Intent 

The History curriculum will develop a set of skills, knowledge and understanding through children actively taking part in their learning through purposeful, relevant and hands on opportunities, experiences and exposure to the wider world; bringing these experiences into the classroom. The curriculum starts with what the children’s knowledge and experiences and builds on that through enquiry led learning, reflecting on their interests in order to develop a love of learning.

At Kingshurst School, we aim to stimulate children’s interest and understanding about the life of people who lived in the past and ways in which it differs from the present. We believe that learning about the past helps children to make sense of the world in which they live and to develop analytical thinking.

We believe that the study of History makes a valuable contribution to the children’s understanding of all aspects of life giving a sense of identity and heritage.

Our Curriculum

History work within the school has been carefully organised to provide breadth and depth of knowledge and understanding as well as developing skills. The organisation of the topics and skills covered ensures that the development throughout each phase builds on children’s previous work.

Early Years Foundation Stage

In the Nursery and Reception classes History is taught as an integral part of topic work covered during the year.  History is about having the opportunities to find out and learn about the world they live in and discover the meaning of new and old in relation to their own lives. 

History makes a significant contribution to the development of each child’s knowledge and understanding of the World. We provide activities such as examining photos of themselves at birth and looking for change over time, using stories that introduce a sense of time and people from the past, comparing artefacts from different times e.g. teddies, and making the most of opportunities to value children’s histories from their own and other cultures.

Key Stage 1

During Key Stage 1 children learn about people’s lives and lifestyles from different periods in the past.  They listen to and respond to stories and use sources of information to help them ask and answer questions. They learn how the past is different from the present and learn how artefacts and other sources can help us to find out about the past. 

Key Stage 2

During Key Stage 2 children learn about significant people, events and places from both recent and more distant past. They learn about change and continuity in their own area, in Britain and in other parts of the world. They look at history in a variety of ways covering substantive concepts such as civilisation, trade, tax, monarchy, empire and religion. They use different sources of information to help them investigate the past both in depth and in overview, using dates and historical vocabulary to describe events, people and developments. They also learn that the past can be represented and interpreted in different ways.