At Summercourt Academy, historical knowledge is interwoven through our Curriculum and forms an intrinsic part of our termly projects.
Our History intent is for pupils to be given opportunities to develop a secure sense of identity, belonging and connectedness with the past. Our curriculum aims to inspire our pupils’ curiosity to know more about the past. History helps pupils to understand the process of change, the diversity of societies as well as their own identity and the challenges of their time.
Our History curriculum will equip pupils to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence and develop perspective and judgment.
Our Aims
To ensure that all pupils:
- know and understand the history of these islands as a coherent, chronological narrative, from the earliest times to the present day: how people’s lives have shaped this nation and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world
- know and understand significant aspects of the history of the wider world: the nature of ancient civilisations; the expansion and dissolution of empires; characteristic features of past non-European societies; achievements and follies of mankind
- gain and deploy a historically grounded understanding of abstract terms such as ‘empire’, ‘civilisation’, ‘parliament’ and ‘peasantry’
- understand historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance, and use them to make connections, draw contrasts, analyse trends, frame historically-valid questions and create their own structured accounts, including written narratives and analyses
- understand the methods of historical enquiry, including how evidence is used rigorously to make historical claims, and discern how and why contrasting arguments and interpretations of the past have been constructed
- gain historical perspective by placing their growing knowledge into different contexts, understanding the connections between local, regional, national and international history; between cultural, economic, military, political, religious and social history; and between short- and long-term timescales
Class 1 (EYFS/Year 1) often refer to their 'All About Me' book to talk about their own experiences and linking this to those of people from the past. We celebrated Black History Month by learning about key figures such as Rosa Parks and Marcus Rashford. Class 1 learnt about the importance of Remembrance Day and how this is recognised each year. They created their own poppy designs to celebrate this part of our history. This learning links to 'Understanding of the World'.
As a part of the KS1 History coverage, during the Autumn term, class 2 (year 1/2) learnt about the Gunpowder plot and why people celebrate Bonfire night (Guy Fawkes day) on the 5th November. They used different medias in Art to create a firework picture as a part of the learning. This supported their knowledge and understanding of 'events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally'.
Class 3 (year 3/4) had a wonderful day in the Autumn term at the Royal Cornwall Museum. They learnt about everyday life in a Roman villa using examples of artefacts they might find if they were on an archaeological dig. They used their historical detective skills to decide which rooms of the villa the different artefacts might be found in. The pupils learnt about how the Romans lit their homes and then created our own versions of the clay oil lamps. This supported their knowledge and understanding of 'The Roman Empire and its impact on Britain'.
Class 4 (year 5/6) had an excellent day learning about The Stone Age through to The Iron Age at the Royal Cornwall Museum. The pupils explored historical artefacts and learnt about daily life in the two time periods. This supported their knowledge and understanding of 'changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age'.
