History

At St Nicholas, we aim for every child to: -

enjoy learning about the past and develop as young Historians.
know and understand the history of the British Isles 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

Teaching and Learning

History is taught across the school in three half term units per year.

Reception ensures coverage of the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory framework.

From Year One we use the Connected History scheme which is aligned with the requirements of the Key Stage One and two national Curriculum requirements. It also ensures progression of historical skills and knowledge across the school.

Children learn key facts and concepts alongside skills such as chronological understanding, how to analyse and evaluate historical evidence, how to empathise with people from different eras and how to compare and contrast life in different periods.

In EYFS children start with thinking about themselves and ordering events in their day progressing to looking at changes since they were a baby and then building upon things that happen during their year at school.

Children’s historical learning in Key Stage One starts with the familiar – looking at toys they play with today and comparing them to toys their teachers played with in the 1960s. As children’s learning travels further back in time, History is brought to life through learning about people from the past as well as having visitors in such as a full day immersive workshop on the Great Fire of London.

In Key Stage Two the history of Britain is interwoven with that of the Ancient Civilisations of Egyptians, Mayans and Greece. Children explore the concepts of civilisation, continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance. Immersive workshop days such as Prehistoric Britain and trips out to places such as the Verulamium Museum in St Albans help develop children’s understanding of life in Britain during different eras.

Assessment

We assess children’s learning against the key objectives for the Key Stage. If a child is working below this level, we refer to the appropriate programme of study and aim to close any gaps, to enable them to achieve as well as their peers.

We use a tracking system called Sonar to identify objectives met and those still to cover. Teaches assess both formatively and summatively.