History
Intent
At Bewley Primary School, we aim to provide children with a strong understanding of local, national and international history through an engaging and well-structured curriculum that inspires in pupils a curiosity about Britain’s and the world’s past. We aspire for our children to be aware of and appreciate their local heritage, and demonstrate compassion and respect regarding past events.
Our teaching is aligned with the outcomes of the National Curriculum and equips pupils with the knowledge and understanding of:
- how people’s lives have shaped Britain and how we have been influenced by the wider world,
- ancient civilisations and empires,
- changes in living memory and beyond,
- the lives of significant people of the past,
- methods of historical enquiry.
Implementation
Our history curriculum is progressive throughout the whole school and is linked with high-interest, cross-curricular topics as part of our wider curriculum offer.
In EYFS, children are introduced to the concept of history through their focus on understanding of the world and learning about people and their communities. Pupils consider their families and traditions, compare old and new and learn about special events and their historical links.
In KS1, pupils are introduced to learning about changes in living memory and beyond living memory. They develop their knowledge and understanding of the lives of significant people in the past, learn about methods of historical enquiry and begin to ask and answer questions comparing the past with the present.
In Lower KS2, pupils learn about the history of Britain from the Stone Age to the Norman Conquest. Pupils use timelines to support their ordering of events throughout history up to the present day and begin to build on their ability to respond to questions with the use of primary and secondary sources. As they progress through to Year 5 and 6, pupils continue to refine their skills in history with in depth studies on Ancient Egypt and World War Two.
History Led Topics
| Local Area Focus | Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 | Spring 1 | Spring 2 | Summer 1 | Summer 2 | |
| Year 1 | Billingham | School Days | Dinosaur Planet | ||||
| Year 2 | The Transporter Bridge | ||||||
| Year 3 | Significant People in Our Area – John Walker | Through the Ages | Emperors and Empires | ||||
| Year 4 | Industrial Billingham | Ground-breaking Greeks | Invasion! Traders and Raiders 1066 | Invasion! Traders and Raiders 1066 | |||
| Year 5 | Stockton to Darlington Railway | Pharaohs | Fallen Fields | Off with Her Head! | Off with Her Head! | ||
| Year 6 | Middlesbrough Football Club | A Child’s War | A Child’s War |
We want children to be enthused by their learning in History and therefore make use of external opportunities such as fieldwork, workshops and educational visits. We make many planned cross curricular links to other subjects when delivering our history curriculum and have included a local study for each year group which celebrates our local history.
Impact
Our systematic approach to planning and teaching of history equips our pupils with the historical skills and knowledge that will enable them to be ready for the curriculum at Key Stage 3 and for life as an adult in the wider world.
They should be able to describe key events in British history up to the Norman Conquest, and have an understanding of both the inventions and achievements of ancient civilisations and their impact on life today, and key events of the modern age.
Pupils of all ages should understand how past events can be researched.
Older pupils should be able to explain concepts such as the reliability of or bias in historical evidence, and take these into account when considering historical data. By doing so, they can become not just passive recipients of factual information, but enquiring and challenging thinkers who appreciate that there is much we can learn from the past, and have the skills and the passion for doing so in the future.