Early Years

Our History curriculum begins in the Early Years Foundation Stage where children begin to learn about History by looking at their own lives and the lives of relatives, as well as their homes and homes in the past, beginning their History vocabulary journey with terms such as ‘old’ and ‘new’, ‘today’ and ‘yesterday’, and eventually concluding in Year Six by ‘comparing sources’ and ‘investigating historical evidence’ using the substantive knowledge and disciplinary skills developed through their primary school journey. We want them to build up a substantial historical vocabulary, increase their historical knowledge and develop their enquiry skills, as detailed in our medium-term planning.

Key Stage 1

In Key Stage 1, children continue to relate their own and relatives’ lives to History as detailed earlier. Then, they begin to study specific historical events such as ‘The Gunpowder Plot’ and historical figures such as William Caxton in Year 2 as their ability to conceptualise history grows. Also during KS1, children are introduced to some of the ancient civilisations that they will study later in more depth at KS2.

Key Stage 2

In Key Stage 2, pupils begin their chronological journey through the ages with in-depth studies ranging from the Stone Age through to World War 2. By Year Six, we want children to have developed a thorough knowledge of many of the epochs of British History, alongside knowledge of ancient societies elsewhere in the world such as the Pharaonic Egyptians and the Mayans. Children use our standardised school timeline to help them link up the chronology and build their historical vocabulary through our carefully-considered vocabulary progression.