History

By the end of Year 11 students at Pendle Vale College will: 

• Have strong skills linked to the core skills of history, including being able to analyse sources, consider issues of reliability, understand how and why different interpretations exist, and are able to develop and support their own opinions, judgements and arguments. 
• Be able to articulate their thoughts, feelings, ideas and opinions in a clear and concise manner, whilst also respecting those held by others that may be different to their own. 
• Approach problems and challenges they encounter post-16 with confidence and independence, using the metacognitive skills they have developed in history.

We fully believe that History contributes to the development of all students at Pendle Vale College through our unrelenting focus on: 

• Currency: We have strong schemes of learning that have vigorous assessments built in which allow students to start working towards success at GCSE level from the start of their time at Pendle Vale. Lessons are planned, resourced and delivered to a high quality, with a focus on accessibility, challenge and engagement. This approach has seen us consistently achieve results at Key Stage 4 that are above the national average. 
• Core Skills: The work that students produce in History allows them to develop their literacy skills through written work, oracy skills through discussion based tasks, and leadership and team building skills through group based activities. These skills will be vital to the students in their personal lives and in their future professional lives.  
• Character: We develop cultural capital in our students by allowing them to understand events in the past that have both directly and indirectly shaped our present. We also cover a range of topics that allow students to develop empathy and realise that often there are multiple perspectives and interpretations of causes and events. We help our students form an identity by studying the past, and by nurturing a love of history we develop young people with an inquisitive mind. 

We seek to instill a true love of learning in all our students by: 

• Promoting a love of history through the delivery of engaging, accessible, challenging and relevant content. 
• Offering students access to highly qualified subject specialists who themselves have a deep love of learning and of history.  
• Creating an environment where students feel safe, respected and valued, and where they know that their personal development and academic success are the number one priority of their teachers. 

In order to achieve a true understanding of History, topics have been intelligently sequenced based on the following rationale: 

• Students gain access to a broad and balanced curriculum upon entry in Y7. 
• In history we teach key knowledge, skills and understanding in line with the national curriculum. 
• We study content that is interesting, engaging and relevant to our students, and we teach them in a chronological order to help the students develop a broad understanding of change and continuity over time. 

We fully believe that History contributes to the development of students at Pendle Vale through their development in five key areas: 

• Social development is encouraged through carefully planned discussion opportunities and group work tasks. Students are constantly taught that often there is no “right” view or idea, but that many different interpretations are held by different people, and that these should be treated with respect and understanding. 
• Moral development of students is promoted through the study of eras and events throughout history when groups have been oppressed, mistreated, and worse, for example the Native Americans, Slavery and The Holocaust. We highlight how misconceptions and false information can have devastating consequences, and the importance of standing up and challenging discrimination even if it does not have a direct effect on yourself. 
• Spiritual development is highlighted by asking students to develop empathy and consider how the actions of one group can affect another. We also teach students to respect views, ideas and arguments that are different to their own, explaining that this is crucial for a peaceful and happy society. The consequences of intolerance are also highlighted on a regular basis.  
• The curriculum contributes to the cultural development of students by teaching them that the way of life we follow today in this country is not the only way for societies to structure themselves. We look at various different lifestyles and societies throughout history, as well as closely analysing the developments and changes that have created the Britain of the 21st century that we live in.  
• Personal development is taught by encouraging students to make their own minds up and develop their own judgements and opinions, whilst also expecting them to be able to justify their thinking. Students are able to do this in an environment where every attempt is respected, and there is no fear of being “wrong”. The skills that are developed in history are skills that are vital to young adults in both their personal and professional lives. 

The History curriculum ensures that any potential equality issues are mitigated by: 

• Planning schemes of learning and lessons that are accessible and adaptive and allow students of all abilities to challenge themselves and achieve results that match their potential. 
• Creating and providing detailed and thorough revision guides and other materials free of charge to all students at GCSE level, so as to mitigate for the fact that not all families can afford to purchase multiple revision guides for every subject their child studies. 
• Treating every student fairly and with respect. 
• Having a strong understanding that all students have the same opportunity to realise their potential, regardless of ability, gender or race. We also make it explicitly clear to the students that the same attitude is expected from them towards their classmates.

Our belief is that homework should be a deliberate practice of what has been modelled and taught in lessons, as well as interleaved revision to ensure students are embedding previously learn knowledge but also developing high level skills alongside powerful knowledge. All Science homework is meaningful and contributes towards students’ progress. KS3 tasks focuses on literacy and key terminology and KS4 focuses on long term memory; repetition and retrieval.

Opportunities are built in to make links to the world of work to enhance the careers, advice and guidance that students are exposed to including: 

• Making it very clear to students from Y7 onwards that the skills needed to be a good historian are also the skills needed to become a well-rounded adult with strong job prospects. 
• When students are choosing their options, the multiple and varied potential career paths available to those with history qualifications are highlighted to students in lessons, and parents during parent’s evening as well. 
• Providing the students with the resources, opportunities and motivation to achieve the best possible results that they can, and therefore putting themselves in the strongest possible position when they go down the path they have chosen for themselves after leaving PVC. 

Whilst ensuring students are well prepared for their GCSE examinations, we teach beyond the exam specification by: 

• Making sure that topics are taught in KS3 that give the students a broad and well-rounded understanding of British, European and World history, that teaches them the importance of empathy, respect and tolerance. 
• Providing opportunities, support and guidance for students that allows them to become resilient and independent learners with strong metacognitive skills. 
• Incorporating activities into lessons that help develop important personal characteristics such as leadership, the ability to work as part of a team, and being able to articulately and respectfully express their opinions.

The History curriculum at Pendle Vale has been influenced by: 

• Principles of instruction (Barak Rosenshine, 2010) – The principles laid out by Rosenshine have a big influence on how we plan our lessons in the history department. 
• Teaching History: Developing as a reflective secondary teacher (Ian Phillips, 2008) – The central theme running through Phillip’s book is that professionals who work in education should always be reflective in their practice, and therefore be willing to consider that there are other methods and strategies that could yield better results for their students. This is a belief shared by all colleagues in the history department, and as such, schemes of learning and lesson plans are regularly adapted following research findings and good practice shared through internal and external CPD opportunities, as well as the strong sense of collaboration and sharing of successes that exists within the history department. 
• The work and research of the Education Endowment Foundation and the Learning Scientists in identifying high value strategies to further drive progress in history forward. In particular we place a great deal of value in retrieval practice and spaced practice. We incorporate these methods into all of our schemes of learning.