Impact

The outcome of a rich, rigorous and connected experience of learning in history will be a knowledge rich historian who can:

• Ask pertinent historical questions.
• Assess and critically evaluate potential answers to those questions.
• Make reasoned judgements on the evidence.
• Consider why people in the past may have behaved the way they did and what the consequences of their actions were.
• Appreciate that different historical perspectives and interpretations exist and respect alternative perspectives.
• Categorise different historical events and historical periods into a chronological time frame.

Our children will have a historical lens that will enable them to appreciate how the past has shaped the present. They will understand that there is no one view about the past, and that historians’ accounts of the past may differ.

Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)

In the Early Years Foundation Stage, children begin to learn that as they grow up they are increasingly able to do more things for themselves independently. This emerging knowledge and understanding can be used to explore crucial early historical skills.

Many children within the EYFS have younger and/or older siblings who they will see being involved in activities at a different level. This can be used to extend the children’s learning and understanding of themselves and the world around them. By the time children are in Reception, they will be increasingly aware of the changes in routines during different times of the day and seasons of the year. These changes in times have an impact on what activities they can do (sleep, eat, play, home, holidays etc.) as well as what they wear and what they celebrate.

The early learning goals in the EYFS aim to guide children in making sense of talking about past and present events in their own lives and in the lives of family members. Enquiry and exploration are central to all aspects of the EYFS.

Key Stage 1

In Years 1 and 2, children begin to develop an awareness of the past. They focus on learning about the significant people, places and moments in history and understand where these fit within a chronological framework in relation to the modern day. Children use common words and phrases relating to the passing of time as well as more specific vocabulary and historical terms. Children learn to recognise similarities and differences between ways of life in different periods including their own. Enquiry is key and children will ask and answer questions, communicate their understanding and begin to understand how we find out about the past and the different ways it may be represented.

KS1 History Curriculum Map

Key Stage 2

In Years 3 to 6, children continue to focus on key historical knowledge of local, British and World history from a range of eras. They secure their understanding of chronology on a road scale even further as well as within the periods they study. They continue to develop use of appropriate historical terms, new vocabulary and consolidate historical language from KS1. Children continue to study the key historical concepts of diversity, cause and consequence, continuity and change, chronology and significance. Over time, they learn to not only answer given lines of enquiry but also devise historical enquiries based on these key concepts. Children learn to recognise trends, connections and contrasts over time in these studies. As children communicate their findings and responses in an organised and thoughtful way and through different mediums, they will scrutinize a range of sources with an understanding of how these construct our knowledge of the past. Substantive knowledge takes the form of both overview and depth studies and relate to learning lower down the school in some instances.

KS2 History Curriculum Map