Our Vision and Intent

Our History curriculum is built around the three types of knowledge: conceptual, disciplinary and substantive. In our school, the children do not have the luxury of encountering British and world history in chronological order, and so we develop their understanding of this in a slightly different way. 

Every unit is built upon the foundations of four ‘Big Ideas’ or core concepts which are: hierarchy and power; everyday life; invasion and settlement; and legacy. These foundations offer children insights into the complexities of human societies and consider how they change over time. These four concepts are woven through our entire curriculum and taught explicitly to the children so that they have a strong understanding of these by the end of the curriculum. We have shared definitions of these concepts which are displayed in every room and articulated clearly by every teacher. We agree the specific substantive knowledge for each unit through the lens of these four concepts. This brings a sense of resonance throughout the curriculum.

In every unit, there is a strong focus on the main elements of ‘thinking like a historian’ which again, is taught explicitly to the children. The main threads we always emphasise are chronological understanding, interpreting evidence and significance. In practice, this means that our teachers always introduce the ‘what do we know?’ alongside the ‘how do we know?’ and show the children a variety of primary sources, including videos (of modern history, such as the moon landings or coronation of Queen Elizabeth II), written accounts and archaeological artefacts.  

To develop children’s chronological understanding, we have an agreement that the first lesson every time we teach history is to narrate the ‘long arc of history’ so that children form a secure understanding of history before delving into a depth study of a particular time-period, person or event. We do this through the use of a shared ‘Story of History’ which again is displayed in every classroom.

‘We are not the makers of history.  We are made by history’

Martin Luther King, Jr.