Our aim is to ignite a passion for history within our students and instil a curiosity in them that drives them to discover more about past time periods and civilisations, and the impact they have had on our lives today. By developing their inquiry-based approaches, we hope to foster an interest in local, national and world history in all pupils that both reflects their own ancestry and the history of others around the world. Our curriculum has been designed to capture the children’s interest and enthusiasm and allow them to study each time period in a way that builds their chronological understanding and identifies the links between civilisations and periods.  Pupils will also learn a variety of ways in which they can communicate their knowledge and understanding of history, both individually and collaboratively.

Our project-based curriculum ensures that history is promoted across all schools during our Autumn 'Discover' term. Our curriculum includes local, national and world history and emphasises the links between different time periods to create a secure chronological understanding. The children study the full national curriculum content, through projects that are sparked by an enquiry question, to encourage exploration and collaborative problem-solving, allowing them to develop and use a range of disciplinary skills.

We approach history using the Hampshire six-step enquiry approach. This involves hooking children into the learning, before giving them a range of source material to collect information from. Children are then given specially designed tasks to help them process and draw conclusions from this information. Through the use of new information, or P4C enquiries, children are challenged to develop or refine their understanding in a critical way. Children are then given opportunities to communicate their learning in meaningful ways, including with parents at outcome events. 

At Forest Edge, our pupils are confident to discuss key features of different time periods and can place them in time. They show a passion and enthusiasm for their learning and are keen to share this with others. Children acquire new knowledge in small steps, and demonstrate that they are making progress with both their substantive knowledge and disciplinary skills. 

Formative assessment is ongoing during lessons and project review times, and misconceptions are addressed by the class teacher. Subject leaders monitor the progress and attainment of children against the progression of skills during the Discover term and identify any areas for future development of the curriculum, CPD for staff or support for particular pupils. Children recap and revisit their knowledge using a range of quick quizzes throughout the year.