The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is broadly average. The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups and those who speak English as an additional language is low, but increasing. The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is above average.

Evidence for the assessment was obtained through a scrutiny of the portfolio, a learning walk, and discussions with the Senior Leadership Team, Class Teachers, Subject Leader and a selection of children from all year groups. The assessor also observed lessons across all year groups. In Year One and Year Two the focus was on using artefacts and photographs.

There was evidence of good enquiry based learning taking place with focussed questioning from the teachers and thoughtful questions being asked by the children. The use of ICT in History is very good although there are a wide range of Apps which could be explored to further engage the children in their learning. The school teaches Philosophy as a discrete subject. Questioning techniques form a major part of these lessons. Talking to the subject leaders for History and Philosophy the impact of this is that it has really helped the children to ask specific focussed questions about History.

The Progression of Skills document is linked directly to Classroom Monitor which is the Assessment system the school uses. The impact of this on planning, assessment and attainment has been very positive, with teachers really focussing on key aspects for individual children. History teaching is consistently very good across all year groups. All teachers have a shared philosophy about History and children make above average progress. The Subject Leader has a very clear vision for the future developments for the Teaching and Learning in History.

There is a clear understanding of the strengths and areas for further development. The Subject Leader provides detailed feedback to staff following lesson observations and work scrutiny. Senior Leadership values the contributions that History makes to overall attainment. Subject Leaders are given time in the week to enable them to monitor and evaluate their subjects. CPD is highly valued in the school. The History Subject Leader has led staff meetings based on her monitoring also specific History CPD for the whole staff including teaching assistants. Local specialists from the Norwich Heritage Trust have led CPD sessions together with online CPD offered by Norwich Library. The impact of this has shown a marked improvement in the way sources are used to support teaching and learning. The school have introduced an online tool called Tapestry. The purpose is to engage parents more in their children’s education. The impact of this shows a 40% increase in parental involvement since it was introduced in EYFS two years ago and Year 1 last year.

The Subject Leader is involved with the other schools within the Trust although not specifically with the development of History. This is an area for further development.

Children are asked what they already know and what they would like to find out about topics taught. The impact of this was evident in the lessons observed. The lessons clearly showed that children were developing skills, concepts and understanding in History and were fully engaged in learning. The conversations with the children about History also indicated a high level of understanding about why we learn History and what they have been taught.

Marking in books was detailed and age appropriate. The curriculum is modified through the year based on current events and is also cross-curricular based, including drama, art, music literacy and dance.

The school uses an assessment system called Classroom Monitor. This is subject specific and tracks the progress of individual children in each area of learning. The impact of this is that assessment is very precise for the individual child and subsequently planning is well informed so that the History curriculum can be adapted to the individual child. This means that each child is challenged to achieve their best.

There are very effective systems in place for monitoring and evaluation in History. These are consistent across the school. The impact of this is that the Subject Leader and teachers can identify specific progress in History and subsequently precise areas for further improvement. These are addressed in staff meetings through tailored CPD and future planning. A new marking policy has been introduced across the school. The evaluation of this has shown that children are given very clear next steps in their learning.

History is celebrated across the school in many ways including displays and assemblies together with focus weeks and international weeks. Individual achievement is celebrated with parents through Tapestry.

There are extensive links with local organisations such the Norwich Heritage Centre, Norwich Library and the Castle Museum. The school web site is used effectively although each subject could have its own section. Visits outside school and visitors into school are encouraged and highly valued by all staff as they enable children to put their learning into context.

There are a number of cross-curricular links made to History. The children were able to cite many examples of this happening. The planning and curriculum map also shows specific links. The impact of this is that the curriculum becomes far for rounded and balanced enabling the children to see links with drama, art, DT, literacy and music. There perhaps needs to be more links made with science and maths.