History at Bramley Oak Academy

Intent

At Bramley Oak Academy, our history curriculum:

• harnesses children’s natural curiosity in the world around them
• fosters a love of learning through engaging and meaningful lessons
• equips students with a chronological awareness of the past and how it has impacted the present day
• prepares students to be well rounded world citizens who are culturally aware and able to think critically about world history

Implementation

At Bramley Oak Academy we teach the National Curriculum through a programme that is adapted to meet the needs of our learners. This includes:

• Multisensory, immersive and practical learning experiences that are meaningful and contextual for students to ensure high levels of engagement and learning. This includes the use of resources, artefacts, historical sources, technology, the school grounds and trips into the local area and beyond.
• Allowing students to access the lesson content and to show their learning in a range of ways in line with their EHCPs and Special Educational Needs.
• The use of Rising Stars History to support progression of skills and knowledge across topics and year groups.
• Teaching students how to ask and answer questions that encourage them to think critically about the history of their country and the wider world.
• Continuously building on prior knowledge and utilising opportunities for retrieval and repetition.
• Regular formative assessment which informs the direction of the learning.
• Clear learning intentions taught in small, manageable steps to reduce cognitive overload.
• Utilising the special interests of the students to increase engagement and desire to learn.
• Teaching history half termly (alternating with geography) to ensure a broad and balanced curriculum.
• Adaptations that take into consideration differing abilities in reading, writing and Maths and remove these as barriers.

Impact

The impact of our well adapted curriculum is that all students are able to make progress in history during their time at Bramley Oak Academy. Teachers feel confident and skilled at planning and delivering the content of the History National Curriculum, with the support of Rising Stars History, in a way that is well suited and adapted to our learners. Regular use of formative assessment and retrieval practice, means teachers are able to support pupils responsively and fill gaps in their knowledge, or to explore in further depth where appropriate, across all stages of the National Curriculum despite the chronological age of the learner.