History

At Willow Primary School, we aim for a high quality History curriculum to inspire in pupils a curiosity and fascination about Britain’s past and that of the wider world. We seek to equip our children with knowledge and understanding of historical periods, events and significant individuals both in Britain and in the wider world. Our History curriculum is developed so children can ask questions, think critically and develop perspective and judgement. This means they develop an understanding of the complexity of people’s lives, how things change and about diverse societies and groups of people.

Our History curriculum has been developed so that children understand the history of Britain as a chronological narrative, understanding how people’s lives have shaped it and the influence from the wider world. Significant aspects of history of the wider world are also studied, including empires and ancient civilisations.

Through the curriculum, children learn key historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence and similarity and difference; using these to make connections and draw conclusions. 

 Children learn key facts, knowledge and concepts alongside skills such as chronological understanding, how to analyse and evaluate historical evidence, how to empathise with people from different eras and how to compare and contrast life in different periods. This aims to develop a historical perspective so that children can use their knowledge in different contexts and to understand connections across groups of people and historical periods.

Threaded through the History curriculum are overarching, substantive concepts that we prioritise at Willow:

Settlement

Transport

Trade

Exploration and Invasion

Monarchy and Power

Civilisations

These concepts are taught through meaningful examples within topics and are revisited in different terms, year groups and key stages so that understanding is developed and consolidated

We want our children to enjoy and love learning about History by gaining knowledge and skills, not just through learning in the classroom, but also with the use of first hand experiences and educational visits which puts their learning into context.

FS2 – Ourselves and People who help us, Where does our food come from? (farming)

Year 1 – Toys (toys over time), Animals (significant individuals), Woodland (Changes in living memory)

Year 2 – Kings, Queens and Castles

Year 3 – Prehistory (Stone Age to Iron Age), Romans

Year 4 – Anglo Saxons and Vikings

Year 5 – Ancient Egypt, Coal Mining, Traveller

Year 6 – World War 2, Ancient Greece

In addition to these topics, each year group completes a Heritage and Community topic linked to our local area and community and the children’s own heritage.

History through Stories

Stories are a powerful vehicle for learning and at Willow we use historical stories to support, develop and enhance the development of historical knowledge and understanding throughout school. Our understanding of the world and its cultures is shaped by what we read and we give careful consideration to our books and texts to support learning in History so that they reflect our diverse world.

We enhance our history knowledge using these as class stories, guided reading texts and  texts in English to stimulate writing.

History at Willow