partner year groups (1&2, 3&4 and 5&6). Our ‘Wirral Wonders’ topic gives the opportunity for each year to focus on a special area of Wirral and share their outcomes with our local school communities.
The particular ‘theme’ chosen is always relevant to the children and is designed to be exciting and engaging for that particular cohort. Whilst these subjects are the main drivers, the themes are cross-curricular and other subjects are taught as part of the topic and designed around thoughtfully-structured topic webs. High quality English texts have been carefully selected to support and enhance topic learning, such as ‘Stone Age Boy’ to enrich the study of ‘The Stone Age’ and ‘Good Night Mr Tom’ to develop the understanding of ‘The Blitz’. Values from our two-year cycle are embedded into these webs allowing us to teach relevant and carefully-thought out opportunities. To prevent the creation of tenuous links however, History is taught discretely where necessary.
Our History topics begin with a ‘knowledge harvest’ so that teachers can gain an understanding of the children’s starting points of the topic, along with their initial questions and inquiries. This importantly informs lesson planning which is used alongside the progression of knowledge and skills document and long-term planning. To engage, immerse and ‘hook’ the children in their learning experiences, every classroom learning environment reflects the theme that the children are learning about. For example, when studying the ‘Victorians’, the children and staff experience a day in role in a Victorian classroom and KS1 spend the day with a ‘Florence Nightingale’ character. The Year 5 and 6 children visit the Stockport Air Raid Shelters during their ‘Blitz’ topic where they go into role as an evacuee for the day and explore the underground tunnels. This learning environment is not only used as a tool for engagement, but also to support and deepen the learning experiences taking place in the classroom.
We present our children with the opportunities to deepen their understanding further in ways that cannot always be replicated in the classroom. Through historical enquiry our children are able to ask questions, select and evaluate evidence and to make judgements about the past. This is evident on the Iron Age trip to Burwardsley where Years 3 and 4 use real artefacts and sources to enhance their learning.
Children are able to revisit key facts and information on a regular basis through retrieval activities and these ensure that the knowledge is ingrained in their long-term memory. The key knowledge and skills of each topic have been identified and consideration has been given to ensure progression throughout the school. We ensure that through the use of clearly-displayed timelines, children are able to contextualise their learning and begin to draw comparisons and contrasts through periods of time.
As a school we practise a variety of teaching methods to cater for all of our learners. Children may use historical artefacts, books and ICT to support their discoveries. They work individually and as part of a team to present their findings orally, in writing, through Art, DT, ICT and role-play/drama. KS1 children take part in a half-termly ‘show and tell’ that not only is beneficial to their topic learning, but is valuable to develop their speaking and listening skills. As the children move up to KS2, they are given opportunities, when studying. particular topics, to also present home learning projects to their teachers and peers.
Impact
At Thornton Hough, our aim is for our History curriculum to develop independent thinkers, who are excited and inspired by the past.
By the end of Year 6, we want our children to be able to use a wide range of historical sources to ask and answer questions about the past and be able to understand the limitations of different types of resources so that our learners are prepared for the challenges of Key Stage 3.
Our curriculum enables children to develop a chronological understanding of British history from the Stone Age to the present day. They will have had opportunities to draw comparisons with the achievements of the earliest civilizations, study the non-European society of Mayan civilization, and the influence of Ancient Greece on the wider world.
Children will have an understanding and perspective about our locality and some of the challenges and achievements that have shaped the local area in which we live.
We measure the impact of our History curriculum through monitoring work, listening to the children’s attitudes about history through pupil voice, by taking learning walks/ book looks and half- termly data analysis.
Geography Curriculum
Intent
At Thornton Hough, we believe that a Geography curriculum should inspire a lifelong curiosity and fascination about our world.
We believe that our curriculum promotes practical and engaging, high-quality Geography aiming to provide our children with the foundations and knowledge for understanding the world so that they become confident global citizens. It promotes geographical enquiry and engagement with the local environment to ensure that children learn through varied and first-hand experiences of the world around them.
Our curriculum offers fieldwork and projects so that children develop an understanding of the impact of human development on the natural and physical world around them. It intends to capture children’s natural curiosity about the world and what they observe, to promote respect for the environment, living things and processes and their own and other’s health and safety.
At Thornton Hough, through the study of Geography, children will develop geographical skills through practical and engaging lessons, with identified key knowledge, technical vocabulary and skills that build on previous learning. It recognises that geography impacts our daily lives, always has and always will.
Geography at our school provides equal opportunities for children to apply their geographical knowledge to other subjects, (cross-curricular links) and is in line with the expectations in the National Curriculum 2014.
