History

"We are not makers of history. We are made by history."

Martin Luther King

The study of history is vital to understanding our shared heritage, as well as how the world as we know it has developed over time.  History builds knowledge and understanding by building up knowledge of specific periods, recognition of historical trends and developing interpretive skills in order to ask relevant questions.

At West End, we encourage children’s curiosity about different parts of history.  Children are taught to develop their own mental timelines of history, placing different periods and dates chronologically.  They will also analyse different sources, viewpoints and evidence, learning to interpret them in order to build on their own understanding of a period of history. 

Studying history helps to build empathy with people who lived in the past.  Through this, children come to understand that our society is a result of continual development throughout several periods of history.  Children are asked to work together and share their own interpretations of history, regarding other people’s opinions with respect whilst justifying their own.

Through study of different periods, children are taught to recognise various trends and concepts that continually repeat through history.  They build up a specialist vocabulary of historical concepts that can be applied to many different periods of time, such as empire and taxes.  Children are expected to use this vocabulary to draw comparisons between different parts of the past.

Understanding our past is important to planning our future.  Through the study of history, children gain empathy and appreciation of the past and how our society has developed.  The skills that children develop will empower them to give their own interpretations of events and evidence in a confident, capable manner.

Our Roadmap

Our Progression Document