We ensure that all pupils:
In EYFS, children focus on Understanding the World to allow them to make sense of their physical world and their community. They talk about the lives of the people around them and their roles in society. They start to discover similarities and differences between things in the past and now, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class, through a broad selection of stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems. They will understand the past through settings, characters and events encountered in books read in class and storytelling.
In Key Stage 1, our curriculum is mapped to enable children to develop an awareness of the past, using common words and phrases relating to the passing of time. They will start to 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. As they progress through the key stage, they will begin to make comparisons and connections between people and events in the past.
In Key Stage 2, children will 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. This chronology, or sequence of events, will be referred to throughout KS2 so that children become secure in their understanding of important historical events and eras. It will also enable them to begin to identify trends over time and develop the appropriate use of historical terms such as ancient and civilisation. The explicit mapping and rigorous teaching of vocabulary ensures that children can gain and deploy a historically grounded understanding of abstract terms such as ‘empire’ or ‘legacy’.
Where every opportunity shapes a life.