At South Farnborough, we shape our history curriculum to ensure it is fully inclusive to every child. Our aims are to fulfil the requirements of the National Curriculum for History; providing a broad, balanced and differentiated curriculum that encompasses the British Values throughout; ensuring the progressive development of historical concepts, knowledge and skills; and for the children to study life in the past.
We aim for a high quality history curriculum which should inspire in pupils a curiosity and fascination about Britain’s past and the past of the wider world. Our teaching equips pupils with knowledge about the history of Britain and how it has influenced and been influenced by the wider world; know and understand about significant aspects of the history of the wider world like ancient civilisations and empires; changes in living memory and beyond living memory; learn about the lives of significant people of the past; understand the methods of historical enquiry and be able to ask and answer questions. We want children to enjoy and love learning about history by gaining this knowledge and skills, not just through experiences in the classroom, but also with the use of fieldwork and educational visits.
In ensuring high standards of teaching and learning in history, we implement a curriculum that is progressive throughout the whole school. History is taught as part of a topic, focusing on knowledge and skills stated in the National Curriculum. At South Farnborough, we ensure that history has the same importance given to it as the core subjects, as we feel this is important in enabling all children to gain ‘real-life’ experiences. For example, using the local area to look at aviation, comparing the similarities and differences in environments and communities, and through looking at ancient civilizations and cultures.
We scaffold our children’s learning through the school by helping them to progress in different skills at three level: apprentice, competent and expert whereby the level of support given and the amount of creativity and deeper thinking is adapted in order to help them to meet the objectives. This is apparent both across the whole school approach and also within each academic year.
Below are examples from each year group where children will have the opportunity to use their English and mathematical skills within history:
| Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | Year 6 |
| English | |||
| Diary entry from the POV of a child in the Stone Age. | Newspaper report about the Viking raid on Lindisfarne. |
Write an explanation text about mummification. Biography of Samuel Cody. |
Persuasive writing Athens vs Sparta. Information text/non-chronological report on the Maya civilisation |
| Maths | |||
| To order the three time eras – Stone, Bronze and Iron age. Looking at timelines and placing different moments of history in the correct time period. | Looking at timelines and placing different moments of history in the correct time period. | Looking at timelines and placing different moments of history in the correct time period. | Ancient Greek timeline and how it effects their legacy. Looking at Maya maths system. How it is similar to place value compare and contrast to our number system. |
By the end of their time with us, all children should have achieved the National Curriculum objectives:
The impact and measure of this is to ensure that children at South Farnborough are equipped with historical skills and knowledge that will help them to understand the world around them and learn from the past to make a better future so that they grow up as well-rounded citizens.
We want the children to have thoroughly enjoyed learning about history; therefore, encouraging them to undertake new life experiences now and in the future.