Intent
At St. Andrew’s Primary School, we teach History in blocks, so that children can fully immerse themselves in the learning each afternoon. A high-quality history education will help pupils gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world. It should inspire pupils’ curiosity to know more about the past.
Our curriculum is intended to ensure our pupils have a coherent understanding of history through time, which is why each study in KS2 is taught chronologically, with the exception of a Local History study in year 6. In KS1 pupils learn about their own history and history in living memory so that they can understand the concept of time and events in the past before they delve into the past of Britain and the world.
Implementation
Key Stage 1
In Year 1 and 2, the History studies fall into the following categories:
- Changes in Living Memory
- Events beyond Living Memory
- Lives of Significant Individuals
- Significant Historical Events, People and Places in their own Locality.
Key Stage 2
Throughout Years 3, 4,5 and 6, children will learn about:
- Changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age
- The Roman Empire and its impact on Britain
- Britain’s settlement by Anglo-Saxons and Scots
- The Viking and Anglo-Saxon struggle for the Kingdom of England to the time of Edward the Confessor
- A local history study
- Early civilisations
Learning Links
Our History work throughout the school will investigate how Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) has shaped the world for our lives today. Using STEM as a link across all of our History studies allows us to look at a specific area in greater detail. For example, in Year 5 we will focus on the building of the great Pyramids in Egypt and this will link with a study of how the Mayans built their pyramids and were great mathematicians.
Local Links
In addition, our History curriculum draws upon local resources such as museums, local buildings and landmarks, so that our children can make links with the past in their own local environment. We draw upon the expertise of the staff who work in these places to enhance the subject knowledge of the staff and pupils.
Skills
As well as learning vocabulary, dates and facts, the children will also learn key skills:
- Identifying trusted sources
- Using a timeline to understand when key eras or events from history occurred in relation to each other
- Asking perceptive questions
- Critical thinking
- Developing perspective and judgement
These skills are transferrable, meaning our children can apply them to other subject areas and which will stand them in good stead later in life.
Curriculum enrichment
Pupils are able to further their experiences in History by attending a History after-school club or selecting from a range of History books from our library.
Please see our Whole School Long Term Plan to see what our pupils will study during each year here.
