History at Awbridge Primary School

Through our teaching of history, our main aim is to foster our pupils’ curiosity to know more about the past and help them to understand how events and people have influenced our daily lives today. We build these values through investigations into our understanding of the world in Early Years and continue into Key Stage 2 where we explore the local history as well as other past cultures. We think History builds key investigative skills and the curiosity it inspires helps our children understand the world around them, including their own history. We have fantastic links into the past within our own school or the church that we regularly visit, and these relations are used to our advantage.

History learning is carefully mapped and throughout Key Stage 1 our pupils will develop an awareness of the past through the study of significant individuals who have achieved nationally and internationally. They will also study significant events linked to the local area as well as studying changes within living memory and those events beyond living memory that have had a significant impact nationally or globally. 

In Key Stage 2 pupils will develop a secure understanding of local, British and world history, making connections and contrasts over time as well as using appropriate historical vocabulary and having a greater appreciation of chronology. Our intention from the teaching of both disciplinary and substantive knowledge is to allow all pupils to make comparisons and connections with past cultures, use historical vocabulary accurately and to ask, investigate and answer questions to further their own understanding.

Although History is often taught discreetly it also forges strong links with other curriculum learning. We use an enquiry based approach where children are challenged and motivated to make their way through ‘six stages’ and learn to investigate, consider, reflect and review events from the past. Children are given opportunities to develop their understanding of the past through the use of artefacts, historical documents, photographs, reports and other written sources. They are given opportunities to research using electronic media. Many of our educational visits outside of the classroom have a historical focus including the SeaCity Museum and Fishbourne Roman Palace. Our teachers encourage the children to develop a growth mindset, accepting that they may not have all the answers but determinedly strive to draw their own conclusions and justify their opinions.  

Teaching Safeguarding through History

At Awbridge through our curriculum we support children to…

• raise questions through an enquiry approach and create a hypothesis (reasoning), be prepared to change an opinion or belief
• understand the difference between fact and opinion
• appreciate the effect that actions can have on others (consequence) and learn from problems in the past
• show respect when working with artefacts and pose good questions to deepen understanding
• show empathy and respect for differences in other cultures and different generations
• understand that learning from the past is deepened by reflecting on the present and this can always change
• remain objective and that it is not always possible to define what is right and wrong