Our young historians will develop a comprehensive, well-rounded, and chronologically clear understanding of key periods, events, and historical themes at local, national, and international levels. They will leave us inspired and curious to explore history further. We will nurture this enthusiasm by fostering an appreciation of their own heritage as well as the heritage of the wider world, and by equipping them with essential disciplinary skills to engage meaningfully in historical inquiry.
We are committed to delivering an ambitious, engaging, and knowledge-rich curriculum that:
- Provides children with a thorough chronological understanding of the UK and its local area, including interactions with the wider world.
- Encourages connections between local, regional, national, and global histories.
- Uses timelines to organise and deepen understanding of key events and time periods.
- Develops disciplinary knowledge essential for historical understanding, including conducting historical inquiries, recognising cause and effect, understanding multiple perspectives of the past, and analysing various historical sources.
This foundation of knowledge begins in Nursery with a focus on the child themselves. This then leads to Reception where we learn about local history and familiar aspects of the past. Exploring their immediate surroundings lays the groundwork for more complex learning in Key Stages 1. In Key Stage 1, for example, children learn about King Richard III, Queen Victoria, The Great Fire of London and David Attenborough. This learning, alongside the introduction of key historical concepts, enriches their chronological understanding. Through this process, children begin asking questions, engaging with diverse sources, and developing an awareness that the past can be interpreted in different ways.
Our teaching of history refers to the understanding of how historians investigate the past and construct historical claims, arguments, and narratives. In essence, it is the knowledge required to carry out a historical enquiry. Children develop disciplinary knowledge within meaningful historical contexts.
Units of learning are structured around central historical concepts, which focus on key aspects of disciplinary knowledge. These questions guide pupils’ exploration of the past, helping them critically evaluate the validity of historical claims and place their knowledge within a wider context. This approach helps pupils understand that history can be viewed in different ways and that historical stories often reflect specific perspectives.
Disciplinary knowledge fosters historical reasoning and critical thinking, which is systematically developed in our curriculum through the following disciplinary concepts:
- Historical significant people: exploring how significant individuals have contributed to national and international achievements
- Historical significant events: events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally
By engaging with these disciplinary concepts, pupils develop the tools to think critically about history.
By the end of EYFS and Key Stage 1, our history curriculum inspires, curiosity and a love for learning about the past. Children develop a strong sense of time and place, understanding how their own lives connect to the wider world and how people and events from the past have shaped it.
Through engaging stories, exploration of artefacts and discussions, children begin to ask and answer questions about the past, building key skills such as critical thinking and reasoning.
By the end of key stage 1 our children are confident young historians who can share their ideas, reflect upon what they have learnt and understand the importance of history in shaping the future.
Possibilities:
We aim to develop an awareness of the past through stories, events and the lives of significant individuals in the past who have contributed to national and international achievements. Where possible visits from specialist in their field will influence a range of career paths they can take in the world of history.
Environment:
As part of learning in their environment we will focus on historical events, people and places in their locality and significant individuals in the past. Through visits and experiences children will understand the ways in which they find out about the past and identify different ways it is represented.
Diversity:
When looking at significant events and people from the past careful consideration has been made to include a diverse range of historical events and people.
Whole school overview
Year 1 - In Class Learning - 2023-2024
Our Key stage 1 children enjoyed a wonderful performance today by a special theatre company all about The Great Fire of London which they have been learning about in History. The performance involved lots of singing and dancing which the children loved. At the end they all took part in drawing a fantastic picture of what London looked like.
Year 2 - In Class Learning - 2023-2024
In history we have been learning about King Richard the third. We looked at and acted out the Battle of Bosworth and how that Battle of Bosworth impacted King Richards body being found in Leicester! We then went on to compare the differences in weapons , transport and espionage between 1485 and 2023.
In Class Learning - 2022-23
Stars Nursery children have been inspired by the recent fire fighters visit and have been role playing fire fighters. They have also been making models of fire engines.
Doctors and Nurses
Children in stars were role playing being nurses and doctors by using their own experience to help develop their story lines.
Timelines
In year 1, we have started to learn about timelines in history. As a class, we discussed our day at school and put the sequence of the day into chronological order from when we come into school in the morning to home time. We made a human timeline to show this.
Timelines
Year 2’s have spent the Autumn term learning about Timelines! We started off by assembling the timeline from the year 1400.
We looked at important historiacal events that had taken place such as when the Queen was born and when she was coronated. We also looked at the when famous artists were born and when the first man landed on the moon! These events were all placed on a timeline.
Recent events, which we hope will remain in our children’s memories, have been added to the timelines such as when Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak becoming the Prime Minister as well as the funeral of our beloved Queen.
In Class Learning - 2021-2022
Nursing
Children in Reception have been learning about nursing and how it has changed from a long time ago. Children learn about a significant nurse a long time ago, Mary Secole. They looked at similarities and differences. The children were inspired to role play nursing and relate it to their own experiences.
Fire Fighters
Children in Reception learnt about fire fighters and looked at how firefighters have changed over time. They compared fire fighters from a long time ago to fire fighters today. The children enjoyed a visit from Leicestershire Fire and rescue Service. Children got the chance to explore the equipment fire fighters used and try some lifesaving skills.
Chronology
The children made a physical timeline to help consolidate the order of events.
Chronology
The children learnt how the Black Death fit into a chronological framework, the impact it had on society and it’s sources of evidence.
Significant National Event
Through the great fire of London the children learnt about a significant national event and the impact it had on the materials buildings were made from after the event. They also learnt about the artefacts used as sources of evidence that the fire really took place.
King Richard III
Great Fire of London
The Black Death
Queen Victoria
Covid 19
The suffragettes
- How the suffragettes won British women the vote | 100 Years of the Women’s Movement | BBC Teach
- The Suffragette Movement – BBC Bitesize
David Attenborough:
- Our Planet | One Planet | FULL EPISODE | Netflix
- David Attenborough | Little People, BIG DREAMS | Narrated picture story book | Read aloud
Thomas Cook:
The Black Death
King Richard III Visitors Centre
4A St Martins, Leicester LE1 5DB
The Monument of the Great Fire of London
Fish St Hill, Bridge, London EC3R 8AH
Museum of London
150 London Wall, Barbican, London EC2Y 5HNAbbey Pumping Station Museum of Science and Technology
Corporation Rd, Leicester LE4 5PX
Buckingham Palace
Westminster, London SW1A 1AA
Kensington Palace
Kensington Gardens, Kensington, London W8 4PX
Stonehurst Farm – transport museum
Bond Ln, Mountsorrel, Loughborough LE12 7AA
Leicester Botanical gardens – LE2 2LD
The Charnwood Forest – LE12 8TA
New Walk Museum and Art Gallery – LE1 7EA
Leicester train station – LE2 0QB
- The Children’s Book of Richard III by Rosalind Adam
- The Great Fire of London by Susanna Davidson
- The Black Death by Rob Lloyd Jones
- The Little Queen: The Amazing Story Of Queen Victoria by Stewart Ross
- My best friend the suffragette by sally Morgan
- Emmeline Pankhurst: Little People, Big Dreams by Lisbeth Kaiser
- Amazing Facts Sir David Attenborough by Hannah Wilson and Chris Dickason
- Why did the whole world stop? Talking with kids about Covid 19 by Heather Black