Intent:

The aim of history teaching here Trinity St Mary’s is to stimulate the children’s interest and understanding about the life of people who lived in the past. We teach children a sense of chronology, and through this they develop a sense of identity and a cultural understanding based on their historical heritage. Thus they learn to value their own and other people’s cultures in modern multicultural Britain and, by considering how people lived in the past, they are better able to make their own life choices today. We teach children to understand how events in the past have influenced our lives today; we also teach them to investigate these past events and, by so doing, to develop the skills of enquiry, analysis, interpretation and problem-solving.

Implementation:

In the Early Years Foundation Stage (2 -5 Year Olds):

Within ‘Understanding the World’ in accordance to ‘Development Matters’, children are given opportunities to investigate and gain understanding of where they live, the world around them, cultures, communities and families.

At Trinity St Mary's we facilitate this in the following ways;

We offer children a range of stimulating opportunities to explore these areas through our termly topics, for example when children learn about toys, they explore those from the past as well as the present, during our fairy tales topic children learn about castles and house in the past.

We offer children the chance to develop a positive sense of their own identity and culture by looking at their families over time and encouraging children to discuss their own different cultures and traditions.

      We are supportive of the child’s own efforts and independence to question and investigate independently.

      We offer stimulating resources, relevant to all the children’s cultures and communities. We understand and      

      observe each child’s development and learning, assess progress, plan for next steps. 

At Key Stage One (Years 1 and 2):

The National Curriculum Programme of Study at Key Stage 1 focuses on developing children’s awareness of the past, using common words and phrases relating to the passing of time. They should know where the people and events they study fit within a chronological framework and identify similarities and differences between ways of life in different periods. Children should use a wide vocabulary of everyday historical terms. They should ask and answer questions, choosing and using parts of stories and other sources to show that they know and understand key features of events. They should understand some of the ways in which we find out about the past and identify different ways in which it is represented.

In planning to ensure the progression described above through teaching about the people, events and changes outlined below, teachers are often introducing pupils to historical periods that they will study more fully at Key Stage 2.

Pupils should be taught about:

•             Changes within living memory

•             Events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally

•             The lives of significant individuals in the past who have contributed to national and international achievements

•             historical events, people and places in their own locality

At Key Stage Two (Years 3-6):

The National Curriculum Programme of Study at Key Stage 2 should continue to allow children to develop a chronologically secure knowledge and understanding of British, local and world history, establishing clear narratives within and across the periods they study. They should note connections, contrasts and trends over time and develop the appropriate use of historical terms. They should regularly address and sometimes devise historically valid questions about change, cause, similarity and difference, and significance. Children should construct informed responses that involve thoughtful selection and organisation of relevant historical information. They should understand how our knowledge of the past is constructed from a range of sources.

In planning to ensure the progression, teachers should combine overview and depth studies to help pupils understand both the long arc of development and the complexity of specific aspects of the content.

Pupils should be taught about:

•             Changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age

•             The Roman Empire and its impact on Britain

•             Britain’s settlement by Anglo-Saxons and Scots

•             The Viking and Anglo-Saxon struggle for the Kingdom of England to the time of Edward the Confessor

•             A local history study

•             A study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils’ chronological knowledge beyond 1066

•             The achievements of the earliest civilizations – an overview of where and when the first civilizations appeared and a depth study of one of the following: Ancient Sumer; The Indus Valley; Ancient Egypt; The Shang Dynasty of Ancient China.

At TSM, the chosen subjects allow children to make connections between periods of history, Royal Family trees and the impact these events still can have on our lives today. Each unit begins with a knowledge organiser and the sticky knowledge is identified. Children are encouraged to recall past learning and make connections with their current unit. Children are shown where their period of study sits on a timeline and are supported in their understanding of chronology throughout their history lessons.