Happy New Year to all our families, friends and all who are connected to our wonderful school! Admissions for reception September 2025 are open. Do call to book a tour. Our breakfast and after school club is now open, with childcare from 7:30-6pm.
Login
Home
Calendar
Contact

History

What are the KS1 National Curriculum

History objectives?

 

The National Curriculum for primary History aims to provide children with a secure understanding of the past, and a coherent knowledge of Britain and the wider world from the earliest times right up to the modern era.

 

Here is the National Curriculum for KS1 History:

 

Purpose of study A high-quality history education will help pupils gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world. It should inspire pupils’ curiosity to know more about the past. Teaching should equip pupils to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments, and develop perspective and judgement. History helps pupils to 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.

 

Aims The national curriculum for history aims to ensure that all pupils: 

 

  • know and understand the history of these islands as a coherent, chronological narrative, from the earliest times to the present day: how people’s lives have shaped this nation and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world 
  • know and understand significant aspects of the history of the wider world: the nature of ancient civilisations; the expansion and dissolution of empires; characteristic features of past non-European societies; achievements and follies of mankind 
 
  • gain and deploy a historically grounded understanding of abstract terms such as ‘empire’, ‘civilisation’, ‘parliament’ and ‘peasantry’ 
 
  • understand historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance, and use them to make connections, draw contrasts, analyse trends, frame historically-valid questions and create their own structured accounts, including written narratives and analyses 
 
  • understand the methods of historical enquiry, 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 
 
  • gain historical perspective by placing their growing knowledge into different contexts, understanding the connections between local, regional, national and international history; between cultural, economic, military, political, religious and social history; and between short- and long-term timescales.
KS1 History St Marys.docx

Subject Content - KS1

 

Pupils should develop an awareness of the past, using common words and phrases relating to the passing of time. They should know where the people and events they study fit within a chronological framework and identify similarities and differences between ways of life in different periods. They should use a wide vocabulary of everyday historical terms. They should ask and answer questions, choosing and using parts of stories and other sources to show that they know and understand key features of events. They should understand some of the ways in which we find out about the past and identify different ways in which it is represented. In planning to ensure the progression described above through teaching about the people, events and changes outlined below, teachers are often introducing pupils to historical periods that they will study more fully at key stages 2 and 3.

 

Pupils should be taught about:

 

  • changes within living memory. Where appropriate, these should be used to reveal aspects of change in national life
  • events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally [for example, the Great Fire of London, the first aeroplane flight or events commemorated through festivals or anniversaries]
  • the lives of significant individuals in the past who have contributed to national and international achievements. Some should be used to compare aspects of life in different periods [for example, Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria, Christopher Columbus and Neil Armstrong, William Caxton and Tim Berners-Lee, Pieter Bruegel the Elder and LS Lowry, Rosa Parks and Emily Davison, Mary Seacole and/or Florence Nightingale and Edith Cavell]
  • significant historical events, people and places in their own locality.

These are the four main themes in KS1 history.

Changes within living memory:

 
  • Changes with toys: how are toys and how people play different today from when my grandparents were alive?
 
  • Changes in communication: how did people contact each other and share information in the past and how is that different to today?
 
  • Changes in travel: how have transport methods changed and what effect does this have on people’s lives?
 
  • Changes in fashion: how is what I wear different to what my parents and grandparents wore when they were children?
 
  • Changes in education: what was school like for my grandparents and how is that different to school today?
 

For some of these, we may go back further than living memory, for example, to look at the invention of the telephone in 1876. Sometimes it can be very beneficial for children’s chronological understanding. As long as the explore changes in living memory within the sequence of lessons, this is absolutely something we may include.

 

 

Events beyond living memory that are significant globally and nationally:

 

The Great Fire of London, which is mentioned as a non-statutory part of the objective, is a common favourite and for good reason, since there is such a lot of great historical learning that can be done.

 

Other events beyond living memory to include could be:

 

 

  • The first aeroplane flight (also mentioned in the non-statutory objectives)
 
 
 
 
  • The sinking of the Titanic
 
 
 

The lives of significant individuals in the past who have contributed to national and international achievements.

Some should be used to compare aspects of life in different periods:

Examples could include:

 

 
  • William Wilberforce and Martin Luther King
 
  • Elizabeth Garrett Anderson
 
  • Christopher Wren and Isambard Kingdom Brunel
 
  • Ada Lovelace and Tim Berners Lee
 
  • Sir Francis Drake and Amelia Earhart
 

We will take the opportunity not only to explore their lives and achievements, but also what life was like during the periods in which these famous people lived. How was it different to life today? How would your life have been different if you had lived at the same time as Christopher Wren or Sir Francis Drake?

 

Significant historical events, people and places in their own locality:

 

Some National Events that may be covered if there are no obvious locally specific ones. 

 

  • VE Day celebrations: what happened in your locality when the war ended?
 
  • The queen’s coronation: how and why did people celebrate?
 
  • The king's coronation: how and why did people celebrate? How was this different to the queen's coronation?
KS2. Y4.5.6 St Marys History National Curriuclum Coverage.docx

What are the KS2 National Curriculum

History objectives?

