Introduction and Intent:

At Freemantle Academy, we strive to ensure our history curriculum is both ambitious and exciting, allowing our children to gain a rich understanding of Britain's diverse past, as well as the history of the wider world. We aim to equip our children with both the skills and knowledge needed to become inquisitive and critical thinkers, able to work collaboratively, analyse effectively and discuss findings confidently, with a wide-ranging, robust historical vocabulary.

It is our aim for our Freemantle children to acquire a thirst for knowledge and to see their own important connections to the past, in order to help them to have a clearer understanding of our modern world. Through the creation of our own Freemantle Curriculum, we ensure that our history topics are well-sequenced and tailored to meet the needs of our Freemantle children, whilst still following the National Curriculum. Our curriculum has a clear progression of substantive concepts and vocabulary needed in order to become successful, as well as integrating disciplinary knowledge so that the children are able to develop their historical skills, concepts and ability to think critically. It is our mission to deliver a rich and robust curriculum which teaches children the skills to think like a historian, whilst preparing them for later life.

 - By the end of KS1 our children will have the skills needed to describe historical events and people from the past. They will be able to understand and use dates and timelines, ask and answer questions and observe and handle evidence. They will be able to work both collaboratively and independently, using a wide-range of historical words and phrases in their discussions. They will have a good understanding of substantive concepts such as monarchy, equality and democracy within the context they are taught. 

 - By the end of KS2 our children will have the skills needed to sequence the past and describe the main changes in a period of history. This includes having a strong chronological understanding of British history from the Stone Age to the present day. Our children will be able to use sources with confidence and have the ability to seek out and analyse evidence and form hypotheses about the past. Our children will have a strong understanding of diversity and will feel confident when describing our diverse past. They will continue to deepen their understanding of substantive concepts, linking concepts to prior learning and demonstrating their knowledge. 

Implementation:

At Freemantle, enquiry-led units are taught across a half-term so that pupils are able to gain a greater depth of study. Each series of lessons begins with an enquiry-focused question and both discussion and the understanding of substantive and specific vocabulary is at the forefront of each one. The use of discussion and mixed-ability peer support, enables an inclusive environment where all pupils can be involved. A quick fire quiz is also implemented at the start of each lesson and informs staff of planning for future lessons, as well as being a powerful assessment aid. All teachers have had a shared role in creating our Freemantle Curriculum so we are well resourced as a result. As well as this, the creation of our creative curriculum has ensured that history is embedded within a range of learning experiences. The history curriculum is enriched in a variety of ways and experiences such as museum visits, workshops and themed days help in order to help embed a love of history.

Impact: 

As a result of a language and vocabulary rich curriculum, many of our pupils are confident historians, who can think critically and orally demonstrate their understanding. Our creative curriculum ensures children are equipped with the knowledge and skills to move forward into KS3, whilst preparing them for the wider world. Furthermore, our curriculum ensures pupils cultural capital is enhanced through a well-resourced provision which enables a wide-range of enrichment opportunities, to deepen pupil’s historical skills and knowledge as well as foster a long-lasting enjoyment for history. Making cross-curricular links and embedding history within the Freemantle half-termly Themes, ensures history is at the forefront of pupils experiences throughout school. Lastly, making use of local resources has ensured children are provided with ample opportunities to think like a historian and see the relevance in what they are learning.

Please click on the below links to find out more about history at Freemantle.