1. What is the curriculum rationale in History?

Intent: purpose and values of History

History is the study of people, societies, cultures, actions and interactions. It enables us to make sense of the present. By studying facts, evidence, themes and opinions we can discuss, debate and draw conclusions about the world we live in and the history of it.

• We aim to teach our students how people’s lives have shaped Britain and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world.
• In our history lessons, we aim to combine substantive and disciplinary knowledge so that our pupils can both remember key dates, people and features of history whilst also developing the skills of historians to understand changes, continuation, causes and sources from the past.
• We also encourage our students to develop a chronological framework of history that will enable them to make sense of, and connect, the new knowledge they acquire. This allows them to understand the process of change, to see how we arrived ‘here’ and help them to make sense of the present, and perhaps the future!

We believe that our history curriculum contains the breadth and depth that will naturally build cultural capital.

• We ensure that a range of ‘voices’ are heard through our teaching …from Africans confronting the horrors of the slave trade to women campaigning for the vote and children experiencing evacuation in WW2.
• We examine a variety of different countries through our ‘meanwhile, elsewhere’ activities and homework.
• We believe in the value of history outside the classroom and organise visits to the Battlefields of WW1, to London and to Quarry Bank Mill.

2. What is the 'big picture' in History?

The ‘big picture’ outlines how the Big Ideas and areas of knowledge of each subject fit together:

At Wilmslow High School students from years 7 to 13 are introduced to the Big Ideas that underpin the study of history as well as the narrative of history from Roman times through to the present day:

• Causation
• Interpretation
• Significance
• Change versus continuity
• Diversity

There are four key areas of knowledge which are necessary to become a subject expert in History:

1. Conceptual understanding: That our students build declarative knowledge (knowing that), in particular, of key concepts such as:
   • Empire
   • Civilisation
   • Parliament
   • Revolution

Which help make sense of the dates, names and narrative studied in history lessons.

2. Procedural understanding: that our students build procedural knowledge (knowing how to):

• apply historical knowledge
• follow historical processes

• write responses, narratives and interpretations

3. Disciplinary knowledge: that our students understand the ways that historians work and the questions that historians ask and answer to understand the past

4. Chronological knowledge: that our students can ‘place’ the people and events that they study into a meaningful framework that helps them to understand the past 

3. What does knowledge look like in History?

4. What do we teach and when?