The National Curriculum for primary History aims to provide children with a secure understanding of the past, and a coherent knowledge of Britain and the wider world from the earliest times right up to the modern era.

 

Here is the National Curriculum for KS2 History:

 

Purpose of study A high-quality history education will help pupils gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world. It should inspire pupils’ curiosity to know more about the past. Teaching should equip pupils to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments, and develop perspective and judgement. History helps pupils to 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.

 

Aims The national curriculum for history aims to ensure that all pupils: 

  • know and understand the history of these islands as a coherent, chronological narrative, from the earliest times to the present day: how people’s lives have shaped this nation and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world 
  • know and understand significant aspects of the history of the wider world: the nature of ancient civilisations; the expansion and dissolution of empires; characteristic features of past non-European societies; achievements and follies of mankind 
  • gain and deploy a historically grounded understanding of abstract terms such as ‘empire’, ‘civilisation’, ‘parliament’ and ‘peasantry’ 
  • understand historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance, and use them to make connections, draw contrasts, analyse trends, frame historically-valid questions and create their own structured accounts, including written narratives and analyses 
  • understand the methods of historical enquiry, 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 
  • gain historical perspective by placing their growing knowledge into different contexts, understanding the connections between local, regional, national and international history; between cultural, economic, military, political, religious and social history; and between short- and long-term timescales.
KS2 History Rolling Programme.docx

Subject Content - KS2

 

Pupils should continue to develop a chronologically secure knowledge and understanding of British, local and world history, establishing clear narratives within and across the periods they study. They should note connections, contrasts and trends over time and develop the appropriate use of historical terms. They should regularly address and sometimes devise historically valid questions about change, cause, similarity and difference, and significance. They should construct informed responses that involve thoughtful selection and organisation of relevant historical information. They should understand how our knowledge of the past is constructed from a range of sources.

 

In planning to ensure the progression described above through teaching the British, local and world history outlined below, teachers should combine overview and depth studies to help pupils understand both the long arc of development and the complexity of specific aspects of the content.

 

Pupils should be taught about:

  •  changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age
  •  the Roman Empire and its impact on Britain
  •  Britain’s settlement by Anglo-Saxons and Scots
  • The Viking and Anglo-Saxon struggle for the Kingdom of England to the time of Edward the Confessor
  • A local history study
  • A study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils’ chronological knowledge beyond 1066
  • the achievements of the earliest civilizations – an overview of where and when the first civilizations appeared and a depth study of one of the following: Ancient Sumer; The Indus Valley; Ancient Egypt; The Shang Dynasty of Ancient China
  • Ancient Greece – a study of Greek life and achievements and their influence on the western world
  • a non-European society that provides contrasts with British history – one study chosen from: early Islamic civilization, including a study of Baghdad c. AD 900; Mayan civilization c. AD 900; Benin (West Africa) c. AD 900-1300

Developing Historical Enquiry Skills

When we teach, we understand how important it is that our children aren’t simply ‘taught’ the history. Part of becoming an engaged historian is learning how to glean information from evidence in the form of both primary and secondary sources. It is equally important that children learn to ask questions for themselves.

 

The basic process for historical enquiry is as follows:

 

1) Provide evidence


2) Ask questions


3) Suggest answers


4) Provide more evidence


5) Refine answers

 

...ad infinitum. Once children have answers to their initial questions, ideally this should generate more questions for the children to explore.

 

Here is a specific example of how this could work in our classrooms. For this example, children will be starting a new topic to cover the objective ‘Britain’s settlement by Anglo-Saxons and Scots’:

 

1) Provide children with a picture of the Sutton Hoo helmet.

 

2) Challenge children to generate questions about the object.

What is it? Who used it? What was it for? Who made it? When was it last used? Was this for a rich person or a poor person? What can it tell us about the person who wore it?

 

3) Encourage children to suggest answers to their initial questions, giving reasons for their choices. It’s important for children to use the word ‘because’ in their answers to justify their responses. For example, I think this was worn by a man because men used to fight in battles more than women, or I think it is for a rich person because I can see gold in it. Agree as a class who they think the helmet belonged to.

 

4) Provide children with further evidence. Explain that this helmet was found along with a lot of other artefacts by archaeologists in 1938. They were all buried in the remains of a ship that was found in Ipswich. Provide further photographs of the Sutton Hoo treasure. What else can we find out about the owner of the mask now?

 

5) Challenge children to come up with further evidence, based on the artefacts, about who was buried at Sutton Hoo.

 

6) Ask children if there are any other questions they want to find out about now that they know a little more about the contents of the burial ship.

 

We don’t necessarily have to use artefacts for this kind of enquiry process. Sometime we can give the children a photograph or a painting of the famous person they’ll be studying as a starting point; or try use an extract from a speech or a historical document. It’s amazing how much children can get out of these sources when they get used to asking questions and using what they can see before them to generate answers.

 
Whole School NEW History C.Pack (Option 1) Assessment Grids.pdf
Whole School NEW History C.Pack (Option 2) Assessment Grids.pdf
Whole School NEW History Curriculum Pack Overview _ bulk2013 _ Option 1.pdf
Whole School NEW History Curriculum Pack Overview _ bulk2016 _ Option 2.pdf