History

In History the children learn about events of importance to them, the immediate past and the distant past. Books, newspapers, objects, photographs, ICT, specialist history visitors and visits all help them to learn about life in the past. In Key Stage 1 the children will learn about different aspects of everyday life in the past, e.g. transport, local history, the Great Fire of London and castles. During Key Stage 2 they will be taught about important developments in Britain’s past from Roman to modern times, and also about ancient civilisations and local history.

The children have a number of themed days where they dress up in the costume of the period being studied and experts come into school to lead the activities.

We aim to systematically develop the understanding of identified historical themes and enable children to make connections across, and within, historical periods. Historical skills are taught and developed throughout the school, for example working chronologically, using/selecting sources as evidence, asking questions, identifying differences and similarities, identifying different interpretations and possible reasons for these etc.

History Curriculum Overview

	AUTUMN 1	AUTUMN 2	SPRING 1	SPRING 2	SUMMER 1	SUMMER 2
Year 6	Ancient Greece and its legacy What did the Greeks ever do for us?	The Polar Regions: Timeline of exploration/study of an explorer from the past What was the Golden Age of Polar Exploration? What is the significance of Ernest Shackleton in the history of Polar exploration?			World War II TBC
Year 5	Space race What was the space race and who was it between? Who was Neil Armstrong?		The Mayans How did the social hierarchy affect the everyday lives of the Mayans?	The Mayans How and why did the Mayans empire come to an end?	Local study- Richard III A great king or terrible tyrant?
Year 4	Ancient Egypt – timeline, location, everyday life, beliefs in the afterlife, the importance of the River Nile.	Ancient Egypt – beliefs in the afterlife, hieroglyphics.	Anglo Saxons – where they were from, why they invaded, artefacts, everyday life, religion.	Vikings – Where they were from, why they invaded and settled, why they were successful, everyday life, law and order, the end of the Viking and Anglo Saxon era.
Year 3	Ancient Egypt – timeline, location, everyday life, beliefs in the afterlife, the importance of the River Nile.	Ancient Egypt – beliefs in the afterlife, hieroglyphics.	Anglo Saxons – where they were from, why they invaded, artefacts, everyday life, religion.	Vikings – Where they were from, why they invaded and settled, why they were successful, everyday life, law and order, the end of the Viking and Anglo Saxon era.
Year 2		WW1 and Remembrance What is Remembrance? What was a soldier’s life like in World War 1? What was life like for the soldiers in the trenches in WW1? What was a typical day in the trenches like?	Great Fire of London- Did London really burn down? Samuel Pepys How did the fire start? Why did it spread so quickly? How did people try to stop the fire? How was London redesigned? Who was Samuel Pepys?	Amelia Earhart First woman to fly across the Atlantic	Castles Warwick Castle Why were castles so important? What are the features of a castle?
YEAR 1					The Victorians How were things different in the past and what has stayed the same? Who were the Victorians? Who was Queen Victoria? What is a bathing machine and why did Queen Victoria have one?	The Victorians Where did the Victorians go on holiday and what did they do there? How did the Victorians travel?
EYFS	Me and my school Making sense of family history.		What’s inside the toy box? Exploring how things work.