History

History at Weston

At Weston Village Primary School, History helps children understand how people, societies and places have changed over time and why those changes matter.

We want pupils to develop secure historical knowledge alongside the ability to think carefully about the past.

Children learn to place events and periods in chronological context, use evidence, consider different interpretations, identify causes and consequences, recognise continuity and change, compare experiences and make judgements about historical significance.

The aim is not simply to remember isolated facts. We want pupils to build an increasingly connected understanding of the past and to use historical evidence to answer meaningful questions.

Building Chronological Understanding

Chronology is an important thread throughout the curriculum.

In Key Stage 1, children begin with events and changes that are relatively close to their own experience. They sequence events, compare old and new objects and begin to understand how life changes over time.

For example, Year 1 pupils sequence toys and different forms of transport and compare journeys and objects from the past with those of today.

In Year 2, children increasingly place significant events into chronological order and compare people, objects and places across different periods.

As children move through Key Stage 2, their chronological framework becomes much broader. They locate periods such as prehistoric Britain, ancient civilisations, Roman Britain, Anglo-Saxon and Viking Britain, Ancient Greece, the Industrial Revolution and the Second World War within an increasingly secure understanding of the past.

Historical Enquiry and Evidence

Children learn that our understanding of the past comes from evidence.

From an early age, pupils use pictures, objects and accounts to answer questions about what happened.

As they progress, they encounter increasingly varied sources, including:

• artefacts

• photographs and images

• written accounts

• archaeological evidence

• buildings and remains

• primary and secondary sources.

Children learn to ask what a source can tell us, what its limitations might be and how evidence can be used to support an interpretation.

For example, Year 3 pupils use artefacts to form interpretations of ancient civilisations, while Year 4 pupils use evidence from Sutton Hoo to make inferences about power in Anglo-Saxon Britain.

By Year 6, pupils analyse a range of primary and secondary evidence when studying areas such as the Kindertransport, D-Day, factory life and migration.

Cause and Consequence

Children learn to move beyond knowing what happened towards understanding why it happened and what followed.

In Year 2, pupils begin to explore causes and consequences through events such as the sinking of the Titanic.

Later, pupils consider increasingly complex chains of causation, such as:

• why the Romans successfully invaded Britain

• why Anglo-Saxons settled in Britain

• the causes and consequences of the Battle of Edington

• why Britain industrialised

• why people migrated to Britain

• the immediate and longer-term consequences of D-Day.

Change and Continuity

Children learn to recognise that history contains both change and continuity.

They compare objects, experiences, societies and ways of life across time and consider what changed, what remained similar and why.

This begins with familiar examples such as toys, transport and emergency services and develops into increasingly complex comparisons between societies and periods.

For example, Year 3 pupils consider major changes between the Stone Age and Iron Age and judge which they think was most significant.

Year 6 pupils compare British society before and after industrialisation and examine how migration has contributed to changes in work, culture and identity.

Historical Significance

Children are taught that some people, events, developments and ideas have particular historical significance.

They learn that significance is something historians can argue about and justify with evidence, rather than simply a list of famous people.

In Year 2, pupils consider why the Titanic continues to be remembered.

In Year 3, children consider the significance of ancient Egyptian achievements and the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb.

Older pupils make increasingly sophisticated judgements about significance, including the legacy of Rome, the formation of England, the Industrial Revolution and the impact of migration.

Historical Interpretations and Perspectives

Children learn that accounts of the past may differ.

They consider:

• whose perspective is represented

• how different people experienced the same event

• why historians may reach different conclusions

• how evidence can support different interpretations.

This begins simply in Year 1 when children compare two versions of a past event.

By Year 4, pupils consider different perspectives on Boudicca's rebellion, while Year 5 pupils use evidence to compare Athens and Sparta and debate different viewpoints.

British, Local and World History

Our curriculum gives pupils opportunities to study the history of Britain alongside significant world civilisations and wider historical themes.

Children encounter areas including:

• changes within living memory

• significant people and events

• ancient civilisations

• prehistoric Britain

• Roman Britain

• Anglo-Saxons and Vikings

• Ancient Greece

• the Second World War

• the Industrial Revolution

• migration.

The aim is to help children understand Britain's history as part of a wider and interconnected world, rather than as an isolated story.

History and Identity

History also helps children understand how societies and identities have developed.

This becomes particularly explicit in Year 6 through the study of migration.

Children examine why people have moved to Britain at different points in history, the experiences of migrants and the contribution migration has made to areas such as the NHS, the economy, communities, culture and identity.

This helps pupils understand that the story of Britain has always involved movement, exchange and change.

History in Reception

The foundations of historical understanding begin in Reception through Understanding the World.

Children develop an early sense of past and present through their own lives, families, familiar events, stories and changes they can observe.

They begin to use language associated with time and notice similarities and differences between the past and the present.

How Learning Develops

In Key Stage 1, children establish the foundations of chronological understanding and historical enquiry through familiar and accessible contexts. They compare past and present, use simple evidence, sequence events and begin to consider why events and people are important.

In Lower Key Stage 2, pupils develop a much broader chronological framework and increasingly use sources to explore change, cause, significance and interpretation. The curriculum includes ancient civilisations, prehistoric Britain, Roman Britain and Anglo-Saxon and Viking Britain.

In Upper Key Stage 2, pupils are expected to handle increasingly complex evidence and historical questions. They compare societies, assess significance, consider interpretation and explore broad themes such as industrialisation, war and migration.

How We Teach History

Our whole-school teaching routines support History alongside subject-specific historical enquiry.

I → We → You enables teachers to model how historians interrogate a source, construct an explanation or make a historical judgement before pupils apply these approaches more independently.

Scaffold → Fade means timelines, vocabulary, source prompts, writing frames or structured questions can initially support pupils and are reduced as historical thinking becomes more secure.

Retrieval, little and often helps pupils remember important dates, periods, people, concepts and previous learning so that new knowledge connects to an increasingly secure chronological framework.

Words & Visuals supports historical vocabulary and the interpretation of sources, maps, artefacts, timelines and images.

Inclusion in History

We want every pupil to have access to ambitious historical learning.

Teachers anticipate barriers and may support pupils through:

• explicit vocabulary teaching

• visual timelines

• carefully selected or adapted source material

• oral rehearsal

• structured questions

• additional modelling

• chunking longer historical accounts

• alternative ways of recording understanding.

Adaptation is designed to support pupils in accessing the same important historical thinking, rather than unnecessarily simplifying the curriculum.

Assessment

Assessment takes place throughout History teaching.

Teachers use questioning, discussion, retrieval activities, pupils' written work and responses to historical evidence to understand what children know and how well they can think historically.

Assessment considers whether pupils can:

• place learning within an increasingly secure chronological framework

• recall important historical knowledge

• use evidence appropriately

• explain cause and consequence

• identify change and continuity

• compare periods and experiences

• make supported judgements about significance

• recognise that the past can be interpreted in different ways.

This helps teachers identify what pupils have understood, what needs revisiting and where misconceptions remain.

Our History Curriculum

The document below shows how History is organised and developed from Year 1 to Year 6.