History
History at Guillemont Junior school is carried out in block sessions lasting two weeks. Four history topics are covered spanning a four-year cycle. The topics are: Victorians and Local Study, Romans in Britain, Tudors - Exploration and Encounters and Ancient Greeks. Through these areas there are key objectives and questions that need to be covered during the fortnight. The questions are differentiated for Upper school children and Lower school children, so that a wide spectrum of work can be covered and content is not repeated. From each key question, an activity is devised and resources are provided such as first hand experiences, trips, or visitors into the school. We have links with Farnham Museum, Aldershot Military Museum, Hampshire History Department and Hampshire Wardrobe where resources can be obtained.
The National Curriculum for history is split into historical areas that the key objectives and questions need to answer:
- chronological understanding
- knowledge and understanding of events
- people and changes in the past
- historical interpretation
- historical enquiry
- organisation and communication.
Within these areas, the differentiation is apparent in the language used and what the children's understanding needs to be. Often in the key questions the wording and specific areas covered denote what the children in the various year groups need to know. For example, children in the upper school study exploration and encounters during the Tudor period and children in the lower school study the actual Tudor lifestyle and changes it brought about. Both year groups look at Queen Elizabeth I and Henry VIII and compare the two reigns. Also during the fortnight, the children from all classes explore the use of the Internet and how to present information.
To assess how much information children have understood over the fortnight, two assessment questions are posed for written discussion. After studying the Tudor period, the children were asked to compare the reigns of Queen Elizabeth I and Henry VII and to discuss the differences between rich and poor. The children always seem to have gained so much knowledge and enjoyed the style of history and how it is covered at Guillemont.