Overview

Our history curriculum is delivered through half-termly topics which are carefully planned to ensure that every pupil has the opportunity to develop their historical knowledge, skills and understanding.

Learning in history begins in Reception, where pupils develop an understanding of the past through their own experiences, stories, photographs and familiar events. Children learn to use language such as past, present and a long time ago, laying the foundations for chronological understanding and historical enquiry.

As pupils move through Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, lessons and topics are sequenced so that prior learning is revisited, secured and built upon. This enables pupils to develop a clear sense of chronology and a deeper understanding of key historical concepts such as change, cause and consequence, similarity and difference, and significance.

Through participating in history lessons, pupils are encouraged to be curious, ask perceptive questions and develop an understanding of how the past has shaped the world they live in today. Throughout their time at school, pupils learn how historians work by planning and carrying out enquiries, using timelines, analysing primary and secondary sources, evaluating evidence and reaching balanced judgements.

By studying local, British and non-European history, including significant individuals, events and civilisations, pupils gain an appreciation of different perspectives and experiences. History learning is enriched through visits, visitors and local studies, helping pupils to apply their learning in meaningful contexts and develop a lasting interest in the subject.

Reception (FS2)

  • Past and present: understanding time through personal experiences

  • Changes within living memory

  • How our school and local area have changed over time

  • Using photographs and artefacts as historical sources

Year 1

  • Key celebrations in the past

  • How toys have changed over time

  • Using timelines to sequence events

  • Identifying similarities and differences between past and present

Year 2

  • The Great Fire of London

  • The Romans: invasion and legacy

  • Using eyewitness accounts and historical sources

  • Comparing life in the past and present

Year 3

  • Changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age

  • Prehistoric life: settlement, diet, tools and daily life

  • Using archaeological evidence

  • Chronology and historical enquiry

Year 4

  • Roman Britain and its legacy

  • Anglo-Saxons and Scots: invasion and settlement

  • The formation of England

  • Using evidence to reach balanced judgement

Year 5

  • Victorian Britain and the British Empire

  • The Industrial Revolution with a focus on Sheffield

  • Non-European society: the Maya

  • Inequality, empire and legacy

Year 6

  • World War Two: causes, key events and legacy

  • The Blitz and evacuation, including local Sheffield study

  • Vikings and the struggle for the Kingdom of England

  • Ancient Greece: democracy and legacy

  • Comparative studies of civilisations and empires