History at Byers Green
At Byers Green Primary School, our history curriculum is designed to ensure our children develop a deep understanding of the rich history of their locality and the impact that has had on the traditions and values of the area. We pride ourselves on providing children with opportunities to investigate and make enquiries about their local area of Byers Green and County Durham so that they can develop a real sense of who they are, their heritage and what makes our local area unique and special. Children are given opportunities to investigate and interpret the past, understand chronology, build an understanding of Britain’s past, as well as that of the wider world and to be able to communicate historically. There is a focus on reading, to gain new information and to evaluate the validity of different sources of information.
Children are encouraged to engage with significant events, people, and eras from the past with empathy and respect for difference of opinion.
The intent of our History curriculum is to deliver a rich, inclusive curriculum that inspires children’s curiosity and develops their knowledge and skills to learn about the past. To ensure that our curriculum is engaging and builds on prior knowledge, we have planned our themes across a two-year cycle. Learning is built upon in the long-term by revisiting previous units of study to make meaningful connections and to place both old and new learning into context. By taking this approach, children will learn to appreciate the complexities of different people, places and events in the long arc of history, identifying their place within it and the challenges that they faced.
We encourage children to ask questions and analyse sources of information through a range of fascinating topics linked to the National Curriculum. We want children to not only enjoy history through experiences in the classroom but through educational visits and workshops.
In EYFS, children will talk about past and present events in their own lives and in the lives of family members. Children will also learn about why certain events take place.
In Key Stage 1 children will learn about historical events from the past and significant individuals who have contributed to national and international achievements. They will study events within and beyond living memory and develop their knowledge of timelines and chronology.
In Key Stage 2 they will continue to learn about the past and appreciate history in chronological contexts. They will develop knowledge linked to specific periods of time such as The Stone Age and The Greeks as well as studying local history and major events of British and world history.
The school’s overall aim is for our children to leave with a desire to learn more about the past and foster a lifelong passion for history that helps them contextualise the world that they live in now from the world that has come before them.
History is implemented using discrete history lessons that are often supported by cross-curricular activities. Units of history are delivered throughout the year in blocks where most of the history topics are the drivers for a lot of other cross-curricular work such as English, art and DT. We ensure high levels of teaching and learning take place by using a clear long-term plan that offers progression and meets the objectives from the National Curriculum.
Where possible, first-hand accounts by visitors and educational visits will be used to develop historical questions and discussion points. As children progress, they will be encouraged and supported to think of and begin to answer their own questions. Children will record their work in a variety of ways, appropriate to the age and stage of their development.
Byers Green pupils will:
- Have a passion for history and an enthusiastic engagement in learning.
- Have a rich knowledge of local, national and global historical events and significant people.
- A sense of curiosity about the past.
- An understanding of how and why people interpret the past in different ways.
- Have an excellent knowledge of people, events and contexts from a range of historical periods.
- Have the ability to think critically about History and communicate ideas confidently.
- Have a desire to embrace challenging activities.
- Have the ability to think, react, debate, discuss and evaluate the past, formulating and refining questions and lines of enquiry.
- Have a respect for historical evidence and the ability to make robust and critical use of it to support their explanations and judgements.