History is all around us, in our families, cultures and communities. Studying history can spark children's curiosity about the past, both in Britain and worldwide. By learning about how the world, our country and local areas have developed, children understand how the past influences the present. This knowledge helps them form their sense of identity and provides a framework for understanding significant events and people. What children learn from history can also shape their decisions, attitudes and values. Children will learn to:

• hold a keen interest in the past and be inspired to know more
• have a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world
• be equipped to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence as well as develop perspective and judgement
• understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups
• understand how past events reflect upon who they are as individuals and their attitudes and values
• have acquired a sense of their cultural heritage
• have an awareness of how international and national events are linked to the regional and local experience

At Oakridge School, the goal of teaching history is to spark students' curiosity and help them develop their knowledge, skills and understanding through our well-rounded bespoke curriculum that our children can relate to. Where possible, we have worked hard to include the history of High Wycombe into our curriculum through the different periods of time such as children exploring the Suffragette movement in High Wycombe.

Our curriculum allows children to build upon previous learnings and see how their topics fit into the timeline of history. For example in year 3 children learn about the invasion of the Romans which then leads them into year 4 where they explore the invasion and settlements of the Anglo Saxons and Vikings. Opportunities and experiences are provided and linked to other subjects such as Design Technology where children make chairs and Viking boats, equipping pupils with the knowledge and skills needed for future opportunities, responsibilities and experiences. 

Implementation of history

We teach the National Curriculum, supported by a clear skills and knowledge progression. This ensure that skills and knowledge are built on year by year and sequenced appropriately to maximise learning for all children. Existing knowledge is checked at the start of each new topic.  This ensures that teaching is informed by the children's starting points and takes account of pupil voice. In the Early Years Foundation Stage children begin to learn that as they grow up they are increasingly able to do more things for themselves independently. This emerging knowledge and understanding is used to explore crucial early historical skills.

Lesson content and tasks are designed to provide appropriate challenge to all learners, in line with our commitment to inclusion. Lessons follow the Oakridge lesson plan model whereby we recap previous learning, new vocabulary is introduced in context before new learning is taught. We use the “I do, we do, you do” approach to scaffold, support and challenge the children as they work on tasks related to the learning objectives.

We teach both substantive and disciplinary knowledge within history. Substantive knowledge is the substance or content of our history learning; there are three categories of substantive knowledge;

• the historical knowledge that we gain about the immediate topic or period of time which we are studying
• the substantive concepts which may be explored over several different period of time which are more abstract such as the concept of empire or trade.
• chronological knowledge which includes an overview of periods of time and how they fit together as well as the internal chronology for example of a significant person’s life.

Disciplinary knowledge is the knowledge which helps us to understand, debate and organise the substantive knowledge that we learn in history. They are the ways in which historians think or work.

It is important that children develop the skills of a historian by fully immersing them in all areas of the subject. The history of the local area is fully utilised to achieve desired outcomes, with opportunities for learning outside the classroom such as visiting the Verulamium Museum in St Albans.

Impact of History

Our History curriculum ensures that our children:

• Understand how historical events have shaped the world they currently live in.
• Retain knowledge and understanding of key periods in History and make connections between current and previous learning, enabling them to tell a clear narrative of the history of Britain.
• Develop their thinking skills and demonstrate an ability to analyse information and make informed judgements.
• Develop enquiry skills in order to investigate own interests within a topic

By the time Children leave Oakridge they will:

• Become increasingly critical and analytical with their thinking, developing the skills to make informed and balanced judgements based on their knowledge of the past.
• Become increasingly aware of how historical events have shaped the world that they currently live in.
• Gained from meaningful, memorable opportunities that last a life time.   
• A richer vocabulary which will enable to articulate their understanding of taught concepts.
• High aspirations, which will see them through to further study, work and a successful adult life.

Our curriculum documents outline our intended curriculum:

History threads

History content document

History progression of skills document