History

BBC Bitesize KS1

BBC Bitesize KS2

On this day

History at our school

Intent (The ‘why’)

"A generation which ignores history has no past and no future." (Robert Heinlein) 

Rationale: 

To ensure that our pupils understand how historic events have influenced, and continue to influence, life today.  

Through our high-quality history education, with the support of Cornerstones Maestro, we aim to help pupils to gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past, and that of the wider world. Our teaching will inspire pupils’ curiosity to know more about the past and will equip them with the ability to: 

• ask perceptive questions; 
• think critically; 
• weigh evidence; 
• consider arguments; 
• develop perspective and judgement. 

Our teaching of history will also equip 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. 

Aims: 

Our History curriculum aims to:  

• know and understand the history of these islands as a coherent, chronological narrative, from the earliest times to the present day: how people’s lives have shaped this nation and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world; 

• know and understand significant aspects of the history of the wider world: the nature of ancient civilisations; the expansion and dissolution of empires; characteristic features of past non-European societies; achievements and follies of mankind; 

• gain and deploy a historically grounded understanding of abstract terms such as ‘empire’, ‘civilisation’, ‘parliament’ and ‘peasantry’;

• understand historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance, 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;

• understand the methods of historical enquiry, including how evidence is used rigorously to make historical claims, and discern how and why contrasting arguments and interpretations of the past have been constructed; 

• gain historical perspective by placing their growing knowledge into different contexts, understanding the connections between local, regional, national and international history; between cultural, economic, military, political, religious and social history; and between short and long-term timescales. 
 

Implementation 

Curriculum Organisation: 

Our History curriculum is structured to ensure full coverage of the National Curriculum. All History teaching is taught through Cornerstones’ Curriculum Learning Journeys. The curriculum has been designed to ensure that knowledge and skills within the subject are taught progressively and revisited over time; this revisiting of knowledge and skills leads to deeper learning. All lessons have clear learning objectives which are shared and reviewed with the pupils.  

One Minute Guide

For further information on the History curriculum, please contact our subject leader, Tom Lillywhite, on [email protected].