History

Intent

History is all around us; in our families with their unique backgrounds, cultures and traditions and in our local and wider communities. The study of history ignites children’s curiosity about the past in Britain and the wider world. Through finding out about how and why the world, our country, culture and local community have developed over time, children understand how the past influences the present .  History enables children to develop a context for their growing sense of identity and a chronological framework for their knowledge of significant events and people. What they learn through history can influence their decisions about personal choices, attitudes and values.  At Earl Soham , our intent, when teaching history, is to stimulate the children’s curiosity in order for them to develop their knowledge, skills and understanding. We take every opportunity to bring the learning to life , be it through school trips, visitors coming into school or by role playing during lesson time. 

Implementation

Two of our three topics per year have a historical theme and the learning that takes place is often reinforced across the curriculum through subjects such as English, art, DT and geography.  Starting in KS1,  children are introduced to historical terms such as significance  and chronology, alongside the knowledge that they are building through their learning.  Running parallel to this we teach the disciplinary skills that are required to become effective historians. In KS1 children begin to learn these skills including how to find similarities and differences between the periods of history and how to ask and answer questions to extend their learning. They study significant people and events both within and beyond living memory. Our skilled KS1 practitioners work hard to ensure the learning is fully immersive and English, art and DT projects to help embed new concepts .

As children move up the school and enter KS2 they build on the skills learned in KS1 and extend both their substantive  and disciplinary knowledge . In Lower KS2 British historical periods are taught chronologically and include two local history studies. once their understanding of British history is in place they are then introduced to Ancient civilisations from across the globe. In upper KS2 the children's learning is extended into areas including Britain's role in the slave trade and the religious turmoil of the Tudor dynasty. Further study of Ancient Civilisations take place with the ancient Greeks and the Ancient Mayans. 

Impact

The curriculum is designed to allow the children's historical skills to build and improve as they move from reception to year 6. This can be evidenced by their ability to draw links between past and current learning, interrogate historical sources and question the causes and consequences of events throughout history. Their written and oral skills develop as does their ability to draw conclusions based on evidence.  We encourage questions throughout our History teaching and aim to equip our pupils with the ability to ask perceptive questions and to take steps to answer them themselves too. We want children to form opinions on historical events, think critically and evaluate evidence presented to them in order to develop perspective and to understand the process of change that has happened before them and is continuing to happen now. 

Want to help at home?

Why not take a look at the knowledge organisers ? These share all the knowledge taught over the course of each topic. They are really useful to talk through, quiz on or generate more questions to research.