History

Intent

At Eccleston St Mary’s CE Primary School, we aspire to consistently deliver high-quality History lessons, which inspire pupils to want to know more about the past and enable them to think and act as historians, gaining a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world as a result.

Our History curriculum facilitates chronological awareness of events as well as their significance, duration and the events that happened around them. We also enable pupils to explore, uncover and interpret sources through enquiry to create their own conclusions about events. Pupils have opportunities to investigate and interpret the past, understand chronology, build an overview of Britain’s past as a nation (including the history of Eccleston and Lancashire) and that of the wider world.

We develop pupils with the following essential characteristics to help them become historians:

  • The ability to think critically about history and communicate ideas confidently to a range of audiences.
  • The ability to support, evaluate and challenge their own and others’ views using historical evidence from a range of sources.
  • The ability to think, reflect, debate, discuss and evaluate the past by formulating and refining questions and lines of enquiry.
  • A respect for historical evidence and the ability to make critical use of it to support their learning.
  • A desire to embrace challenging activities, including opportunities to undertake high-quality research across a range of History topics.
  • A developing sense of curiosity about the past and how and why people interpret the past in different ways.
  • An interest in the past and an appreciation of human achievements and aspirations.
  • Knowledge about significant events in British History and an understanding of the values of our society; how events have impacted on the present day including how the British system of democratic government has developed thus contributing to a child’s citizenship education.
  • An understanding of how the past was different from the present and that people of other times and places may have had different values and attitudes from ours.
  • A sense of chronology within which the pupils can organise their understanding of the past not only understanding the order in which they came but the overlap and duration of different civilizations.
  • Knowledge and understanding of a variety of historical developments in the wider world.
  • The skills of enquiry, investigation, analysis, evaluation and presentation when interpreting primary and secondary source materials.
  • An ability to communicate what they know through asking perceptive questions and debating or arguing their own perspective and judgements using historical vocabulary

​Implementation

As a collective, staff maintain a strong understanding of the History curriculum across year groups, to ensure they have a thorough understanding of the previous learning taught and the skills needed by the end of the topic. For each topic, teachers will ensure pupils have access to the following:

  • A knowledge organiser which outlines knowledge (including vocabulary) which all pupils must master.
  • A cycle of lessons for each subject, which carefully plans for progression and depth.
  • Challenge questions to allow pupils to maintain an enquiry based approach towards History.
  • Educational visits and visiting experts who will enhance the learning experience.

Early Years

In the Foundation Stage, History is where pupils develop a concept of time and change and begin to recognise that events can happen in the past, present and future. It is taught within the specific area of ‘Understanding the World’. Pupils learn to sequence days of the week, and also sequence instructions or play activities.

Key Stage 1

During Key Stage 1, pupils will learn about people’s lives and lifestyles. They will find out about significant men, women, people and events from the recent and more distant past, including those from both Britain and the wider world. They will listen and respond to stories and use sources of information to help them ask and answer questions. They will learn how the past is different from the present. 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 draw comparisons between 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.

Key Stage 2

In Key Stage 2, pupils will build on their existing knowledge of chronological understanding of British, local and world History. They will have a clear understanding of the order in which events occurred as well as the duration and the overlap of civilizations. They should note 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.

Impact

In order to assess pupils’ attainment in History, teachers will obtain evidence in a range of ways. These will include observing them at work, listening to them and discussing with them and analysing the work they produce. Each half term, pupils are assessed against the age related expectations for their year group. Teacher judgements are discussed and moderated both internally and externally at subject cluster meetings with local schools.
As a result of well thought out and engaging planning, at Eccleston St Mary’s, we aim to achieve the following:

  • Evidence of work will show a range of topics covered, cross curricular links made and differentiated work completed
  • Pupils will enjoy History lessons and look forward to finding out more
  • By being encouraged to research independently, pupils will further their own enjoyment and fascination about the topic or subject.
  • Standards in History will be high and will match standards in other subjects such as English.

Files to Download

History Curriculum Overview