Saint Patrick’s Catholic Primary School
‘We arise today, to learn, love and grow through Jesus.’
At Saint Patrick’s we aim to create an environment in which each individual has the opportunity to thrive supported by values of Christ firmly built into our everyday foundations. Education, welfare and wellbeing are at the heart of everything we do. Above all else, we want to foster a strong belief in all our children that they can succeed in all they do, no matter what. Working with all school parties, we wish to nurture each child’s potential and foster high aspirations. It is essential that we give them the tool kit needed to achieve their goals regardless of background or starting points.
The national curriculum for history aims to ensure that all pupils:
At Saint Patrick's, we believe that, through the study of History, children make sense of their world and enrich their understanding of it. Through our curriculum, we aim to ensure that our children understand the similarities and differences between societies and cultures, and the impact of changes on people and place.
Throughout EYFS, children explore and talk about the lives of the people around them and their roles in society. By the end of EYFS, they should know some similarities and differences between things in the past and now. Children should understand the past through settings, characters and events encountered in books read in class and storytelling.
In KS1, children develop their awareness of the past, using common words and phrases relating to the passing of time. They explore where people and events fit within a chronological framework and identify similarities and differences between ways of life in different periods. Throughout their work in history, children should use a wide vocabulary of everyday historical terms, asking and answering questions, choosing and using parts of stories and other sources to show that they know and understand key features of events. They should understand some of the ways in which we find out about the past and identify different ways in which it is represented.
In KS2, children continue to develop a chronologically secure knowledge and understanding of British, local and world history, establishing clear narratives within and across different periods of history. They should note connections, contrasts and trends over time and develop the appropriate use of historical terms. In developing their historical knowledge, children should address and devise historically valid questions about change, cause, similarity and difference, and significance, constructing informed responses that involve thoughtful selection and organisation of relevant historical information. They should understand how our knowledge of the past is constructed from a range of sources.
Our curriculum aims to ensure that pupils:
The curriculum at Saint Patricks is organised into five topics per year group. The topics are grouped into historical skill strands taken from the National Curriculum (historical enquiry, chronological understanding, range and depth of historical knowledge, interpretations of history and historical study) a strand will be taught across the school at the same time enabling knowledge, skills and resources to be shared and developed as well as monitoring and assessment of the subject to be undertaken.
Our curriculum is driven through the following historical concepts (similarities and differences; significance; continuity and change; movement of people; cause and effect; concurrence) which are explored in a wide breadth of topics. Our curriculum is arranged so that pupils return to these same concepts repeatedly, gradually building an understanding of them. Our long-term plan details how pupils will be given opportunities to relate topics to previously studied topics to deepen understanding.
The curriculum learning experiences of our children are greatly enhanced by the wide variety of visitors and visits planned. We take full advantage of the history on our door step with each year group exploring places of historical interest from the birth place of George Formby to the Roman Bath house remains located in the town centre.
History teaching focuses on enabling children to think as historians. Our principal aim is to develop the children’s knowledge, skills and understanding in history. We believe that children learn best when:
We recognise that we have children of differing abilities in History and we seek to provide suitable learning opportunities by matching the challenge of the task to the child’s ability. We achieve this by:
In addition to the National Curriculum each year group studies an element of local History. Our curriculum reflects the rich history that our local area holds. Children are encouraged to consider the role they play and how they can make positive contributions to the local community. Trips and visitors are organised so that the children can develop a deeper understanding as to how our local area has changed.
At Saint Patrick’s We believe, the welcoming, respectful environment, enriched in catholic morals and teachings, continues to enhance the educational and pastoral experience of every individual passing through our doors, to ensure that they develop and become well-rounded individuals within the community, with the ambition to reach their potential and succeed.
We recognise the unique needs of each child and support them in developing the whole child. We have a supportive ethos and our approaches support the children in developing both their collaborative and independent skills. The impact of our History curriculum is measured in the experiences, confidence and competence of our children within the subject. We ensure children receive the experiences they require, both within and beyond the curriculum, to develop their skills and knowledge and become confident historians. By revisiting historical concepts, children will deepen their understanding and be able to identify links and be able to relate periods of history together. The progress children make in History throughout school is outstanding. Children typically enter school at below the expected level for ‘Understanding the World’, but the average percentage of children for the past 3 years achieving Secure or above, at the end of Year 6 is 89%.
Saint Patrick's Purple Mash portal: https://www.purplemash.com/sch/stpatrickswn1
KS1 BBC Bitesize: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/levels/z3g4d2p
KS2 BBC Bitesize: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/levels/zbr9wmn