History

A high-quality history education will help pupils gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider of the wider world. It should inspire pupils’ curiosity to know more about the past. teaching should equip pupils to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments, and develop perspective and judgement. History helps pupils to understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups, as well as their own identity and the challenges of their time.

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School Curriculum for History

Our teaching of this subject and the expectations we have of children are underpinned by the National Curriculum Programme of Study for History.

Throughout the school, children will be taught:

  • about the history of Britain, including the chronology of key periods of history and events
  • about the lives of British people in different periods on history and how Britain has influenced and has been influenced by the wider world
  • about the history of the wider world, the nature of ancient civilisations and empires, and the achievements and follies of mankind
  • about historical concepts, such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity and difference and use them to make connections, draw contrasts, analyse trends, frame historically-valid questions and create their own structured accounts, including written narratives and analyses
  • to make connections between periods of history
  • about the methods of historical enquiry, including how evidence is used to make historical claims and discern how and why contrasting arguments and interpretations of the past have been constructed.

In Key Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2), the children will be taught:

  • about changes in living memory
  • about the ways in which people used to live, e.g. in homes and on holiday
  • significant events beyond living memory, e.g. Great Fire of London
  • the lives of individuals in the past who have contributed to national and international achievements, e.g. Queen Victoria, Christopher Columbus, Neil Armstrong, Florence Nightingale, Rosa Parks.

Pupils should develop an awareness of the past, using common words and phrases relating to the passing of time.  They should know where the people and events they study fit within a chronological framework and identify similarities and differences between the ways of life in different periods.  They should use a wide vocabulary of everyday historical terms.  They should ask and answer questions, choosing and using parts of stories and other sources to show that they know and understand key features of events.  They should understand some of the ways in which we find out about the past and identify different ways in which it is represented.

In Key Stage 2 (Years 3 – 6), the children will be taught:

  • more about chronology and the use and reliability of a range of historical evidence
  • about the Stone Age and the Iron Age
  • about the Anglo-Saxons and Scots (Celts)
  • about the Vikings
  • about Ancient Egypt
  • about Ancient Greece
  • about the Mayans (South America study)
  • about the Roman Empire and its impact on Britain
  • about significant events and changes in Britain since 1948
  • about World War II and its impact on people
  • about the history of Northenden and Manchester
  • about people in the past who had an impact on society

Pupils in Key Stage 2 should continue to develop a chronological secure knowledge and understanding of British, local and world history, establishing clear narratives within and across the periods they study.  They should not connections, contrasts and trends over time and develop the appropriate use of historical terms.  They should regularly address and sometimes devise historically valid questions about change, cause, similarity and difference, and significance.  They should construct informed responses that involve thoughtful selection and organisation of relevant historical information.  They should understand how our knowledge of the past is constructed from a range of sources.

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