History at Parochial
'Parochial Cares', our mission is to prepare children for the future by living, learning and growing together in God.
To live life... life in all its fullness (John 10:10)
Vision:
At Parochial, we aim to provide high quality History education which will help pupils gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world. Teachers aim to equip pupils to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, debate view points and develop perspective and judgement. History lessons help pupils understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change, diversity of societies and relationships between different groups. As well as this, children explore their own identity and the challenges of their time developing skills that are transferrable across other curriculum areas. Our History content inspires pupils’ curiosity to know more about the past.
Implementation:
At Parochial we are:
Educating for Wisdom, knowledge and skills in History begins in the Early Years. Through Understanding of the World, pupils are introduced to their immediate history: that of themselves and their families. They may look at pictures, photographs, videos, objects or artefacts from their own past or that of recent history. The history curriculum is often interwoven into our theme-based approach.
In Key Stage 1, Children develop their understanding of Britain’s past and British Values, and that of the wider world. Through a carefully constructed chronological framework, the children learn about changes within their living memory and events beyond it. The children begin to use enquiry to understand some of the ways in which we find out about the past, delving into the lives of significant individuals who have contributed historically to national and international achievements, such as Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott, Neil Armstrong, Alexander Graham Bell, Rosa Parks and Samuel Pepys. As our pupils progress, learning, understanding and using historical vocabulary becomes an important part of our history teaching and learning.
In Key Stage 2, pupils continue to secure their chronological knowledge and understanding of local, British and world history. They expand their enquiry skills by addressing and devising historically valid questions about change, cause, similarity and difference, looking at topics such as, how life in the Stone Age differs to life today, the timeline of dinosaurs, Ancient Egypt, the Roman empire, Ancient Greece and their inventions that have shaped modern day life, and the History of our Monarchy. They construct informed responses that involve thoughtful selection and organisation of relevant historical information and understand how our knowledge of the past is constructed from a range of sources.
Educating for hope and aspiration through History broadens pupils’ knowledge of a variety of topics through historical events. The Stone Age introduces architecture and structures, Ancient Egypt looks at the discovery by Howard Carter of Tutankhamun’s tomb and artefacts from that time, democracy is presented in Ancient Greece and we look at both soldiers in WW2 and the working woman. The diverse range of historical figures taught introduces children to, not only, their historical significance but the careers they occupied, allowing pupils to develop an interest in History as well as other areas. Significant figures we learn about include Boudicca, Julias Caesar, LS Lowry, Martin Luther King, Monarchs: John, Anne and Victoria. Whilst learning about these figures, we investigate what drove these individuals to succeed and now they believed they work can inspire us.
Educating for community and living well together by embracing the history of our local area and its impact and contribution to industrialisation in Manchester and the North of the country through a ‘Manchester and its Mills’ theme. Whilst studying the historical content, children will gain a deep understanding of working and living conditions in Victorian Britain. Through enquiry we will identify significant outcomes that have changed our way of life. The study of WW2 acknowledges our local heroes and also allows children to visit the local cenotaph to give remembrance to those who lost their lives fighting for our country.
Educating for dignity and respect by developing a perspective about significant historical events and figures that have shaped our future. We celebrate a variety of achievements fulfilled whilst deepening our understanding for why and how these achievements took place, learning about British Values and linking them to our school and Christian values. Our studies of Black History will look at the impact of protest throughout time and relate this to local History and our WW2 topic demonstrates the life of an evacuee and how daily life was affected.
Impact
Our comprehensive History curriculum equips our children with a coherent, chronological knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and the wider world. the excellent quality of enquiry skills that are obtained mean our children leave us ready for the secondary curriculum with a good understanding of historical concepts, critical thinking and an ability to analyse details. They are aware of the pasts impact on our future both locally and internationally. Our children are taught that the transferrable skills they have acquired will support them across all areas of the curriculum.