How Do We Teach History?

At Hobbayne Primary School history education should be fully inclusive to every child. Our aims are to fulfil the requirements of the National Curriculum for history; providing a broad, balanced and differentiated curriculum; ensuring the progressive development of historical concepts, knowledge and skills; and for the children to develop a love for history. Furthermore, we aim to inspire in pupils a curiosity and fascination about history that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. A high-quality history education will help pupils gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world (The 2014 Primary National Curriculum in England).

History teaching at Hobbayne has a wide application to everyday life, teaching the children to enjoy learning about the past and to have a better understanding of the society in which they live. 

The aims of teaching history in our school are:

• Inspire pupils’ curiosity to discover more about the past and to develop an understanding that enables them to enjoy all that history has to offer

• Enable children to know about significant events in British history and to appreciate how things have changed over time

• Develop a sense of chronology

• Know and understand how the British system of democratic government has developed and, in so doing, to contribute to a child’s citizenship education

• Understand how Britain is part of a wider European culture and to study some aspects of European history

• Have some knowledge and understanding of historical development in the wider world

• Help children understand society and their place within it, so that they develop a sense of their cultural heritage

• Develop in children the skills of enquiry, investigation, analysis, evaluation, debate, interpretation, problem solving and presentation.  

To ensure high standards of teaching and learning in history, we implement a curriculum that is progressive throughout the whole school. History is taught as part of termly projects, focusing on knowledge and skills stated in the National Curriculum. At Hobbayne, we ensure that history has the same importance given to it as the core subjects, as we feel this is important in enabling all children to gain ‘real-life’ experiences.

Our history curriculum  is based upon the 2014 Primary National Curriculum in England, which provides a broad framework and outlines the knowledge and skills taught in each Key Stage. Teachers initially use Cornerstones Maestro to support with their planning of history, ensuring that the appropriate skills are covered and gaps in learning are identified. 

When teaching history, the teachers should follow the children’s interests to ensure their learning is engaging, broad and balanced. History teaching focuses on enabling children to think critically. A variety of teaching approaches are used based on the teacher’s judgement.

Educational visits are another opportunity for the teachers to plan for additional history learning outside the classroom. At Hobbayne, the children have had many opportunities to experience history on educational visits. The children have explored local museums and had visitors into school to share history learning and have hands on experiences.  

Within history, we strive to create a supportive and collaborative ethos for learning by providing investigative enquiry based learning opportunities. Emphasis is placed on investigative learning opportunities to help children gain a coherent knowledge of understanding of each unit of work covered throughout the school.

Our history curriculum is high quality, well thought out and is planned to demonstrate progression. We focus on progression of knowledge and skills and discreet vocabulary progression also form part of our projects.

How Do We Teach Geography?

At Hobbayne. geography education should be fully inclusive to every child. Our aims are to fulfil the requirements of the National Curriculum for geography; providing a broad, balanced and differentiated curriculum; ensuring the progressive development of geographical concepts, knowledge and skills; and for the children to develop a love for geography. Furthermore, we aim to inspire in pupils a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. Teaching should equip pupils with knowledge about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes (The 2014 Primary National Curriculum in England).

Geography teaching at Hobbayne has a wide application to everyday life, teaching the children to enjoy learning about the world and to have a better understanding of how people live in different locations. 

The aims of teaching geography in our school are:

• Inspire pupils’ curiosity to discover more about the world

• Enable children to know about the location of the world’s continents, countries, cities, seas and oceans

• Develop in children the skills of interpreting a range of sources of geographical information, including maps, diagrams, globes, aerial photographs and Geographical Information Systems (GIS)

• Help children understand how the human and physical features of a place shape its location and can change over time

• Provide opportunities to study mathematics across the curriculum through geography lessons

To ensure high standards of teaching and learning in geography, we implement a curriculum that is progressive throughout the whole school. Geography is taught as part of a termly project, focusing on knowledge and skills stated in the National Curriculum. At Hobbayne, we ensure that geography has the same importance given to it as the core subjects, as we feel this is important in enabling all children to gain ‘real-life’ experiences.

The geography curriculum at Hobbayne is based upon the 2014 Primary National Curriculum in England, which provides a broad framework and outlines the knowledge and skills taught in each Key Stage.  Teachers initially use Cornerstones Maestro to support with their planning of history, ensuring that the appropriate skills are covered and gaps in learning are identified. When teaching geography, the teachers should follow the children’s interests to ensure their learning is engaging, broad and balanced.

Geography teaching focuses on enabling children to think as geographers. A variety of teaching approaches are used based on the teacher’s judgement. Geography provides excellent opportunities to enhance the learning of more able pupils through the investigations, analysing sources and writing extending pieces.

At Hobbayne we provide a variety of opportunities for geography learning inside and outside the classroom. Educational visits are another opportunity for the teachers to plan for additional geography learning outside the classroom.  

Within geography, we strive to create a supportive and collaborative ethos for learning by providing investigative and enquiry based learning opportunities. Emphasis is placed on investigative learning opportunities to help children gain a coherent knowledge of understanding of each unit of work covered throughout the school.

Our geography curriculum is high quality, well thought out and is planned to demonstrate progression. We focus on progression of knowledge and skills and discreet vocabulary progression also form part of our projects Children will deepen their understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes and how this affects landscapes and environments.

We measure the impact of our History and Geography curriculum through the following methods:

• Assessing children’s understanding of topic linked vocabulary before and after the unit is taught
• Summative assessment of pupil discussions about their learning
• Images and videos of the children’s practical learning
• Interviewing the pupils about their learning (pupil voice)
• Moderation staff meetings where pupil’s books are scrutinised and there is the opportunity for a dialogue between teachers to understand their class’s work
• Feedback of children's work