History | Bidbury Infant School

History

History at Bidbury Infant School

At Bidbury, our learning in history is based on the Kapow Primary History scheme of work. This aims to inspire pupils to be curious and creative thinkers who develop a knowledge of local and national history and the history of the wider world. We want our pupils to develop the confidence to think critically, ask questions, and be able to explain and analyse historical evidence. We aim to build an awareness of significant events and individuals in global, British and local history and recognise how things have changed over time. We want our pupils to develop an understanding of how the past has impacted our present and how it will continue to affect our futures. The scheme aims to support pupils in building their understanding of chronology in each year group, making connections over periods of time and developing a chronologically-secure knowledge of History. We hope to develop pupils’ understanding of how historians study the past and construct accounts and the skills to carry out their own historical enquiries.

Our history curriculum content is organised into two categories: substantive knowledge strands (topic knowledge; chronological awareness; and substantive concepts) and disciplinary knowledge strands (historical enquiry and disciplinary concepts). This ensures progression in all areas and reflects the idea that “knowledge of the past must be shaped by disciplinary approaches in order to become historical knowledge” (Ofsted Research Review Series: History, 2021)

Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)

For the EYFS, the activities allow our Year R pupils to work towards the Understanding the World Development Matters statements and Early Learning Goals, while also covering foundational knowledge that will support them in their further history learning in key stage 1. The children explore the concept of history by reflecting on key experiences from their own past, helping them understand that they each have their own histories. Then, they engage in activities to compare and contrast characters from stories, including historical figures, deepening their understanding of how individual lives fit into broader historical narratives.

Children in reception will be learning to:

Talk about members of their immediate family and community.
Name and describe people who are familiar to them.
Compare and contrast characters from stories, including figures from the past.
Comment on images of familiar situations in the past.
Recognise some environments that are different from the one in which they live.
Know some similarities and differences between things in the past and now, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class
Understand the past through settings, characters and events encountered in books read in class and storytelling.

Year R Development Matters statements - Understanding the World.

There are two EYFS units focused on each of the history-related Development Matters statements. These units consist of a mixture of adult-led and child-initiated activities which are selected by the teacher to fit in with different themes or topics.

Year R

EYFS activities are designed to be used throughout the year to support Reception teachers in targeting

Development Matters statements, while also laying the foundations for pupils’ further history learning.

Peek into the past

Opportunities for the children to reflect on memories and experiences from their own past and comment on images of familiar situations in the past. Children will look for similarities and differences between photos, images and objects from the past and present day.

Activity 1: Can you guess who?

Studying their peers’ baby photographs allows pupils to see that they have all changed over time and to use language about the past when describing these changes.

Activity 2: Past and present

Making simple observations, pupils decide whether photographs depict the past or not.

Activity 3: My life timeline

Creating a timeline, children develop an understanding of personal chronology.

Activity 4: Toy box

Observing a range of toys, children begin to recognise similarities and differences between the past and present.

Activity 5: Spot the difference

Comparing pictures from past and present, pupils identify some similarities and differences.

Adventures through time

Children to compare and contrast characters from various stories set in the past, including historical figures. Children will identify similarities and differences between characters, enhancing their understanding of the past.

Activity 1: Family tree

Positioning images of children, parents and grandparents on a family tree to show who is older and younger.

Activity 2: My achievement

Recognising some interests and achievements from their own lives and the lives of their families and friends.

Activity 3: Wearing the crown

Recognising that kings and queens are usually important, powerful people who rule over others.

Activity 4: Picture detective

Using photographs and stories to compare the past with the present day.

Activity 5: Transport through time

Using photographs and stories to compare modes of transport from the past with the present day.

Key Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2)

For key stage 1, the scheme of work aligns with the National Curriculum history aims and enables pupils to meet the end of key stage 1 attainment targets.

National Curriculum History aims:

Pupils should develop an awareness of the past, using common words and phrases relating to the passing of time.
They should 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.
They should use a wide vocabulary of everyday historical terms.
They should ask and answer questions, choosing and using parts of stories and other sources to show that they know and understand key features of events.
They should understand some of the ways in which we find out about the past and identify different ways in which it is represented.

