Knowledge at the Heart of the Curriculum

Learning knowledge is not an endpoint in itself, it is a starting point to learning more knowledge. Each unit in our overview is underpinned by rich, substantive knowledge and ambitious vocabulary, whilst also ensuring children are developing their disciplinary knowledge (historical skills). Each unit of work is planned carefully to ensure concepts are taught in a sequential order to support children's understanding. Each unit of work has a clear emphasis on historical enquiry where children investigate historically framed questions whilst also developing historical enquiries of their own. We also aim to provide children will memorable experiences through museum visits, handling artefacts and engaging in carefully planned fieldwork. It is fundamental that key historical concepts sit at the core of our curriculum.

‘Golden Threads’

Our curriculum is refined yearly, but it maintains a consistent knowledge base to ensure conceptual progression. We have identified a set of key historical concepts or ‘golden threads’, that children will repeatedly revisit throughout their time at OLSA. Our golden threads are: settlement, empire, migration, invention, invasion, trade and societal change. Each unit will not include every 'thread', but over a year, children will visit each one more than once. 

We also explore significant individuals of the past throughout our curriculum, ensuring children develop key understanding of how people were 'Pioneers' of their time. Exploring the term 'pioneer' is a fundamental aspect of our curriculum as this is where the children begin to make links between past achievements to their lives today, Such pioneers studied involve both local and international individuals ranging from The Rochdale Cooperative Pioneers, The Whitworth Doctors, Amelia Earhart, and Ernest Shackleton.