At Watchfield School we aim to help pupils gain a clear knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world and stimulate pupils’ curiosity to know more about the past.
As our pupils progress, they will become equipped to ask insightful questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments, and develop perspective and judgement. We want pupils to understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups, as well as their own identity and the challenges of their time.
We have recently introduced the CUSP Curriculum (Curriculum with Unity Schools Partnership) to help our children learn about history in a meaningful, structured way. This approach focuses on building strong foundations, making connections across subjects, and helping students truly understand and enjoy what they’re learning.
The CUSP Curriculum is designed to give children a rich, connected learning experience that balances knowledge, skills, and hands-on practice. The approach is based on the latest educational research and focuses on learning that sticks, not just memorising facts.
CUSP Curriculum supports:
Knowledge that Builds Over Time: We revisit important topics throughout the year. This helps students see the connections between subjects and reinforces what they’ve learned so they really remember it.
Skills for Life: We’re not just teaching content; we’re developing important skills like problem-solving, critical thinking, and collaboration. These skills grow as your child progresses through school, helping them become confident, independent learners.
Practice Makes Perfect: Regular review and practice are built into the curriculum to strengthen understanding and help kids feel secure in what they know. Repetition and hands-on activities ensure learning really sinks in.
Using the CUSP Curriculum, we aim to guide children in developing a deep understanding of concepts we consider core to developing highly skilled historians. These core concepts are:
This will encompass the development of historical enquiry skills:
In the Foundation Stage, elements of History are ongoing and fall under the heading ‘Understanding the World.’ In other areas of the school, each class plans and delivers their own history lessons following our long-term and medium-term plans, which we use the CUSP Curriculum to form. These plans allow for the clear progression of key Historical Enquiry skills within the core concepts outlined above; giving children time to revisit and review these key skills.
Using the CUSP curriculum, we have mapped out the concepts, skills and objectives covered each term for each year group so that in Key Stage 1 there is a focus on:
Whilst in Key Stage 2 children begin to focus more deeply on specific eras and develop a deeper understanding of changes in Britain from the Stone Age up to Modern Times. To allow for full progression across all of the core concepts, each class engages in a study of an Ancient Civilization, which we believe also supports our commitment to diversity and guiding children in understanding their role as global citizens.