History at St Luke's

History offers countless information about how people and societies behave. Through its study it is fundamental in supporting our learners to critically reason and analyse.

Our Intent for History

At St Luke’s, we view History not only as simple facts and dates but encourage pupils to become detectives who explore the past in an exciting way. This gives our learners the opportunity to explore a wide range of sources from which the past may come alive.

We develop children with the following essential characteristics to help them become
historians:
- An excellent knowledge and understanding of people, events and contexts from a range of historical periods, including significant events in Britain’s past;

The ability to think critically about history and communicate ideas confidently to a
range of audiences;
The ability to support, evaluate and challenge their own and others’ views using
historical evidence from a range of sources;
The ability to think, reflect, debate, discuss and evaluate the past by formulating and
refining questions and lines of enquiry;
A respect for historical evidence and the ability to make critical use of it to support
their learning;
A desire to embrace challenging activities, including opportunities to undertake high-
quality research across a range of history topics;
A developing sense of curiosity about the past and how and why people interpret the
past in different ways.

How we Implement our History Curriculum

Our History curriculum is taught through a thematic, creative approach with specific learning goals for international mindedness and for personal learning. This provides opportunities for our learners to compare and contrast, to examine how and why things have changed, to learn about historical characters and expand their research skills. We are fortunate to be situated in a historically rich area, giving us a range of fascinating local history studies, such as London during the Blitz, how the Romans changed Britain and the Great Fire of London.

Teachers are provided with an additional time to plan their curriculum. As part of this
planning process, teachers need to plan the following:

A knowledge organiser which outlines knowledge (including vocabulary) all children
must master;
A cycle of lessons for each subject, which carefully plans for progression and depth;
A low stakes quiz which is tested regularly to support learners’ ability to block
learning and increase space in the working memory;
Challenge questions for pupils to apply their learning in a philosophical/open manner;
Trips and visiting experts who will enhance the learning experience;

Our History Curriculum

Our History Curriculum has been carefully designed so that it has a good balance of skills and knowledge for our learners. You can access an overview of our curriculum that shows how our history curriculum is mapped throughout the school.

Click here to access the Whole School History Curriculum Overview

Click here to access the Whole School Key Skills Document

Skills Progression in History

Click here to access the History Progression Document

Our Planned Impact

Throughout their time at St Luke’s, our children will become equipped with historical enquiry skills. This will enable them to be ready for the curriculum at Key Stage 3 and for life as an adult in the wider world.

Our cross-curricular topics, thematic learning weeks and enrichment visits to historical sites will enable for greater freedom and a more in depth analysis of historical events through other subjects such as English, Maths and Art.
We want the children to have thoroughly enjoyed learning about history, therefore encouraging them to undertake new life experiences now and in the future.