History is all about people. The study of people of different types from different times and different places is the most important aspect of our work. History fires pupils’ curiosity about the past in Britain and the wider world. Pupils consider how the past influences the present, what past societies were like, how these societies organised their politics, and what beliefs and cultures influenced people’s actions. As they do this, pupils develop a chronological framework for their knowledge of significant events and people. They see the diversity of human experience, and understand more about themselves as individuals and members of society. What they learn can influence their decisions about personal choices, attitudes and values.  In history, pupils find evidence, weigh it up and reach their own conclusions. 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.

Our History Curriculum will enable pupils to:

• Develop a sense of time (chronology), recognising how time is measured and that some things change and some things stay the same;

• Investigate how and why events happen and how they may be linked;

• Consider what it was like to live in different periods and what motivated the people who lived then – and that we cannot think in the way they thought;

• Recognise that there are some things we can never know about the past and that history has to be constructed from the bits of the past that have survived;

• Understand that people interpret the past differently and use different ways to present their ideas;

• Make thoughtful use of a variety of sources to find out about the past;

• Communicate their ideas in a variety of ways and with clarity and independence.