The intent of the Geography curriculum is outlined and detailed in the Geography Progression Map which is organised into knowledge and skills, with the aim of ensuring children build upon their learning at the appropriate stage and revisit key learning to ensure it sticks or it becomes part of long-term learning.
Implementation
At Thornton Hough, our Geography curriculum is planned in line with the National Curriculum throughout KS1 and KS2. The curriculum makes rich connections throughout all subjects to develop a deeper thinking about the applications of geographical knowledge and conceptual understanding and makes links between different experiences.
Our Foundation 2 class follows the Early Years Foundation Stage framework. 'Understanding the World' involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community through opportunities to explore, observe and find out about people, places, technology and the environment. This is done through topics such as 'Nocturnal Animals', 'Pets', 'Caring for Our World' and 'Minibeasts and the Great Outdoors'.
At KS1 and KS2, we follow a topic-led approach to our curriculum and throughout the academic year, with 6 topics across the year being driven by History, Geography or Science. In our school, topics are shared between partner year groups (1&2, 3&4 and 5&6). However, a number of topics have been selected for particular year groups to independently study. An example of this is when Year 3 study ‘Rainforests’ and when Year 4 carry out a fieldwork study on ‘Tattenhall’. Our ‘Wirral Wonders’ topic gives the opportunity for each year to focus on a special area of Wirral and share their outcomes with our local school communities.
The particular ‘theme’ chosen is always relevant to the children and is designed to be exciting and engaging for that particular cohort. Whilst these subjects are the main drivers, the themes are cross-curricular and other subjects are taught as part of the topic and designed around thoughtfully-structured topic webs. High quality English texts have been carefully selected to support and enhance topic learning, such as ‘The Great Explorer’ to support the ‘Explorers’ topic, ‘The Great Kapok Tree’ linked to ‘Rainforests’ and ‘King Kong’ when studying ‘New York’. Values from our two-year cycle are embedded into these webs allowing us to teach relevant and carefully-thought out opportunities. Geography is taught discretely but as a ‘part’ of the topic, and linked to it.
Our Geography topics begin with a ‘knowledge harvest’ so that teachers can gain an understanding of the children’s starting points of the topic, along with their initial questions and inquiries. This importantly informs lesson planning which is used alongside the progression of knowledge and skills document and long-term planning. To engage, immerse and ‘hook’ the children in their learning experiences, every classroom learning environment reflects the theme that the children are learning about. For example, if the theme is ‘Rainforests’, the classroom is turned into a rainforest environment and for ‘France’, the children sample the various tastes of French cuisine. Opportunities are planned for, that ensure experiences that children can ‘live out their learning’ such as dressing up reflecting a season. This helps the children to take an active part in their learning, encouraging knowledge to ‘stick’. This learning environment is not only used as a tool for engagement, but also to support and deepen the learning experiences taking place in the classroom.
Exciting opportunities are provided in Geography, such as visits to habitats in the local environment and trips to sites which enrich the learning process and allow access to areas of expertise e.g. our local farm and B & M Waste Services. Residential visits are also planned for Year 4 and 6 pupils and provide additional first-hand opportunities for pupils to further develop their fieldwork and map skills. Year 5 and 6 take part in orienteering around our local area to focus on their navigational skills, incorporating map work, 6 figure grid references and compass skills.
Teachers create a positive attitude to Geography learning within their classrooms and reinforce an expectation that all children are capable of achieving high standards. As a school we apply or utilise a variety of teaching methods to cater for all of our learners. Children may use books and ICT to support their learning. They work individually and as part of a team to present their findings orally, in writing, through Art, DT, ICT and role-play/drama. KS1 children take part in a half-termly ‘show and tell’ that not only is beneficial to their Geography, but is valuable to develop their speaking and listening skills. As the children move up to KS2, they are given opportunities, when studying particular topics, to also present home learning projects to their teachers and peers.
Geographical enquiries have a clear structure; over KS1 and KS2, children develop increasingly complex skills in enquiry, map work and direction, as well as developing their knowledge and understanding of places and geographical processes. Each year group partners have specified places or environments to learn about over the two-year cycle.
Impact
At the end of their time at Thornton Hough our children will know more, understand more and remember more about Geography and the world. They will be motivated and inspired to continue their learning as they progress to KS3.
Children will develop a range of life skills, which they can use and develop beyond school life.
Children will display confidence and enjoyment in Geography.Children will use and apply skills across the curriculum, making meaningful connections in purposeful contexts.
Our engagement with the local environment ensures that children learn through varied and first-hand experiences of the world around them. Through various fieldwork activities, enquiry questions and themed units of work children have the understanding that geography has impacted upon our lives.
Mighty Zulu Warrior Nation visiting Year 3 and 4 during their South Africa Topic.
