History and Geography at Gade Valley Primary School

History

Intent

The intent of the History curriculum is to provide children with a coherent understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world. The curriculum provides children with a chronological narrative of the past and the ability to place eras and events on a timeline in chronological order. Throughout the curriculum, children also develop their understanding of significant events, how these have shaped life in the present day and that of the wider world. 

In addition, it is the intent of the curriculum to develop children’s historical concepts, such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance. Children draw on primary and secondary sources to make judgements about the past and understand how different interpretations of the past have been made. The History Curriculum will also teach the children how to effectively carry out research and ask relevant questions to find out more information about the past. 

Implementation

At Gade Valley, In Early Years, the subject is taught via the Early Learning Goals linked to the specific area ‘Understanding the World’. During their time in Early Years, the children will discuss the lives of people who are familiar to them and ask questions to find out more information. From Years 1-6, History is taught in half-termly block of lessons. The timing of this unit of lessons is flexible depending on the content being covered and the skills being developed. Each unit of work has been carefully written using the guidance of the National Curriculum. At Gade Valley, we also exploit cross-curricular links where possible within our units, for example, many classes have linked their English, Art, French and many other units to their History topics.

Our teaching of History at Gade Valley is based upon the Gade Valley Principles of Teaching and Learning. This provides guidance for teachers to ensure that learning is effective. These include, challenging the children, maximising learning time, providing clear learning goals and ensuring the environment is stimulating and enhances children's learning. Throughout History lessons, these principles are adhered to and this means that children develop the core skills from the History curriculum.

Impact

At Gade Valley, the intended impact of the History Curriculum is that the majority of children in each year group are working at or above the expected level for their age. Children are assessed according to their Key Stage National Curriculum requirements based on their progression in skills and knowledge. Additionally, it is the intended impact that the children can discuss their learning and remember what they have learnt, as well as develop their curiosity of the subject.

Up to March 2020, the following measurable impact includes:

• In the 2018/2019 academic year, the large majority of pupils achieved age related expectations or above.
• Pupil voice has shown that children enjoy History and feel challenged with their learning.

• are excited for DT lessons, particularly the practical elements.
• In the autumn term, all children attended an extra-curricular assembly from the Boxmoor Trust to consolidate their understanding of the chronology of history and where they different periods of history are placed on a timeline. 

Geography

Intent

The geography education should inspire in pupils curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. The intent of the Geography Curriculum is to provide opportunities for the children to learn about the world that they live in. We encourage them to learn the names of oceans, rivers, capital cities etc.

Through our geography lessons focusing on individual countries, we explore the physical and human geography, the culture and traditions and what it is like to live there. Throughout the school, the children are taught to develop their geographical skills e.g. how to read a map and how to use an atlas.

In addition, it is the aim of the Geography Curriculum to provide the children with first hand experiences of visiting some of the locations they are learning about such as; the area which they live in, Hemel Hempstead. Where possible and appropriate, texts studied in English lessons may also link to the termly topic e.g. Year 2 when studying a geography topic on Islands will in English lessons explore the Katy Morag stories.

Implementation

In Early Years, Geography is taught via the Early Learning Goals linked to the Specific Area ‘Understanding the World’. During their time in Early Years, the children will listen to stories set in different locations and participate in topic led work about the world they live in.

In Years 1 – 6, Geography is taught in a half-termly block of lessons. This timing of these blocks are flexible depending on the content being covered and the skills being developed. Each Unit of Work has been carefully written using the guidance of the National Curriculum. At Gade Valley, we also exploit cross-curricular links where possible within our units. For example, many classes have linked their English, Art, D&T and many other units to their Geography Topics. As well as having whole school initiatives e.g. "Take One Country". 

Our teaching of Geography at Gade Valley is based upon the Gade Valley Principles of Teaching and Learning. This provides guidance for teachers to ensure that learning is effective. These include, providing clear learning goals, maximising learning time, challenging the children and ensuring the environment is stimulating and enhances children's learning. Throughout Geography lessons, these principles are adhered to and this means that children develop the core skills from the Geography curriculum. 

Impact

The intended impact of the Geography Curriculum is that the majority of children in each year group are working at or above the expected level for their age. Children are assessed according to their Key Stage National Curriculum requirements based on their progression in skills and knowledge.

In addition, it is the intended impact that the children are inspired by the Geography Curriculum and want to learn more. They should show the progression in their skills and knowledge, especially in map reading, compass work and locating places on a map. They should also be able to discuss their learning and remember what they have learnt and building on this year by year.

Up to March 2020, the following measurable impact includes:

• In the 2018/2019 academic year, the large majority of pupils achieved age related expectations or above.
• Pupil voice has shown that children enjoy Geography and feel challenged with their learning.

• Pupils enjoy learning about the different aspects of countries especially their flags.
• The vast majority of pupils enjoy learning about Geography using a range of resources including maps, books and IPads.
• Pupil voice showed that the vast majority of pupils enjoy learning about the physical features of geography such as Volcanoes and Rivers. 
• In the autumn term, all children took part in a cross curricular activity- "Take One Country" where each class were given their own country to learn about. They had to find out information about that country, create a fact file, learn about and draw their flag as well as using their Art and D&T skills to create a trinket box based on their country's known artists. 
• In the Spring Term, Year 3 took part in a "Volcano Day" to launch their Volcano topic of work.