Morda C

Vision for History Learning

At Morda we enable and  develop a passion for learning history. We want pupils to become increasingly interested in, and engage meaningfully with the past. At Morda children will build their chronological knowledge and develop a secure overview of the main historical developments and periods.   Our curriculum will enable children to make links between events, draw comparisons and develop their understanding of key concepts such as 'empire' 'democracy' and 'education'.    

Our main pedagogy for History, Mantle of the Expert, causes children to embed memories through the emotional concern and empathy they feel during the imagined experiences they come across as they move through the projects. Using Mantle of the Expert techniques, pupils are inducted into a fictional story which takes them right into the heart of a historical event. Through carefully structured, historically accurate imaginative play, pupils meet historical characters and experience at a personal level, the moral dilemmas, the success and the tragedies of the people of the past. Morda pupils experience the past not as something remote and dry, that happened to people long dead, but as a human experience for which they feel an investment and compassion. As a result of our exciting and immersive curriculum children learn and retain more historical knowledge in their long-term memories. 
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Outside of the drama, Morda pupils study and analyse historical sources. They learn how historians find out about the past and how they shape their arguments. Children learn to ask questions and analyse evidence. They consider historical events through the lens of the school values of Courage Compassion and Fairness.

Pupils learn to make links to other periods in the past, they look for the influence on our present and understand how history will shape our future.  Our historical inquiry leads to many rich opportunities for writing and cross-curricular learning.

Curriculum Design and Pedagogical Approach

Teachers use the Rolling Planning Frameworks to identify the subject content for each History topic for example KS1 Victorians. Using the History Progression in Skills document below along with the National Curriculum Programmes of Study, teachers choose which aspects of the unit to emphasise.
Their choices are guided by the character of the class, the needs of different groups in the cohort and by the school’s core values of Compassion, Courage and Fairness. For example when selecting an historical figure for the Victorians teachers may choose Mary Seacoal as someone who was courageous, compassionate, a role model for girls and reflective Modern Britain’s diversity.
Teachers then produce a knowledge organiser which informs their Mantle of The Expert plan and contains the key knowledge. Mantle of the Expert is the primary pedagogical method for History alongside focused teaching using retrieval practice of elements that don’t fall easily into the Mantle plan. 

Humanities 2 Year Rolling Programme

Subject Progression

End Points 

Knowledge Organisers ​
​2020/2021

History  Topic Pupil  Interviews April 2021
Pupils from year 3 and 4 in the Rockies talk about the Pharaohs in Ancient Egypt that they have been studying this term ( Spring 2021)
Pupils from the Rockies remember their Mantle learning from the Autumn term 2020 about being a child in the  the Victorian coalmines and workhouse in Morda. 
Himalayas -Year 5 and 6 talk about their Ancient Egyptians project 
Children from the Himalayas discuss what they remember about their local study of Victorian Morda in the autumn term. 
Pupils from Snowdonia Class ( Reception and Year 1 ) Discuss the Great Fire of London

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