At Ryhope Junior School, we aim to stimulate the children’s interest and understanding about how events in the past have influenced our lives today and subsequently, how they will affect the future. We believe that history should develop children’s interest about the past in Britain and the wider world and play a fundamental part in preparing children for living and working in the modern world. Pupils will be taught to make links between different areas of learning, with the aim of developing engaged, motivated and curious learners that can reflect on the past and make meaningful links to the present day. 

Historical Association Quality Mark – Gold Award

In October 2024, Ryhope Junior School was awarded the Gold Quality Mark for History by the Historical Association – the highest level of recognition for excellence in history teaching.

The report praised:

• Outstanding teaching, learning and achievement – with pupils engaged in high-quality, enquiry-based lessons, using artefacts, immersive technology and strong vocabulary development.

• Inspirational leadership – with a clear vision for history, cohesive planning and high expectations across all year groups.

• An ambitious, broad curriculum – covering local, national and global history, with rigorous enquiry questions and strong progression.

• Rich enrichment opportunities – including history ambassadors, themed displays, workshops, museum links, and use of our immersive classroom.

The full report highlighted our pupils’ enthusiasm, strong knowledge recall and growing ability to think like historians.

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Intent

What are we trying to achieve through our curriculum…

At Ryhope Junior School, we aim to deliver a history curriculum that is accessible to all and that will maximise the outcomes for every child so that they know more, remember more and can do more. Pupils gain a secure knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world. The curriculum is structured in a way that allows for children to make links between current and previous learning.

Teachers make comparisons between historical periods previously taught, developing children’s chronological knowledge and understanding from the Stone Age to present day.

History lessons focus on working as historians and developing historical skills and there are many opportunities for the curriculum to be enriched through historical visits, visitors and events held in school. You can see some of these on our school Twitter (X) page: (5) Ryhope Junior School (@RyhopeJuniors) / X (twitter.com)

Implementation

How our curriculum is delivered…

We deliver high quality sessions throughout the school to ensure that our pupils gain an in-depth understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world. Historical understanding is developed in a range of ways, including exploring primary and secondary sources.

In addition to the above, we also highlight current topical events and themed months/weeks to ensure pupils appreciate wider historical events and themes alongside the planned curriculum lessons. These include Black History Month, Remembrance and also highlighting any events or changes to our world as it happens.

Teachers use a variety of teaching and learning styles in their history lessons to develop pupils’ knowledge, skills and understanding.

We believe children learn best when:

• They have access to, and are able to handle artefacts (primary sources)
• They go on visits to museums/historical sites
• They have access to secondary sources such as books and photographs
• Visitors come in to talk about personal experiences of the past
• They listen to and interact with stories from the past
• They use drama and dance to act out historical events
• They are provided with opportunities to work independently or collaboratively, to ask as well as answer historical questions.

Impact

The difference our curriculum is making…

The impact of our history curriculum is evidenced in high quality books, discussions with the children and through using assessment questions/tasks. Lesson observations and discussions with pupils show that children are confident and able to talk about what they have learnt in history using relevant vocabulary. Pupil voice also demonstrates that pupils are enthusiastic about history and can recall their learning over time.  Work is of high quality and demonstrates pupils are acquiring knowledge, skills and vocabulary that is progressive across the school. 

Examples of pupils’ work can be seen by following the links below: