It is our intention that the history curriculum at St Paul’s CE Primary inspires and engages children, instilling ambition in our children to choose career paths such as archaeology, politics, museum curators and education. We hope for children to develop a love of both British and world history and inspire a curiosity about the past. Through a range of tasks, focused on building skills such as questioning, source evaluation and historical communication, students will gain an in-depth understanding and interest in many different eras of history. 

Our aim is that children become inquisitive, enthusiastic and knowledgeable historians who show excitement by asking questions about and investigating the past, making links to the present day. It is a priority that our history curriculum exposes children to a wide range of history, representing the rich diversity in our school and wider community. We aim to achieve this through a diverse and challenging curriculum. We aim to embed knowledge by learning through milestones and using repetition, ensuring there is progression throughout. Following the national curriculum requirements, our teaching equips children to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, consider arguments and develop perspective and judgment. One of the main aims is that history is a vehicle for oracy, discussion, development of presentation skills, allowing children to make and justify their opinions referring to historical sources and considering bias as well as developing their cultural capital.

Planning follows the National Curriculum and is guided by the Chris Quigley  'History Curriculum Companion’ scheme of work. This is adapted to meet the particular needs, requirements and backgrounds of our children. At St Paul’s CE Primary, history is taught in five blocks throughout the year, progressing over three milestones (Key Stage Phases). Key skills and knowledge for history are mapped across the school to ensure clear progression through the year groups. Topics and concepts are taught in the first year of a milestone and revisited, grown and deepened in the second year. As well as recalling important facts and key information, there is a particular focus on the understanding and use of historical vocabulary which is taught explicitly in all year groups and across milestones. 

At St Paul’s CE Primary, we strive to ensure all children feel valued and represented in our curriculum; in history we cover a diverse range of significant people, cultures, countries and civilisations in order to achieve this. We aim to promote and develop compassionate, aware and curious thinkers and develop the use of historical sources in helping children to form opinions and support those opinions. Our history curriculum enables children to use their skills from other subjects such as reading, computing, writing, art and comprehension to present and support their learning. Opportunities are given during discussion and independent learning for the children to apply this vocabulary, linking directly with our school wide focus on oracy.

Children will show clear enjoyment and confidence when discussing history which they will then apply to other areas of the curriculum. Through carefully planned and implemented lessons and learning activities, pupils will develop the knowledge, recall and vocabulary expertise needed to discuss, learn from and form opinions about history. 

Children will develop oracy and debate skills by studying and using primary and secondary sources and using them to form and support their own opinions. Children will have a clear understanding of past events, significant people, inventions, eras and civilisations and the impact they have had on the present day. Children will be able to converse clearly and confidently about their history learning as well as presenting the way they have demonstrated this knowledge in their history books. 

Pupil’s skills and knowledge, when assessed by the class teacher as part of an ongoing process, throughout lessons, will show that they build on previous knowledge and experiences across milestones. More formal assessment such as marking of children’s work and monitoring of outcomes will, alongside more informal child interviews and photographic and video evidence, show progress over time. Careful questioning and planning of child-led discussions will support the history leader in measuring impact and will enable the class teacher and curriculum lead to measure impact and adapt planning, overviews and support where necessary.

Long term plans, showing the progression of skills and knowledge and the content taught in History can be found below: