How do we assess History?
How do we assess the impact of our History curriculum?
Feedback and discussion is essential in the study of History. Children are given feedback on the work they undertake. The medium of this feedback will vary depending on the task. The most beneficial form of feedback is immediate verbal feedback. This enables children to have an opportunity to work on and develop their output as required. Evidence of feedback will be seen though the pupil’s work showing that it has been edited and improved. Teachers should give feedback in conjunction with the Feedback and Marking Policy.
Lesson observations, learning walks and book looks will also be used to ensure consistency, coverage and to enable any good practices to be shared across the school.
History gives pupils the opportunity to investigate, research and develop historical thinking whilst being hands on with a range of artefacts. This therefore allows the children to fully understand the concept of change over a period of time. At St. Margaret’s, we strive to encourage children to ask questions in order to create a deeper understanding of their knowledge. Furthermore, we encourage the pupils to also share their own experiences of history related learning they have accessed outside of the classroom learning environment.
In order to assist with developing historical thinking at St Margaret’s, pupils are taught a range key concepts:
- Chronological knowledge and understanding.
- Historical terms.
- Historical enquires paired with using evidence.
- Interpretations of History.
- Continuity and change.
- Identifying similarities and differences between the past and present.
- Recognising significant events.
Children are encouraged to be curious and imaginative. We endeavour, as a team, to bring history to life within different year groups. We commence the beginning of terms by submersing pupils with ‘hook days’; such an example being Roman Day in Year 4.