What is History?

At St. Andrew’s, we believe that History helps our children to understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and  their own identity, during the challenges of their time.

Through the eyes of our children, History is important because:

‘It helps us to understand Britain’s past and the history of the wider world, as well as develop our understanding of key events in history.’

Early Learning Goals

Children are given the opportunities through Understanding the World : People and Communities to:

• talk about past and present events in their own lives and in the lives of family members
• know that other children don’t always enjoy the same things, and are sensitive to this
• know about similarities and differences between themselves and others, and among  families, communities and traditions.

National Curriculum

A high-quality history education will help pupils gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that 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.

Curriculum Intent

At St. Andrew’s Church of England Primary School, we aim to offer a high-quality history education that will help pupils gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world. It should inspire pupils’ curiosity to know more about the past. Teaching should encourage pupils to ask  questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments, and develop perspective and judgement.

The national curriculum for history aims to ensure that all pupils:

• 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

The teaching and implementation of the History curriculum at St. Andrew’s C.E. Primary School is based on the Early Learning Goals and National Curriculum and supported by expectations from Chris Quigley Milestones, ensuring a well-structured approach.

Our pupils should be able to organise their knowledge, skills and understanding around the following key concepts:

• Investigate and interpret the past 
• Build an overview of world history 
• Understand chronology 
• Communicate historically.

These key concepts underpin learning in each milestone. This enables pupils to reinforce and build upon prior learning, make connections and develop subject specific language. 

Our History curriculum is taught over three terms each year and the curriculum is designed to develop knowledge and skills that are progressive and builds upon prior knowledge. We aim to ensure that, when appropriate, History is integrated into other areas of the curriculum through cross curricular work.

At St. Andrew’s, we are dedicated to the teaching and delivery of a high-quality History curriculum through well-planned and resourced units of work, projects and experiences. We have determined that History will taught in bespoke units across the school year. During History units, when appropriate, our children draw upon subject knowledge and skills within Art and Design, Design and Technology, Religious Education, Maths and Science.

Impact

Through the explicit teaching of the History skills, teachers and the children assess their learning continuously throughout the lesson. At the end of each unit, teachers complete unit evaluations, assessing attainment against the Chris Quigley Essentials milestones to make informed judgements about the depth of their learning and the progress children have made over time.