History Curriculum Vision

At Brackley C of E Junior School we have designed our curriculum with pupils learning and development at the heart. We are committed to providing a curriculum that is broad, balanced and offers opportunities to grow. It is the school’s curriculum vision that teachers strive for academic excellence and encourage every child to reach the highest levels of achievement and personal development. We recognise that every child is unique - therefore we are dedicated to providing a curriculum that is inclusive and meets the needs of every pupil by supporting them in becoming the best they can be, regardless of their background, special needs, ethnicity or disability. We strive to create a friendly, caring atmosphere which is designed to help every child flourish and realise their full potential. The school staff value the different ways in which pupils learn and plan lessons to account for these differences. Through our curriculum we aim for all pupils to be prepared to live life in all its fullness. We want them to be aspirational for their future and recognise that through valuing and participating fully in their education, everyone has a place and can contribute to the wider community.

History Subject Intent

Our history curriculum helps children make sense of the present as well as the past, and to appreciate the complexity and diversity of human societies and development. Teaching at Brackley C of E Junior School will ignite children’s curiosity about the past and how this has influenced the present. History helps children gain a sense of their own identity within a social, political, cultural, and economic background. It is important that children are aware of their immediate history in Brackley and its surroundings. We intend to provide a curriculum that teaches the appropriate subject knowledge, skills and understanding set out in the National Curriculum equipping the children with opportunities to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence and develop judgement. At BJS we teach eleven history topics throughout years 3 to 6, as a child moves through our school their historical knowledge and understanding will deepen and build on the foundations of previous learning. Pupils develop both substantive and disciplinary knowledge as they progress through the school, the curriculum has been designed to enable children to frequently visit concepts through repeated encounters and meaningful examples. Substantive knowledge of key concepts, such as, empire, tax, trade and invasion are explicitly taught and regularly revisited. At BJS, children to develop a mental timeline of events helping secure broad developments and historical periods to place their learning in context. Our intention is to offer a rich and diverse curriculum that enables pupils to thrive and prepare them for KS3.

History Subject Implementation

In KS2, learning will start by revisiting prior knowledge.  This will be scaffolded to support pupils to recall previous learning and make connections. Staff will model explicitly the subject-specific vocabulary, knowledge and skills relevant to the learning to allow them to integrate new knowledge into larger concepts.

• Frequent low stakes curriculum quizzes will review learning and check that pupils are understanding and retaining knowledge.  Learning is also reviewed on a termly basis, after a period of forgetting, so that teachers can check whether information has been retained. History assessment is ongoing and informs teachers with planning lesson activities and differentiation; it will be tracked against the History progression of skills objectives.
• Our historians will be given a variety of experiences both in and out of the classroom where appropriate to create memorable learning opportunities, foster curiosity and enthusiasm for history, and to further support and develop their understanding. 
• Each topic commences with an overriding enquiry question to focus pupils and foster curiosity.  Topics are compiled of a series of lessons planned for progression and depth. 
• Planning has been reviewed as a whole school, to ensure chronology and progression.  To ensure coverage, planning will consider the progression of skills, knowledge and understanding as outlined in the National Curriculum. In KS1, the Historical skills will focus on the world around them and their living memory of History before moving to events that go beyond living history. This will ensure a firm foundation for KS2 History.  In KS2, the History curriculum is set out in chronological order to allow pupils to reference the previous events in time and to refer to this prior learning year-on-year and within the year.  All pupils will be required to make connections and historical links with prior learning of people, events, societies and epochs.  Where possible, a cross curricula approach is adopted to maximise rich opportunities for learning and to provide further consolidation and depth of learning.  Further relevance is provided when possible, where pupils can explore significant figures and locations in their local area, allowing them to achieve a sense of relevance and belonging through local history.
• Lessons include historical enquiry.  Pupils are encouraged to evaluate primary and secondary sources to develop the skills of enquiry, analysis, interpretation and problem-solving which will develop knowledge and understanding and prepare them for the next phase in their education.  Challenge questions are used to allow pupils to consolidate knowledge and understanding where necessary or to apply learning in a philosophical/open manner.
• Trips and visiting experts are used where possible to enhance the learning experience.

Geography Curriculum Vision

At Brackley C of E Junior School we have designed our curriculum with pupils learning and development at the heart. We are committed to providing a curriculum that is broad, balanced and offers opportunities to grow. It is the school’s curriculum vision that teachers strive for academic excellence and encourage every child to reach the highest levels of achievement and personal development. We recognise that every child is unique - therefore we are dedicated to providing a curriculum that is inclusive and meets the needs of every pupil by supporting them in becoming the best they can be, regardless of their background, special needs, ethnicity or disability. We strive to create a friendly, caring atmosphere which is designed to help every child flourish and realise their full potential. The school staff value the different ways in which pupils learn and plan lessons to account for these differences. Through our curriculum we aim for all pupils to be prepared to live life in all its fullness. We want them to be aspirational for their future and recognise that through valuing and participating fully in their education, everyone has a place and can contribute to the wider community.

Geography Subject Intent

At Brackley C of E Junior School we believe that geography helps inspire children’s curiosity, fascination and awe and wonder about the world and the people that live in it. It is fundamental in broadening children’s experiences and helps children make sense of the world and their place in it. We intend to provide children with the knowledge and understanding of their local area, the United Kingdom and the wider world. Our teaching helps equip children with the knowledge about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understating of the Earth’s key physical and human processes. Geography lessons are focused on developing key skills and concepts. Throughout KS2, children are taught about our local area, rainforest regions across the world, mountains and volcanoes, trade and enterprise and the importance of protecting the environment. Important geographical skills such as using maps and atlases, using locational and directional language and practising fieldwork are embedded throughout our curriculum.

Geography Subject Implementation

Throughout KS2, teachers maintain strong links to the National Curriculum guidelines to ensure all aspects, knowledge and skills of Geography are being taught across all year groups by ensuring the following:

• Geography lessons are planned coherently, using the skills progression document, to build pupils’ knowledge and understanding of the world and the interaction between physical and human processes through quality first teaching. 
• Children build geographical expertise from their local area to the wider world. This includes locational knowledge, understanding of human and physical features and geographical and fieldwork techniques.
• Opportunities to develop their skills and fieldwork using maps and atlases (both physical and digital) will be provided for all pupils. Fieldwork allows pupils to apply geographical skills in a real-life setting and explore their local area and the features within it. We will develop deep subject knowledge and key skills while scaffolding work for all abilities.
• By the end of KS2, pupils will be taught various geographical terms both in our local area and worldwide.
• Geography assessment is ongoing and informs teachers with planning lesson activities and differentiation; it will be tracked against the Geography progression of skills objectives. Retrieval quizzes at the beginning of each lesson help inform what the children have committed to long term memory.
• All lessons are planned using skills progressions so that knowledge is taught across the year group; skills are progressed across the key stage with connections made to prior learning. A knowledge organiser helps children understand the skills, knowledge, and key vocabulary they will develop during the topic.