Pupils should be taught about:

changes within living memory. Where appropriate, these should be used to reveal aspects of change in national life
events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally
the lives of significant individuals in the past who have contributed to national and international achievements. Some should be used to compare aspects of life in different periods [for example, Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria, Christopher Columbus and Neil Armstrong]
significant historical events, people and places in their own locality.

DfE National Curriculum: History programme of study: key stage 1

In Key stage 1, units are organised around an enquiry-based question and children are encouraged to follow the enquiry cycle (Question, Investigate, Interpret, Evaluate and conclude, Communicate) when answering historical questions.

Year 1

AUTUMN

SPRING

SUMMER

How have toys changed?

How am I making history?

How have explorers changed the world?

Sequencing toys into a physical timeline, children investigate artefacts from the past and begin to pose questions. They learn how teddy bears have changed and ‘interview’ an old teddy bear before considering what toys may be like in the future.

Looking at personal chronology and finding out about the past within living memory, children examine photographs and ask questions. They begin to look at a simple timeline extending back to before they were born.

Finding out about events and people beyond living memory, children focus on explorers and what makes them significant. They create a timeline and investigate which parts of the world were explored, before comparing exploration in the past with exploration today. Finally, they discuss ways in which these significant people could be remembered.

	How am I making history?	How have toys changed?	How have explorers changed the world?
Pupils should be taught about:
Changes within living memory. Where appropriate, these should be used to reveal aspects of change in national life	ü	ü	ü
Events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally			ü
The lives of significant individuals in the past who have contributed to national and international achievements. Some should be used to compare aspects of life in different periods			ü
Significant historical events, people and places in their own locality.	ü

Year 2

AUTUMN	SPRING	SUMMER
How did we learn to fly?	How was school different in the past?	What is a monarch?
Developing their knowledge of events beyond living memory, reinforcing their chronological understanding by looking at significant events in the history of flight on a timeline. Learning about the individuals who contributed to the history of flight.	Finding out that schools have been in the locality for a long time but they have not always been the same. Children look for similarities and differences and use a range of sources enabling them to recognise some continuity between their lives and the past.	Finding out the role of a monarch, children compare the monarchy today with the monarchy in the past. Pupils investigate how William the Conqueror became King and learn how he used castles to rule. They study different types of castles and consider how these evolved over time.

	How was school different in the past?	How did we learn to fly?	What is a monarch?
Changes within living memory. Where appropriate, these should be used to reveal aspects of change in national life	ü	ü	ü
Events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally		ü	ü
The lives of significant individuals in the past who have contributed to national and international achievements. Some should be used to compare aspects of life in different periods		ü
Significant historical events, people and places in their own locality.	ü		ü

Each six-lesson unit has a focus on chronology to allow children to explore the place in time of the period they are studying and make comparisons in other parts of the world. This chronological awareness will support children in building a ‘mental timeline’ they can refer to throughout their later learning in Key stage 2 and identifying connections, contrasts and trends over time.
In each lesson, children will participate in activities involving disciplinary and substantive concepts, developing their knowledge and understanding of Britain’s role in the past and that of the wider world. Children will develop their knowledge of concepts and chronology as well as their in-depth knowledge of the context being studied.
Knowledge organisers for each unit support pupils in building a foundation of factual knowledge by encouraging recall of key facts, concepts and vocabulary.
Substantive concepts such as power, trade, invasion and settlement, begin to be introduced in Key stage 1. These concepts are returned to in different contexts, meaning that pupils begin to develop an understanding of these abstract themes which are crucial to their future learning in History.
History in Action videos explain the careers and work of those in history and heritage-related fields. Historians, archivists, archaeologists, museum curators, teachers and heritage experts discuss their love of history, how they became interested in the subject, how they got into their jobs and what their jobs involve.

Impact

The impact of our history curriculum is constantly monitored through both formative and summative assessment opportunities. Each unit has a skill catcher and knowledge assessment quiz which can be used at the end of the unit to provide a summative assessment.

After following our history curriculum, pupils should leave infant school equipped with a range of skills to enable them to succeed in the key stage 2 curriculum. We hope that they will become enquiring learners who ask questions; who can make suggestions about where to find the evidence to answer the question; and who are able to make informed and balanced judgements based on their knowledge of the past.

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