GLF Schools

GLF Schools

GLF Schools was founded in 2012 in order to enable the federation of Glyn School (an academy in 2011) and Danetree Junior School. Together, we began our journey to become a MAT of more than 1000 talented staff working with over 10,000 children in 40 schools across 5 regions in southern England.

Our Schools

Banbury Region

Banstead Region

Berkshire & Hampshire Region

Caterham Region

Crawley Region

Didcot Region

Epsom Region

London Boroughs

Redhill Region

Sunbury & Camberley Region

History

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Subject Overview

Studying History shows us models of what has gone before.  It shows us the good and the bad and how we can learn from the mistakes of others.  It provides us with identity and helps us understand how our language, religion, and lives have evolved over time and the way in which society has grown.

We have designed a History Curriculum, which offers a clear chronological progression studying British History from the Stone Age in year 3, Anglo–Saxons in Year 4, and Ancient Greece in Year 5.  The children will also extend their chronological knowledge beyond 1066 focusing on different aspects such as the changing power of the monarchs in Year 5, changes in crime and punishment, the Victorians, World War I and II in Year 6.  The curriculum offers the opportunity for in-depth case studies, which enables the children to study the Shang Dynasty, Ancient Egypt and the Romans and compare them to British history.

The children investigate cause, change, and look at interpretations and the nature of primary and secondary evidence, which enables them to understand what evidence they have and evaluate it accordingly.  They will compare time periods to other periods in time as well as today's society.  A crucial element of the learning objectives is the acquisition of specific historical skills and conceptual understanding.

Curriculum Intent

At Cordwalles Junior School, we teach History in chronological order and link every subject to a timeline in order to build up a coherent narrative of history throughout the world.  They learn how people lived and compare this to the modern world and discover what impact the past has had on people and places today.  In doing so, we encourage the children to be inquisitive and develop the necessary skills of inquiry to enable them to ask questions and find answers for themselves.  The children find out how we learn about the past and also the archaeological discoveries we are still making today can change what we thought about the past.  They develop critical thinking and look at various types of evidence and ascertain how reliable it is.

Curriculum Implementation

History is taught once a week for an hour.  It is taught in alternate half terms apart from Year 6, who teach WWI and WWII consecutively to allow the learning to flow.  Teachers will use a range of resources and techniques and find primary resources to analyse, as this is central to historical research.  These are a mixture of artefacts, documents, diaries, manuscripts, autobiographies, recordings, or any other information created at the times.  Current discoveries are also studied for their value e.g. recent mosaics found by archaeologists.

History is taught to a high quality and looks at similar concepts throughout.  The framework for each has an agreed set of standards, including Quality First Teaching and a set of non-negotiables that all teachers follow.

The framework of the lessons are as follows:

  • Creating a ‘stunning start’ to introduce the children to the period they will be studying e.g. creating hieroglyphics, Anglo-Saxon jewellery, tasting Greek food or experiencing life as a Victorian schoolchild.

  • Where  in history the subject sits in the timeline.

  • Understand how a society has formed e.g. by a Dynasty or an invasion.

  • Study key events of the era and why they happened.

  • Investigate the lives of the people including the hierarchy and compare this to modern day living.

  • Understand the religion of the period and why this is important (or changes) over time.

  • Discuss artefacts from the period and understand the importance of such finds.

  • Create an account of that period in the form of a double page spread to identify all they have learnt and incorporate any research they have completed.

Curriculum Impact

At Cordwalles Junior School, we assess the learning regularly using questioning, quizzes and ends with a double page spread to allow the children to express what they have learnt in their own way.  We also recap on what they have been taught previously, using links to other parts of the curriculum to reinforce the values of teaching history. 

We encourage the children to research more about what they are learning independently with homework tasks and link specific historical anniversaries in assemblies.  Historical issues in the news will be discussed and influential people in subjects like Science, civil rights and local war time spies will be examined to bring context to a time in history. Historical fiction is read within guided reading to bring excitement and detail. 

In lockdown, as we could not visit museums and historical venues, we created a ‘museum’ of our own to bring history to life, taking the children on a journey through time.  This enabled teaching within the museum to create a curiosity as we could show artefacts gathered from friends, and family and discuss the use and compare the changes from one period to the next.

What a 'typical' lesson looks like

A typical lesson will be as follows:

  • Recap on previous learning 

  • Discussion of the intention of the lesson. 

  • What the children should know and convey by the end of the lesson. 

  • Teacher led discussion about the subject with children sharing their ideas with each other. 

  • Drama/role play if applicable. 

  • A task which is linked to the learning intention. 

  • A plenary to share ideas or ask deeper questions possible linked to the next lesson.

Teaching & Learning

  • History is taught 1 hour per week every half term. 

  • Work is differentiated to enable all children to access the learning and remember what the intention of the lesson is. 

  • Vocabulary walls and displays are added as the lessons progress to help the children commit the learning to their working memory so they can complete tasks, but also increase their language and spelling ability.  

  • Lessons are presented with fun visual and verbal information so as not to burden  their cognitive load and impart knowledge in a clear and precise way. 

  • Teachers will assess learning using afl questioning and quizzes.  At the beginning of the topic, the children will be asked what they already know.  This will be recorded in their books.  At the end of the unit, the children will complete a double page spread including pictures and writing to show what they have learnt.  Expectations will be that the child will include continuity and change within the timeframe, cause and consequence, similarities and differences and the significance of the era. 

SEND

Lessons are planned so as to engage all children with differentiated tasks as applicable. In line with our policy, we are committed to providing a teaching environment conducive to learning.  Each child is valued, respected and challenged regardless of race, gender, religion, social background, culture or disability.  We recognise this importance to ensure that children with identified Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities have access to an ambitious Geography curriculum.  Within the curriculum area of Geography, SEND children will be provided with reasonable adjustments through their tasks and the level of challenge provided.

Cross Curricular Links

  • Oracy - debating, etc.
  • Guided reading
  • English study e.g. Martin Luther King (black History Month) 
  • BBC Live lessons 
  • Drama (Shakespeare - Delight)

Home Learning

At the end of term, homework is set requiring the children to complete tasks related to the topics they have studied.  This creates collaboration with parents/carers and helps discussions take place.  Children could, for instance, create and design a house from the period, write in the language of the pharaohs or research the period in more depth.

Gaps in Learning

Any gaps in learning are addressed in numerous ways from assemblies, trips to the museum or virtual trips,  learning about influential people, Newsround, English reading books (guided reading), local history  e.g Free French workshop from the museum, links with the community, Delight - Shakespeare  (Tudor), festivals of religion, geography, cooking - food, art/dt and music.