History
Intent
At Park Road, we view History as an integral part of our curriculum, enabling children to develop an understanding and appreciation of the past. We carefully consider the journey children take through school, building upon their understanding of a range of concepts and ideas.
Progression of knowledge, skills and understanding can be found here:
History Early Years & KS1 Knowledge Skills and Understanding
History KS2 Knowledge Skills and Understanding
We have a number of “Big Ideas” (substantive concepts), which run through our curriculum. These include ‘power’, ‘leadership’ and ‘civilisation’. Children’s understanding of these concepts becomes richer as they learn about life during different periods. For example, in EYFS, children learn what a farm is and begin to understand where food comes from by growing their own seeds. They visit Tesco and buy their own food; later learning in LKS2 about hunter-gatherer lifestyles and making comparisons. As children move into KS2 and learn about farming and agriculture in the world’s first civilisations, they draw upon their previously acquired knowledge. As children continue their journey through school, they also develop their chronological understanding, visiting our impressive timeline on the stairs, as well as creating their own, using bar models.
Implementation
Our Park Road History Curriculum provides:
- Knowledge Organisers, which include key knowledge and vocabulary.
- First-hand experiences to engage children and aid knowledge retention.
- Collaborative activities, which allow children to develop relationships and learn from one another.
- Opportunities to explore primary and secondary sources.
- Opportunities to reflect on and make connections between life in different periods.
- Whole-school timelines to develop children’s chronological understanding.
- Rich learning environments to raise the profile of History and enrich learning.
- Carefully planned activities to promote oracy and collaboration.
- Historical fiction to develop children’s understanding of the period. For instance, when reading Stone Age Boy, children were able to empathise with the characters, helping them imagine what it might be like to live during this period.
- Inclusive opportunities for children to showcase their learning in different ways.
- Exposure to a diverse range of Historians.
- Retrieval Practice opportunities to embed previously taught knowledge into long-term memory.
- Trips and visitors to develop children’s Cultural Capital e.g. a visit from a local coal miner and a School Nurse.
- Celebration of our local community; our Park Road Museum, filled with exhibits and artefacts, proved really popular with our school community!
Impact
Our History curriculum develops:
- Chronological Understanding
- Knowledge and Interpretation
- Historical Enquiry
As a result, children:
- Know more, remember more and understand more about History.
- Understand what History is and why it is important:
“History is something in the past” (Hassain, Year 2)
“It helps you learn about people in the past” (Micah, Year 2)
“History helps us understand what happened in the past so you can repent” (Yusuf, Year 3)
“In History you learn about extraordinary people from the past” (Ahmad, Year 4)
“It is important to know history because we may not know the mistakes made back then, we can improve previous inventions and we can stop horrible things from happening’” (Amna, Year 5)
"History is something that happened in the past. It is important because it helps you to find out why you are here” (Abdur-Raheem, Year 5)
“In History you learn about different civilisations, like the Ancient Greeks and Mayans. I like learning about the religion and beliefs of different people from the past” (Zainah, Year 6)
- Understand how Historians gain an understanding of the past.
- Through learning about others, children develop their own sense of identity and understanding of their heritage, as well as that of others’.
Each term, we invite you to join out Curriculum Celebration afternoons, where you can see the fantastic work our children produce for yourselves!