History

At All Saints, the focus at all times is to make the study of History enjoyable, whilst at the same time to inspire the children’s curiosity to know more about the past, ask perceptive questions, think critically and develop perspective and judgement.

We strongly believe that History helps children 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.

Children are taught a high-quality history education through themes and projects covering a variety of different topics. In Early Years children look at changes within living memory, as well as learning about significant events in the past. As children progress through the school they learn about significant individuals in the past who have contributed to national and international achievements. Through stories, drama, artefacts, art and trips, they also focus on comparing their own experiences to significant events and periods further back in history. By the end of KS2 children will have developed a chronologically secure knowledge of British, local and world history. As they develop these skills in a range of contexts, so too will they develop the ability to be independent learners, using the key historical skills they have gained to analyse, question and compare a range of sources to form their own judgements about the past.

Our aims in teaching History are to allow children to –

• 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