Our Lady of Hartley Catholic Primary SchoolTogether in faith, love and learning…
History
Our learning of history is achieved through the vehicle of 'Mantle of the Expert': a creative and stimulating approach which enables children, through their natural propensity for imaginative role play, to gain an insight into the lives of people in the past, the challenges they faced and how their legacies live on today. Within each Mantle of the Expert 'commission', our teachers ensure that the integrity of each curriculum subject is maintained through clear learning objectives linked to our progression maps. Essential historical knowledge, key questions and topic vocabulary are contained within Knowledge Organisers. These provide children with a useful learning aid, parents with a summary of how they can support their child's learning and the school with an additional tool for assessment. Please see the Mantle of the Expert section for examples of children learning and teaching each other about history.
Key documents
History in Early Years
Within the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage, one of the four specific areas of learning is titled 'Understanding the World'. This involves the children learning how their own life and experiences relate to the world around them and the changes that happen over time. At Our Lady of Hartley, children begin to build a sense of chronology by understanding how their own life story relates to that of members of their family. The children start by thinking and talking about their own age and the comparative ages of family members. Drawing on their own experience and their understanding of the world around them, the children comment on images of familiar situations in the past. In our Six Nations topic, we learn how, traditions practised today in countries around the world are firmly rooted in the past. Later on in the year, we begin to use photographic and other evidence to explore how seaside holidays have changed over time.
History in action
Cross - curricular links to history
Geography: Whether it's studying land use of an ancient civilisation or the reasons behind the Viking invasions of Britain, history and geography are closely linked. Through our Mantle of the Expert approach to learning, children consider both the historic and geographic context of the 'story'.
Maths: The sequencing of events through time, the calculation of the time between specific events and the grouping of time into decades, centuries and millennia gives children's mathematical learning a context and purpose. Historical information can often be analysed in graphical form using skills children have acquired in their maths learning.
Literacy: By studying historical documents, children gain an understanding as to how the English language has changed over time. Writing in role as a person from the past gives children a unique perspective which enhances their learning of history.
Art: Much of the evidence we have of life in the past is gained from the paintings, cave drawings, pottery and sculpture which remains today. Children's artistic skills applied in a historical context compliments their learning in both history and art.