History

We believe that our well-planned and sequenced History curriculum allows children to gain a secure knowledge and understanding of their past, the past of our local area, that of our country and of the wider world. We have carefully designed our curriculum so that children gain this knowledge as they progress through the school with English texts and our key words (identity, courage, power, changes, choices and unity) supporting the wider curriculum.

Through our History curriculum, we aim to inspire pupils’ curiosity about the past. We provide opportunities to ask questions, think critically, form opinions and develop their own historical perspective.

We strive to teach our pupils to understand the world we live in: the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of different societies; relationships between different groups of people as well as their own identity and the challenges of their time.  We cover key concepts such as chronology, significance and similarity and difference.

We intend for our children to have real life experiences and learn about History in an active and creative way. Visitors and trips form a fundamental part of our curriculum (see curriculum visits map).

Alongside our progression document, pupils also learn about key themes as they move through our school. Our curriculum is laid out so that children will initially learn about their own history in our EYFS and this will be built upon as they enter Key Stage 1. As they move through school, they will gain a wider experience of global history and their knowledge and understanding will deepen as the early foundations are built upon.  One main theme that children explore throughout their journey at our school is settlements.  Within each year group, this theme is built and expanded upon.  Another theme is Power and Rule.  The children begin by looking at King and Queens in Britain and then broaden their knowledge by looking at rulers in other countries and the decisions and impact that these rulers had on people’s lives.