An Aspirational Curriculum:

We believe that each child at Rickleton has the potential to be successful in any area of curricular or extra-curricular life now and for their future. The curriculum they access must be the driver of this in offering them deep learning and inspirational experiences in a broad range of areas. Working out where their talents lie and the things they enjoy are a huge factor in this and we expect that all children give their all in all lessons.

In September 2023, we introduced our 'aspirational concepts' to support children and staff to understand the key skills and knowledge which they are building when studying a subject and where this could lead them in their future. We want our children to be driven by their future possibilities and see each lesson as a stepping stone towards this.

A Clear and Well planned Curriculum:

Subject leaders have worked hard to ensure that our curriculum fulfills not only national expectations but also the learning necessary to allow a child in Rickleton, in the North East of England, to be successful.

By carefully considering how knowledge and skills progress, ensuring that learning carefully builds on and consolidates prior knowledge, children have the best chance to feel confident and successful in their studies and to retain their learning as they move forward in their education.

The documents below show what we want children to achieve via the subject and how we plan to make this happen (commonly known as Intent, Implementation and Impact). They also show how topics and and skills are planned to give pupils a deep knowledge and hopefully a passion for the subject to support their future aspirations.

Experiencing History at Rickleton

We firmly believe that children understand history best by experiencing it. We try to take advantage of the many local opportunities to help our children learn more about their topics. Many of our year groups also enhance their learning by inviting visitors into school or going out to investigate local historical sites.

In Year 1, the children have been learning about homes and houses in living memory and have been hard at work helping with the housework at Beamish.

In Year 2 the children investigated sea-side holidays from the past and had a Punch and Judy workshop where they were able to hold and draw the puppets. We discussed how this form of entertainment was in the past and that some of the themes were not appropriate to our lives now.

Year 3 started the term by travelling back to the Stone Age with a wonderful Stone Age workshop. They were able to look at Stone Age tools, animal skins, start fires and build shelters.

Year 4 had a great day at Jarrow Hall where Bede had been a monk. Bede wrote the first history of the English people. We enjoyed finding out more about the Anglo Saxons and listened to the story of Beowulf and Grendle in the Great Hall.

Year 5 spent the day at the Beacon of light learning about the history of coal mining and football. The two important aspects of the local area have shaped the way people live over time and today and the children enjoyed learning about the history of Sunderland.

Year 6 welcomed back a great friend of the school – Mr Elliot - who didn’t come and discuss mines this time but brought lots of artefacts from the First World War. We were fascinated by the developments in technology and shocked by some of the terrible conditions.

Important Topics

Our history curriculum has several important themes running through it. The idea of this is to support children in having a firm knowledge of topics and issues which are important to their understanding of the world they live in. Some of these themes can be seen below:

Mining and Industry

Our school is built on the site of what was Harraton Colliery (or Cotia Pit as it was known). We, as a school understand the significance of this in helping children understand the heritage of the area in which they live. Mining is built in to the history curriculum but we also take other opportunities to deepen our pupil's knowledge of the history of Rickleton and the North East.

Inspirational Females

We want to promote positive gender attitudes with our children. By focusing on influential females across the History Curriculum, it supports all of our children to be both aspirational and inclusive in their present and future roles in society. 

Ancient Civilisations

Across the curriculum, pupils study civilisations from the past to learn important messages about society today and the way in which we live. Understanding the past helps children to understand their own life and, hopefully, appreciate the way they live and some of the things we can often take for granted.

Black History

October is black history month. We celebrate Black History month by thinking about female inspiration. We have added some new books to the library for you to enjoy. You could also read about celebrating our sisters.

Rosa Parks was an American activist in the civil rights movement best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott. The United States Congress has honoured her as "the first lady of civil rights" and "the mother of the freedom movement".^[

Miss Samantha Tross is a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon practicing in London. She specializes treating conditions of the hip and knee. She became a Consultant in 2005 and was the first female of Afro-Caribbean descent in the UK to do so. In 2018, she scored another first by becoming the first woman in Europe to perform Mako robotic hip surgery.

Remembrance

In November, on 11^th November, we remember Armistice day and all those affected by war. 

We hold a special assembly to commemorate all who fought in the First and Second World Wars as well as all who have fought in conflicts since then. We also sell poppies to support the poppy appeal charity and to open up conversations with our pupils as to what this means both yesterday and today.

Y6 York residential

We made the decision to use York for our Y6 residential due to the rich history opportunities on offer. Children experience a absolute 'history fest' visiting Eden Camp War Museum, The Yorvik Viking Centre and Big Dig, York Minster, York Castle as well as experiencing the famous streets of York and the learning that this special city offers.