Focus primarily on the story of events in their teaching? |
Check your key stage and medium-term plans -- do they encourage a more analytical approach to history? Have you based your planning around key enquiry questions? Are your plans sufficiently understood by other teachers? |
Indiscriminately include large amounts of content in their teaching? |
Do other teachers understand the requirements of the national curriculum programmes of study for history? Have you based your planning around key enquiry questions, which focus teaching, around specific issues, events, individuals, trends, and changes in the past? |
Use limited resources, with textbooks and commercially produced worksheets predominating? |
Help colleagues to appreciate the importance of using a range of sources and encourage them to provide opportunities for pupils to develop their historical enquiry skills. Aim to provide colleagues with a wider range of suitable resources. |
Use activities that are undemanding and predominately involve copying, simple comprehension and colouring? |
Check that colleagues are making use of the medium-term plans for history. Are these detailed enough? Do they specify a range of activities for use in lessons? Do your colleagues understand how pupils progress in history? Provide examples of appropriate activities to use in history lessons. |
Make no links between work done in different history topics/units/enquiries, including those taught by other staff? |
Are your colleagues familiar with the school's long-term plan for history? Does it make explicit links between the individual topics/units/enquiries? Do your colleagues understand how pupils progress in history? Use a staff meeting or INSET day to involve all staff in planning for history. |
Show a lack of understanding of the role of the five areas of knowledge, skills and understanding? |
Do you key stage and medium-term plans make these explicit enough? Do they include specific learning objectives and outcomes? Do your colleagues understand how pupils progress in history? Use a staff meeting or INSET day to involve all staff in planning for history. |
Say they are uncertain about planning more challenging work?
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Do your medium-term plans provide scope for differentiation in history? Are they demanding enough? Do they have 'expectations statements' like the DfES/QCA units? Show your colleagues how to make use of them. Provide examples of more challenging activities and strategies for meeting the needs of the most able? |
Say they are uncertain about how to use of the level descriptors in history?
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Use exemplars of pupils' work from the National Curriculum in Action website in joint moderation exercises. (Link to: www.ncaction.org.uk/subjects/history) |
Lack resources for teaching the local history study?
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Make contact with a range of providers of sources from Record Offices, to museums, libraries and local enthusiasts. Help the teacher to plan such resources into the unit, possibly using the exemplars in the DfES/QCA scheme of work. (Link to: DfES/QCA scheme of work for primary history) |
