Our history curriculum aims to ensure that all children build a knowledge and understanding of people, events and contexts from a range of historical periods and of historical concepts and processes. Local history is used as a powerful vehicle for supporting our pupils in understanding that their locality and people just like them have a link to national and global history. Therefore, links to local history is evident within our curriculum throughout the key stages.
Children are given the opportunity to investigate and interpret the past, to build an overview of world history, to understand chronology and to communicate historically. They are encouraged to think critically about history and communicate ideas very confidently. They are provided with opportunities to think, reflect, debate, discuss and evaluate the past, formulating and refining questions and lines of enquiry.
Key concepts are carefully woven into the curriculum to enable pupils to revisit and build upon prior knowledge. Thinkers Moves provide tools to support all children in drawing connections and noticing difference throughout the units studied.
Our history curriculum has been built to ensure progression through the key stages as well as phases. Key concepts are introduced in early years and are revisited and built upon through their learning journey at Charnwood. For example, a child in Reception will be introduced to the concept of change during their All About Me study. This concept will be revisited and drawn upon during their local study on Schools in key stage 1 and later during their study of the Bronze and Iron Age in upper key stage 2. These key concepts have been woven through our history curriculum to ensure all units of study draw upon prior learning and understanding. These key concepts also enable all learners to follow the lines of enquiry set out within the enquiry based questions. Enquiry questions lead the learning in all of our units of study.
For a detailed justification of our history curriculum please click here.
Follow the link below to view our history curriculum. Local studies can be identified by the Charnwood logo. Key concepts are colour coded for ease of identifying links between key stages and studies. The colour coded stars show links between studies, giving some justification as to the organisation of units. (See curriculum justification document – link above.)
Through our Geography curriculum we aim to develop both skills and knowledge whilst igniting a passion for and commitment to the subject, with a real sense of curiosity to find out about the world and people who live there. The curriculum encourages children to investigate places and patterns whilst equipping them with the knowledge to be able to communicate geographically. Children will gain an extensive base of geographical knowledge. With careful links to our reading curriculum, vocabulary is also a priority. Utilising fieldwork across all key stages allows for children to apply geographical skills and techniques within their own locality.
The geography curriculum, much like the history curriculum, begins centred around the individual child in Early Years building a secure knowledge of their immediate locality as well as an introduction to the world around them. These foundations are then built upon into key stage 1 introducing further concepts and carefully introducing more substantive knowledge. Then progressing into key stage 2, pupils will acquire more complex substantive knowledge whilst drawing upon the substantive knowledge taught in EY and KS1.
Local studies can be seen in the curriculum overview below indicated by the Charnwood logo.
Temporary Curriculum 2022 – Autumn
In Early Years the Gingerbread Man escaped from our home corner in the classroom. He sent us a letter with some accompanying photographs. We thought back to our Special Places walk in the autumn term to identify the buildings in the photographs and used maps to locate and track the Gingerbread Man’s journey.
Year 2 had a visitor during their local, history unit of study on the Wedgewood family. She shared artefacts found in her family’s garden many years ago. The artefacts shared provided a real insight into the significance of the Wedgewood family to Lichfield.
In Key Stage 2, the children have been lucky enough to share artefacts in the classroom linked to their units of study through links developed with Birmingham Museum and their museum in a box scheme. They have also been involved in workshops for units of study such as the Bronze and Iron Age and the Mayans.
