What is History?

History is vital to a rich and broad primary education. It helps pupils to make sense of the present as well as the past, and to appreciate the complexity and diversity of human societies and development.

[Ofsted blog, ‘History in Outstanding Primary Schools’ Tim Jenner HMI, April 2021]

The intention of the history curriculum at Little Sutton Primary is to enable all pupils to gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world.

The history curriculum has been devised to help develop pupils’ knowledge of the substantive concepts including empire, trade and invasion as well as deepening their understanding of events chronologically. Disciplinary knowledge is taught within and through the substantive content.

It is through disciplinary methods, approaches and assumptions that pupils are able to construct substantive knowledge of the past.

[Ofsted ‘Research and Review series: History’ July 2021]

Through the use of key questions and enquiry it inspires pupils’ curiosity to know more about the past. Pupils are able to further understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups, as well as their own identity and the challenges of their time. Pupils’ awareness and understanding of gender, spiritual, moral, cultural and social issues are also promoted through learning, in more depth, the differences in societies of the time periods studied.

What do we aim for our children?

By the end of Year 6, it is our intention that all pupils:

• know and understand the history of Britain as a coherent, chronological narrative, from the earliest times to the present day. In doing so they will know how people’s lives have shaped this nation and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world. They will have established clear narratives within and across the periods they study;
• know and understand significant aspects of the history of the wider world: have a historically grounded comprehension of abstract terms such as ‘empire’ ‘trade’ and ‘invasion’ through their understanding of ancient civilisations and be able to identify the characteristic features of past non-European societies; achievements and follies of mankind;
• know how to make connections, create contrasts and identify trends over time and develop the appropriate use of historical terms;
• know how to address and devise historically valid questions about continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity and difference, and significance as well as create their own structured accounts, including written narratives and analyses using thoughtful selection and organisation of relevant historical information;
• understand how our knowledge of the past is constructed from a range of sources. Including how evidence is used rigorously to make historical claims and discern how and why contrasting arguments and interpretations of the past have been constructed;
• read, spell and pronounce historical vocabulary correctly.

For further information regarding our History Curriculum and how it is taught please see our History Policy below.

Additional information can also be found under our termly Year Group Curriculum maps and Curriculum Guidance notes for parents.