History

At St Edward’s C of E Primary School and Nursery the principle aim of history is that through the teaching of history skills, knowledge and understanding, pupils learn about significant people, events and places from both the recent and more distant past. They learn about change and continuity in the local area, in Britain and in other parts of the world.

They look at history from various perspectives including, political, economic, technological, scientific, social, religious, and cultural. Children think critically about fact and opinion and use different sources of information to help them investigate the past both in depth and in an overview, using dates and historical vocabulary to describe events, people and developments. Where possible, use is made of the local environment and community, and children learn that the past can be represented and interpreted in different ways.

Our History Curriculum focuses on a progression of disciplinary knowledge, which is sometimes known at second order concepts, to ensure that children become competent historians. The units for key stages 1 and 2 are based on thematic units. This means that each of the second order concepts are revisited regularly (at least once in each year group), and pupils revisit each theme through a new unit that consolidates and builds on prior learning within that concept. This style of curriculum design reduces the amount of knowledge