Amongst all the chaos and communications and coordinating of the last couple of weeks, we received some great feedback following a visit from an external educational consultant (and Ofsted inspector)…
At Moortown Primary, we don’t like to rest on our laurels – we’re always keen to hear the views of others so we can keep getting better – so we invited a consultant in to do a ‘deep dive‘ in History.
(‘Deep dive’ is a new expression used by Ofsted – it’s an in-depth examination of a subject, typically involving lesson visits, pupil interviews (with their exercise books), and teacher interviews. Typical Ofsted inspections now feature about three to five ‘deep dives’ in different subjects.)
Our history deep dive was an important way to help us evaluate changes that we’ve made this year in how we plan and teach topic subjects. Read more about our curriculum here, but be aware we plan to update this page soon, better reflecting the changes we’ve made.
Here are some of the comments:
The main body [of the lesson], requiring children to read and become experts in an aspect of Viking life that have had a longer-term impact on life today, was thoroughly explored with exemplary reference to recent work on ‘digital footprints’ clearly resonating with the children. During the silent read session, the teacher moved effortlessly around the groups to qualify any queries regarding challenging vocabulary.
[The teacher] has established good presence and relationships with his class… The task to consider and explain how elements of everyday Viking life impact on our life today certainly captured the children’s imagination. Subsequently, attitudes to learning were strong as they maturely debated and collaborated.
In discussion… children could confidently recall elements of previous historical learning and, impressively, the links between civilisations is having an impact on learning and memory.
The Key Stage 2 children also spoke about their love of the subject. When challenged to find a piece of work in their books that they had particularly enjoyed and could remember a great deal from, it was hard to quell their enthusiasm and this in itself evidences their thirst and enjoyment for the subject.
The school’s intent for history is now well established and although its knowledge-based implementation phase remains in its embryonic form, the evidence points to a curriculum that children will enjoy and more importantly, learn a great deal from.
The unique strand of linking British and ancient historical periods [during the deep dive, the topic was Vikings in Britain, with comparisons made to a similar period elsewhere, the Golden Age of Islam] is totally unique and evidences the imaginative thinking of leaders. Such thinking is allowing teachers to teach to a greater depth thus fostering higher expectations of what pupils can achieve in historical knowledge, vocabulary and skill development.
Mr Wilks is the leader for History and the other foundations subjects. He’s done a great job in planning and leading the recent changes we’ve made, and in supporting teachers.
The consultant left us with two areas to improve which we’d already identified as next steps for us:
- to develop ways to improve children’s memory of vocabulary and facts in this new knowledge-led curriculum (it would be reasonable to say most schools are in this position following Ofsted’s shift of focus in September)
- to employ even greater use of first-hand learning experiences.