History
All Things Are Possible
At Benedict Biscop we want our children to learn that all things are possible. We want our children to aspire and to achieve highly. We want our children to aspire to grow and become historians when they are older.
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
We believe that history should develop children with the following essential characteristics to help them become historians:
- A knowledge and understanding of people, events, and contexts from a range of historical periods
- The ability to communicate ideas confidently in a range of ways
- The ability to think, reflect, debate, discuss and evaluate the past, formulating and refining questions and lines of enquiry
- A passion for history and an enthusiastic engagement in learning, which develops their sense of curiosity about the past
- An understanding of how and why people behaved in the past in different ways
- The ability to make use of sources of evidence to support their explanations and judgments
- A desire to undertake high-quality research across a range of history topics
Where Does It Start?
Our Early Years provision is language rich and has been carefully created, to provide a range of opportunities both indoor and outdoor to help develop essential knowledge and skills to support the development of speaking and listening and therefore the FOUNDATION of ALL LEARNING, including their understanding of the world.
In Key Stage 1 & 2, we actively encouraging cross-curricular learning through our themed based curriculum ( see curriculum document below) allowing children to be fully immersed in their learning in order to meet the aims of the national curriculum and develop those essential characteristics of historians.
The study of history ignites children’s curiosity about the past in Britain and the wider world. Through finding out about how and why the world, our country, culture and local community have developed over time, children understand how the past influences the present. History enables children to develop a context for their growing sense of identity and a chronological framework for their knowledge of significant events and people. What they learn through history can influence their decisions about personal choices, attitudes and values. At Benedict Biscop our intent, when teaching history, is to stimulate the children’s curiosity in order for them to develop their knowledge, skills and understanding as well as an understanding of how they can become active Global Citizens.
We know that progression is history involves developing historical perspective through:
- closer integration of history’s key concepts
- opportunities to develop enquiry and communication
- secure development of chronology
- opportunities to develop understanding of more complex issues, of abstract ideas and historical terms
- greater independence in applying all of these
The Pillars Of History
At the heart of our History curriculum is the substantive and disciplinary knowledge that children need to prepare them for success in their education journey.
Curriculum Overview
| Year | Autumn | Spring | Summer |
| EYFS | Who is special to me? Why do we celebrate Bonfire Night? Why do we wear poppies? | What special events do people celebrate around the world? What special structures are around us? Who are important people from the past? | What special events do we celebrate as a community? How has the world changed over time? |
| Key Stage 1 Cycle B | Cycle B London & The Great Fire | Cycle B What I believe: I have a right to a safe place to live (Article 27) | Cycle B Flights and revolutionary railways |
| Three | Early settlements….Stone, Bronze and Iron Age | Along the river – ancient Egyptians | What I believe: The right to choose religion and beliefs (Article 14) Study of early Islamic civilization |
| Four | The ancient Greeks | Roman Britain | What I believe: Everyone and everything has the right to be alive (Article 6) Life in the rainforest and Mayan civilization |
| Five | Anglo-Saxons, Vikings and Scots – Settlers and settlements | Tudors and changing world | What I believe: No one is allowed to punish you in a cruel or harmful way (Article 37) Exploring crime and punishment |
| Six | Children in WWII in Sunderland | Sunderland’s heritage – Coalmining | What I believe: I have the right to an education (Article 28) How can I change the world? |
Curriculum Design
Awards
When designing our curriculum we worked and took guidance from Historic England and the Historical Associastion to provide professional development for staff and capital culture experiences for our pupils. In recognition for our success we were recently awarded the Heritage Schools Award.
The award highlights how we have developed children’s sense of pride in where they live and their understanding of their local heritage and how it relates to the national story.
SEND
Benedict Biscop promotes a curriculum that puts all pupils, regardless of their needs, at the heart of what we do. By building mutual respect, we accept others for their differences believing that everyone is special and everyone has something to offer. Our inclusive and enriching curriculum, written for all children, provides pupils with meaningful and aspirational experiences as well as promoting personal growth for life-long learning. When the curriculum needs adapting, to suit the needs of individual children, appropriate modifications are made by the class teacher with support of the SENDCo and the Curriculum Subject Lead.
Reading In History
Useful Links
National Geographic Kids – https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/
BBC Bitesize – https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zcw76sg
BBC Programmes – https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01bb49s
History For Kids – https://www.historyforkids.net/?utm_content=cmp-true
OAK National Academy KS1 https://classroom.thenational.academy/subjects-by-key-stage/key-stage-1/subjects/history
OAK National Academy KS2 https://classroom.thenational.academy/subjects-by-key-stage/key-stage-2/subjects/history
Interested in finding out more?
If you would like to find out more about our curriculum. Please contact the school office by emailing BBinfo@nllt.co.uk and we will ask a member of staff to get back in touch a.s.a.p.
