Curriculum – History
At Oakley Cross our History curriculum has been designed to engage and enthuse our children with the people and events of the past and to develop meaningful skills as historians, enabling them to understand how the past has helped to shape the world they live in today.
As part of our ongoing commitment to improving our History curriculum, we have taken significant steps to refine our vocabulary and fine-tune our long term plan to include key Very Important Points (VIPs) and flashbacks for each lesson. These enhancements are designed to deepen student’s understanding of historical concepts and foster their ability to understand past events and how they have shaped our world today. We have identified essential historical terms and concepts that students need to master at each key stage showing a progression in vocabulary throughout the year groups. We have ensured that lessons have opportunities for spoken language activities to help the children use key vocabulary in context with their peers. These improvements are intended to not only enhanced students' understanding of historical content but also equip them with the investigative skills necessary to navigate and interpret the past.
In EYFS, the focus is on the child’s immediate living memory and developing an understanding of old and new, past and present and identifying change.
In KS1, the sequence of learning moves from history within the child’s living memory to looking at familiar features in the recent past and then gradually beyond living memory. The achievements of significant individuals including those in the North East adds a further dimension. Pupil’s prior knowledge is built upon and helps lay the foundations for future learning.
In KS2, our curriculum extends the children’s knowledge and understanding of British and world history in line with the National Curriculum. Alongside this, a thread of local history builds year upon year to allow the children to uncover how their home became the place it is today.