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Denbigh History Curriculum

Subject Lead: Mrs Robinson

At Denbigh, History is taught through a topic to provide children with cross-curricular opportunities. Our staff aim to inspire pupil’s curiosity about the past in Britain and the wider world. Our curriculum is designed to give pupils a sense of identity by studying the past to understand the present and to inform the future. We encourage our pupils to be inquisitive by asking and answering questions, making predictions and reasoning with the teacher as the facilitator, con-contractor and co-participant to create young historians.

 

Our key concepts:

Interpreting evidence
Chronology
Changes and continuity
Cause and consequence
Significant people, places and events

 

In EYFS the children learn about their own history and events in their own past, which is relevant to them and gives them a sense of time. KS1 builds upon previous learning by continuing to look at events within their living memory and then beginning to extend this to look at events beyond their memory. Year 1 and 2 topics are linked to the local area and local historical famous people to make this meaningful for the children.

 

In key stage two history is taught in chronological order so that our children receive a coherent, chronological narrative from the earliest times to the present day. This affords our pupils the opportunity to make links and build on their previous learning.

 

We make every effort to develop meaningful and memorable links between subjects to give our pupils a cross-curricular context. Through our link with North Tyneside’s library service, we are able to immerse the children in their topics by using books and real artefacts in our classrooms. This allows the children to experience our topics first hand and puts it into a meaningful context for them allowing them to deepen their understanding of the topic. We create engaging lessons using drama and to reinforce their learning, we employ theatre groups and visitors to bring the subject alive. Visitors and educational trips are frequently used across the whole school where possible in every year group to allow the children first-hand experiences. Throughout the year we have special subject dress up days to fully immerse the children in their learning. As well as a whole school heritage day which children spend working alongside specialists from various local industries to give our children an insight into life in the past. Grandparents and great grandparents alsoplay a vital part in this by coming along and sharing their experiences and stories, as well as allowing our children to ask questions about their lives.

Staff at Denbigh know that good History occurs in our school when:

It is led by the children, interests them and is memorable to them.
Children are talking, laughing, engaged and enjoying History through a range of interactive and practical activities.
Children are actively involved in their own learning, asking questions, looking for the answers and planning their own work.
History is differentiated and inclusive with children making progress throughout the lesson.
Good quality assessment and Assessment for Learning is used to inform planning and builds on children’s prior learning.

 

Progression Threshold Concepts In History

Threshold Concept: Change and continuity

Milestone: Explain the difference between the past and present

 

 

Threshold Concept: Change and continuity

Milestone: Identify similarities and differences between given periods in history

Threshold Concept: Change and continuity

Milestone:  Make comparisons between different periods, explaining things that have changed and stayed the same

 

Year 1 History Curriculum 

Place known events and objects in chronological order

Sequence events and recount changes within memory

Explain how he/she has changed since he/she was born

Use common words and phrases relating to the passing of time including: past, old, new, recent, young, days, months

Explain the differences between the past and present in own life and that of other children from a different time in history

Find answers to some simple questions about the past from simple sources of information

Give a plausible explanation about what an object was used for in the past

Describe some simple similarities and differences between artefacts

Ask and answer questions about old and new objects

Explain why certain objects were different in the past, e.g. iron, music systems, televisions

Ask and answer relevant basic questions about the past

Answer questions using an artefact / photograph provided

Give examples of ways in which life is different in the present day compared to that of the early 20th century

Year 2 History Curriculum 

Use a wide vocabulary of everyday historical terms

Speak about how he/she has found out about the past

Find out something about the past by talking to an older person

Answer questions by using specific source such as an informative book or website

Know about a famous event that happens somewhere else in the world and why it has been happening for some time

Explain how the local area was different in the past

Record what he/she has learned by drawing and writing

Ask and answer questions such as What was it like for a…? What happened? How long ago?

Discuss the lives of significant individuals in the past who have contributed to national and international achievements and use some to compare aspects of life in different periods

Recount the life of someone famous from Britain who lived in the past giving attention to what they did earlier and what they did later

Research the life of a famous person from the past using different resources to help them

Sequence events about the life of a famous person

Make comment on why people did things, why events happened and what happened as a result

Research the life of someone who used to live in the area using internet and other sources to find out about them

Year 3 History Curriculum 

Use an increasing range of common words and phrases relating to the passing of time including century, decade, BC, AD

Use dates to place events, artefacts and historical figures on a timeline

Refer to more than one source of evidence for more accurate understanding of events

Study two different accounts of the same event, exploring similarities and differences

Know that Britain has been invaded by several different groups over time

Use ‘information finding’ skills in writing to help them write about historical information

Identify similarities and differences between given periods in history

Know some of the lasting effects of an invasion of Britain

Year 4 History Curriculum 

Place some historical periods in a chronological framework

Plot recent history on a timeline using centuries

Understand that changes occur over time and add evidence and dates to timeline to represent this

Use historic terms related to the period of study

Use sources of information in ways that go beyond simple observations to answer questions about the past

Explain how events from the past have helped shape our lives

Discuss what we can learn from some primary and secondary sources of information and evaluate their usefulness

Use a variety of resources to find out about aspects of life in the past

Appreciate that the food people ate was different because of the availability of different sources of food

Know some achievements of an early civilisation

Understand that sources can contradict each other

Research two versions of an event and say how and why they differ

Communicate his/her learning in an organised way, using appropriate terminology

Ask a historically valid question about change

Year 5 History Curriculum 

Use dates to order and place events on a timeline

Draw a timeline with different time periods outlined which shows different information, such as, periods of history, when famous people lived, etc

Create timelines which outline the development of specific features, such as medicine; weaponry; transport, etc

Compare sources of information available for the study of different times in the past

Make comparisons between aspects of periods of history and the present day

Make comparisons between historical periods; explaining things that have changed and things which have stayed the same

Understand that the type of information available depends on the period of time studied

Evaluate the usefulness of a variety of sources

Present findings and communicate knowledge and understanding in different ways

Select reliable sources of information to answer questions about the past

Provide an account of a historical event based on more than one source

Describe causes and consequences for an important historical event

Year 6 History Curriculum 

Address and sometimes devise historically valid questions about change, cause, similarity and difference, and significance

Construct informed responses that involve thoughtful selection and organisation of relevant historical information

Summarise how Britain has had a major influence on world history

Understand how our knowledge of the past is constructed from a range of sources

Understand that some evidence is propaganda, opinion or misinformation and that this effects interpretations of history

Make confident use of a variety of sources for independent research

Describe a key event from Britain’s past using a range of evidence from different sources

Describe a chronologically secure knowledge and understanding of British, local and world history, establishing clear narratives within and across the periods he/she studies

Appreciate how Britain once had an Empire and how that has helped or hindered our relationship with a number of countries today

Note connections, contrasts and trends over time and show developing appropriate use of historical terms

Recognize and describe differences and similarities / changes and continuity between different periods in history

Summarise how Britain may have learnt from other countries and civilizations through time gone by and more recently

Explore all available evidence to form an opinion of a historical event

Use research and prior learning to explain why there are social, cultural, religious and ethnic diversities within societies studied in Britain and the wider world

Denbigh Primary School