History Curriculum Vision and Aims

History is a valued part of the curriculum at Millbrook Primary School as it provides a means of exploring, appreciating and understanding the world in which we live and how it has evolved by asking where? when? what? and why?

History stimulates curiosity and imagination building upon the child’s innate curiosity about the past. We encourage children to learn by experience and we value looking at artefacts, visiting museums and places of historical interest as an integral part of the history curriculum. At Millbrook Primary school, we believe in the importance of history as stated in ‘History, Primary National Curriculum, 2014, “A high-quality history education will help pupils gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world. It should inspire pupils’ curiosity to know more about the past. Teaching should equip pupils to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments, and develop perspective and judgement. History helps pupils to understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups, as well as their own identity and the challenges of their time. ” (page 188).

We encourage children to learn by experience and we value fieldwork when pupils find evidence, weigh it up and reach their own conclusions as an integral part of the history Curriculum. To do this, they need to be able to research, sift through evidence, and argue for their point of view – skills that are prized in adult life.

Aims of the History Curriculum

History teaching at Millbrook aims to enable 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.

History co-ordinator:  Mrs Roberts

History Curriculum

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