There is a paragraph that seems to be copied and pasted into a number of deep dive OFSTED reports I have read recently. It goes something like this:
When studying some subject topics, pupils do not always securely acquire important knowledge and skills. This means that they are not as well prepared for the next steps in their learning as they might be. Leaders should ensure that teachers check carefully what pupils can recall from previous learning. They should do this so that they know when to revisit learning and when to move on .
OFSTED school dep dive report January 23
On the face of it, eminently sensible stuff – until you apply it to history. Let’s take an example from lower KS2 where pupils in a number of schools will begin their KS2 learning journey by studying ancient civilizations and then Stone Age to Iron Age. Whilst we would ideally want pupils to transfer what they know about religion in Ancient Egypt to their study of beliefs in the New Stone Age, I’m far from convinced that failing to nail all the finer points of mummification (as revealed in a low-stakes test) would act as an