History

Scroll to the bottom of the page to see examples of the history work taking place in school.

The National Curriculum for History at Barton.

Coordinating history as a subject is very important.  We ensure children build on their chronological knowledge by using a portable timeline to add events to existing knowledge.  We track National Curriculum content carefully to ensure our pupils receive a breadth of knowledge and skills to enjoy this subject; this includes ensuring historical vocabulary is covered in each year group to add and deepen understanding.  Learning in Key Stage 2 is further enhanced by an after school History Warriors Club.

Here is our current cycle for History Provision in school (2017 - 18):

Year 1   Autumn :  Toys in the Past

             Spring :  Great Fire of London

             Summer :  Columbus

Year 2  Autumn :  Queen Elizabeth I & Victoria

             Spring :  Local History

             Summer : 20thC Industrialisation

Year 3  Autumn  :  Local History

             Spring :  Stone Age to Iron Age

             Summer :  Ancient Greeks

Year 4  Autumn  :  Railway Revolution

             Spring   :  Ancient China

             Summer :  Local History

Year 5 & 6  Autumn :  Railway Revolution

             Spring :  Crime & Punishment

             Summer  :  Mayans

The National Curriculum for History, including year group specific themes, is set out below. Further information on the teaching of each element will be given in the curriculum plans that are sent home at the start of each new topic. These can be viewed on the class areas of the school website.

The National Curriculum for History.

The national curriculum for history aims to ensure that all pupils:

• 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.

Key Stage 1

Pupils should develop an awareness of the past, using common words and phrases relating to the passing of time. They should know where the people and events they study fit within a chronological framework and identify similarities and differences between ways of life in different periods. They should use a wide vocabulary of everyday historical terms. They should ask and answer questions, choosing and using parts of stories and other sources to show that they know and understand key features of events. They should understand some of the ways in which we find out about the past and identify different ways in which it is represented.

In planning to ensure the progression described above through teaching about the people, events and changes outlined below, teachers are often introducing pupils to historical periods that they will study more fully at key stages 2 and 3.

By the end of Key Stage 1 pupils at St Lawrence CE primary School will have learnt about:

• changes within living memory including aspects of change in national life for example the evacuation of children in WW2
• events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally for example the Great Fire of London
• the lives of significant individuals in the past who have contributed to national and international achievements. Some will be used to compare aspects of life in different periods for example Elizabeth 1 and Queen Victoria, William Caxton and Tim Berners-Lee, Mary Seacole and Florence Nightingale
• significant historical events, people and places in their own locality for example, The Preston Strike of 1842

Key Stage 2

Pupils should continue to develop a chronologically secure knowledge and understanding of British, local and world history, establishing clear narratives within and across the periods they study. They should note connections, contrasts and trends over time and develop the appropriate use of historical terms. They should regularly address and sometimes devise historically valid questions about change, cause, similarity and difference, and significance. They should construct informed responses that involve thoughtful selection and organisation of relevant historical information. They should understand how our knowledge of the past is constructed from a range of sources.

In planning to ensure the progression described above through teaching the British, local and world history outlined below, teachers should combine overview and depth studies to help pupils understand both the long arc of development and the complexity of specific aspects of the content.

By the end of Key Stage 2 pupils at St Lawrence CE primary School will have learnt about:

• changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age (Year 4)
• the Roman Empire and its impact on Britain (Year 3)
• Britain’s settlement by Anglo-Saxons and Scots (Year 5/6)
• the Viking and Anglo-Saxon struggle for the Kingdom of England to the time of Edward the Confessor (Year 4)
• a local history study (Year 3)
• a study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils’ chronological knowledge beyond 1066 (Year 3)
• the achievements of the earliest civilizations – an overview of where and when the first civilizations appeared and a depth study of one of the following: Ancient Sumer; The Indus Valley; Ancient Egypt; The Shang Dynasty of Ancient China (Year 5/6)
• Ancient Greece – a study of Greek life and achievements and their influence on the western world (Year 4)
• a non-European society that provides contrasts with British history – one study chosen from: early Islamic civilization, including a study of Baghdad c. AD 900; Mayan civilization c. AD 900; Benin (West Africa) c. AD 900-1300 (Year 5/6)

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

QUANTUM THEATRE VISIT

YOUR COUNTRY NEEDS YOU

Your Country Needs You - The First World War. The play used original sources and material from the time and interweaved songs, poetry and prose to examine the effects of war on those directly involved. Moving, informative and sometimes even comic, Your Country Needs You delivered a wartime experience that gets to the heart of the day to day lives of those involved. The play provided a 'hook' for our WW1 focus week later in the term.  

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

MARTIN LUTHER KING

"I Have a Dream" is a public speech delivered by American civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr. on August 28, 1963. During their Martin Luther King Topic, Elm Class created their own "I Have a Dream" speeches to reflect current issues in Africa.

 Click HERE to go to read some.

_________________________________________________________________________________

THE ANCIENT GREEKS

Elm Class enjoyed their Ancient Greeks topic and were inspired by the Greek Myths.

Click HERE to see some of their stunning artwork and listen to their musical compositions.  

VISIT TO MARTIN MERE

 At the beginning of one of the junior classes topics studying the Saxons and Scots, children went to the Saxon Village of Mere Tun for the day.  Children learned how to weave a en for the chickens using willow branches, how to forage for food and useful items that the Saxons would have used in their daily lives, how to fight like a Saxon and how to thatch a roof!  All the children had a fantastic time as well as learning lots in the process.