History

What does History look like at Meldreth Primary?

Our History curriculum has been designed to help our pupils develop their understanding of British, local and world history alongside historical concepts and skills to enable them to make greater sense of the world around them. Children are supported to engage in hands-on enquiry-based learning which considers their interests and builds on previous learning. Activities are designed to provoke curiosity and develop creative thinking. Through their interaction and teamwork, children are encouraged to demonstrate our school values.

 

Our Curriculum Aims

By the end of Year 6, our pupils will have developed: knowledge of people, events, situations and developments; knowledge of chronology and its characteristics; knowledge of historical terms; an ability to confidently pursue informed historical enquiry through understanding evidence, interpretations, cause, change, similarity/difference and significance; and an ability to organise and communicate their ideas and findings clearly. This includes both content history (knowledge) and process history (skills).

 

Our curriculum for history aims to ensure that all pupils:

  • Know and understand the history of the United Kingdom as a coherent, chronological narrative, from the earliest times to the present day, including 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 world history, including the nature of ancient civilisations; the expansion and dissolution of empires; characteristic features of past non-European societies; and the achievements and follies of mankind
  • Gain a historically-grounded understanding of terms such as ‘empire’, ‘civilisation’, ‘parliament’ and ‘peasantry’
  • Use historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance to make connections, draw contrasts, analyse trends, frame historically valid questions and create their own structured accounts
  • Understand the methods of historical enquiry, including how evidence is used 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 knowledge into different contexts, including 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
Early Years
History is taught in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) through the area of learning ‘Understanding the World’. Learning is very much focused around children's memories. It may be that they are asked to remember a special event or routine or custom for their family. They may talk about differences between different family members or different generations.

Children learn to “comment on images of familiar situations in the past”, by exploring:

  • pictures, stories, artefacts and accounts from the past, explaining similarities and differences.
  • hands-on experiences that deepen children’s understanding, such as visiting a local area that has historical importance. 
  • images of familiar situations in the past, such as homes, schools, and transport.
  • opportunities to observe children talking about experiences that are familiar to them and how these may have differed in the past.
  • opportunities for children to begin to organise events using basic chronology, recognising that things happened before they were born.”
 

Key Stage 1

Within Key Stage 1, pupils will begin to develop an awareness of the past, using common words and phrases relating to the passing of time. They will learn where the people and events they study fit within a chronological framework, and identify similarities and differences between ways of life in different periods. Additionally, pupils will develop and use a wide vocabulary of historical terms. They are taught to ask and answer questions, using stories and other sources to show that they understand key features of events. They will begin to develop an understanding of some of the ways in which we find out about the past, as well as identify different ways in which it is represented.

Pupils are taught about:

  • Changes within living memory;
  • Significant events beyond living memory;
  • The lives of significant individuals in the past;
  • Significant historical events, people and places with Meldreth and the surrounding areas.

Key Stage 2

In Key Stage 2, pupils will continue 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 will learn about connections, contrasts and trends over time and develop the appropriate use of historical terms. They will learn to both devise and address questions about change, cause, similarity, difference, and significance. Furthermore, pupils will increasingly construct informed responses that involve thoughtful selection and organisation of historical information. They will develop their understanding of how the knowledge of the past is constructed from a range of sources.

 Pupils are taught about:

  • Changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age;
  • The legacy of Roman culture on present-day Britain
  • Britain’s settlement by Anglo-Saxons and Scots;
  • The Viking and Anglo-Saxon struggle for the Kingdom of England;
  • Ancient Civilisations of Egypt and Greece
  • The history of our local area including changes in Meldreth throughout World War 2;
  • The changing role of women in History
Download our whole school curriculum plan for History by clicking the link below
We are members of the Historial Association