This week has been devoted to bespoke CPD. Today, it was a session with the History Subject Leaders at Oliver Tomkins C of E VA Schools near Swindon, Wiltshire (https://www.olivertomkinsschools.co.uk/swindon/primary/olivertomkins).
Prior to this morning’s virtual session, there had been a brief conversation and number of e-mails sent between myself, the Headteacher and History Subject Leaders to share documentation and establish ‘where they were at’. This certainly helped with my planning and preparation for the morning and ensured that the school gained as much as possible from their time with me.
We began by conducting a SWOT analysis of the school’s current history curriculum (identifying its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats). This initiated much discussion and provided me with further insight into their present offering, as well as the History Subject Leaders’ thoughts and feelings. We were able to identify many positive attributes, but also realised that there were some flaws, opportunities to be exploited and several obstacles that would need to be overcome.
Next, we perused the EYFS statutory framework, focusing on the area of learning entitled ‘Understanding the World‘ (UtW) and the Early Learning Goal (ELG) ‘Past and present’ (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65aa5e42ed27ca001327b2c7/EYFS_statutory_framework_for_group_and_school_based_providers.pdf), Development Matters documentation (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64e6002a20ae890014f26cbc/DfE_Development_Matters_Report_Sep2023.pdf) and National Curriculum programmes of study for history at Key Stages 1 and 2 (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7c2917e5274a1f5cc762cf/PRIMARY_national_curriculum_-_History.pdf) to refresh ourselves with their content. At this point, I emphasised that progression must start from EYFS. Afterwards, we looked at a copy of their whole school curriculum map for history and considered coverage, sequencing and progression. A few tweaks were proposed to determine a more logical structure, avoid any repetition and overload; the message of ‘do less better’ was conveyed. We talked about resources currently employed and I directed the History Subject Leader to additional useful websites and materials. I emphasised the importance of enquiry-led, outcomes-driven learning in history, like geography, and showcased some best practice examples of medium term plans, individual lesson plans, knowledge/learning organisers, etc. Reference was made to substantive and disciplinary knowledge here too, as well as key concepts and golden threads. Besides, we thought about significant people and places within the local area that may act as a focus for a local history study and I gave them a number of possible leads to pursue for further information, potential visits and speakers.
I mentioned Ofsted’s recent subject report for history, ‘Rich encounters with the past‘, highlighting the main findings and recommendations (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/subject-report-series-history/rich-encounters-with-the-past-history-subject-report). We contemplated current points of discussion, also features of Ofsted’s Education Inspection Framework (EIF) (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/education-inspection-framework), namely reading across the curriculum, subject-specific vocabulary, cultural capital, SEND, transition, assessment, cross-curricular links, plus equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) and decolonising the curriculum. Although such items were largely embedded within the whole school curriculum, the History Subject Leaders did gain inspiration for promoting these elements further following our chat. The recent Curriculum and Assessment Review interim report has just been published (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/curriculum-and-assessment-review-publishes-interim-findings), so I suggested that the History Subject Leaders kept their eyes and ears open for further commentary about this as it may prove insightful when considering planning and development over the much longer-term.
I was conscious not to leave the History Subject Leaders feeling overwhelmed. There is only so much that can be achieved in the time that they have; I advised them to break things down into small, manageable steps and appreciate that curriculum planning and development is an ongoing process.
Enjoy the forthcoming Easter break and feel free to fire any further questions at me via e-mail. I look forward to working with all staff again in May.
‘Concluding comments‘ from the History Subject Leaders:
Thank you for today. Was very helpful and informative.
Thank you Emma. It was lovely to talk to you and there is now lots to think about, which is great!