History

At Royal Rise Primary School all children, including SEN and Disadvantaged learn the following concepts and themes through studying different periods of History throughout the school

Concepts

Disciplinary

Substantive

Sequencing and constructing the past: children gradually build up a sense of how periods and events fit together in sequence. In this concept, it is also necessary to develop understanding of historical language and terminology, the idea of sequence, duration and the sense of period.
Change and development : this concept looks at how societies have changed and developed over time. There were lots of things going on at any one time in the past. Some changed rapidly while others remained relatively continuous. We can look at these and consider things that were continuous or changing and explain why.
Cause and effect: this concept considers the ‘how and why’ of history. We examine what actions / beliefs / circumstances led to a change or event that we examine, and then the consequences of these.
Significance and interpretation: some events, ideas or people have had such a long-lasting impact on the world that they could be significant. Children look for the range of reasons why certain people, places and events were significant then and now. It includes assessing and evaluating the impact that they had on a period of time.
Historical enquiry: children will learn about what it means to be a historian. They will learn about the historical enquiry cycle: question, investigate, interpret, evaluate, communicate.
Using sources of evidence: children use a range of different sources to investigate the past, identifying whether they are primary or secondary sources. They use sources of evidence to build up a picture of the past and can identify the reliability and limitations in the sources they use. Children study how historians interpret the past and why events, people and changes were interpreted in different ways. They will learn to evaluate a range of historical interpretations, considering their reliability and quality.

· Empire: a group of states or countries ruled over by a single monarch or sovereign state

· Legacy: the long-lasting impact of particular events, actions etc that took place in the past, or of a person’s life.

· Invasion and settlement – bringing an army into a country to try and control it

· Migration – the movement of people to a new area or country in order to find work or better living conditions

· Civilizations: the society, culture and way of life of a particular area

Intent

At Royal Rise Primary School all children, including SEN and disadvantaged children learn the following concepts and themes through studying different periods of history throughout the school:

British Values

By connecting our British Values through the teaching of history, we explore issues that affect us all in our lives and this helps inform decisions that will shape our future eg Did the Vikings show tolerance and respect when they invaded the Monastery and attacked the monks?

Our history topic follows on from geography making links to secure locations in history learning, which helps to secure understanding of different locations related to the historical topics. We want pupils to be able to articulate a narrative about the historical periods they study. We want them to develop opinions about the periods they have studied by comparing and contrasting them with other historical periods they have learned about. We want them to accurately articulate their thoughts and opinions through the proactive acquisition of technical and non-technical vocabulary.

EYFS

In the EYFS, we focus on the history of the children’s own lives. We begin by encouraging them to remember and talk about significant events in their own experience, through discussion in small groups and circle times where they can share news and memories. We progress to encourage the children to describe special times or events for others, including family or friends. By the end of the EYFS, through time and practice, we aim for children to feel confident and knowledgeable enough to talk about past and present events in their own lives and in the lives of family members.

Key Stage 1

In Year 1, after studying history around themselves in EYFS, they then move on to looking at history around the world. They investigate how explorers travelled and compare explorers from the past to current explorers today. They look at the first aeroplane journey and learn how people migrate.

In Year 2, we expand their historical understanding further by taking them back in time to an ancient civilisation - the Egyptians. We explain how we find out about the past even though we were not alive then by using primary and secondary sources. We study a significant person, Howard Carter, to learn about how historians find out about the past.

Key Stage 2

In Year 3, we expand the use of primary and secondary sources further by looking at the Stone Age through to the Iron Age, drawing conclusions and possibilities based on archaeological evidence and undertaking and explaining the limitations that the evidence may have. This then enables the children to use their understanding of archaeological evidence to explain the impact of Roman Britain on the legacy that they have left when they study the Roman period.

In Year 4, we move onto the Vikings and Anglo Saxons, where the children use their understanding from the Romans in Year 3 and begin to understand that they can draw their own conclusions. They undertake an in-depth study of the events at Lindisfarne and learn to give substantiated and focused responses about the usefulness and reliability of different sources e.g. if you only look at what the monks had written, you would see them as villains.

In Year 5, pupils use their understanding of chronology and time to explore the achievements of the earliest civilizations. They have an overview of where and when the first civilizations appeared and undertake an in-depth study of The Shang Dynasty of Ancient China which makes connections to their science topic. We will compare the legacy of Ancient Greece and the Mayan Civilization to investigate the impact that they had on us today.

In Year 6, the children complete a local history study and explore the impact the Industrial Revolution had on Victorian Britain including its impact on the local area, Tonbridge. They complete a case study of Queen Victoria to show the impact of the monarchy and the significant turning point during her reign. They use and apply all the historical enquiry skills learned over the previous years to explain economic and social developments during the Victorian era and find out about how much significant change there was in such a short period of time compared to other historical periods. We finish our historical learning by asking, ‘How have we been impacted by all of the historical periods we have studied in Key Stage 2: Romans, Vikings, Anglo Saxons, early civilizations and Victorians?’