St John & St James Primary School

History at St John St James CoE Primary School

History topics are planned using the National Curriculum and have been carefully sequenced to ensure that current learning builds on previous knowledge. In turn, pupils gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world. As they move up the school, they are encouraged to work as historians to carry out enquiries: they ask questions, think critically, sift arguments and analyse both primary and secondary sources of evidence, in order to build their own hypotheses about the past. In turn, pupils at St John St James understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process and reasons for change, the diversity of societies and the relationships between different groups.

Early Years

In the Early Years, children’s understanding of history is developed through the planning and teaching of the “Understanding the World” area of learning. The children find out about past and present events in their own lives, their families’ lives and other people they know.

The pupils develop a sense of change over time and are given opportunities to differentiate between past and present by observing routines throughout the day, comparing and contrasting characters and figures from the past in key stories, growing plants, observing the passing of seasons and time and looking at photographs of their life and of others.

Key Stage One

In Key Stage One, pupils study three history topics throughout the year, informed by the National Curriculum. Our curriculum has been designed to ensure there is a diversity of significant figures and periods of history that reflects the community we serve.

Teachers follow medium term plans and a knowledge and skills progression map when planning their history lessons, which have been carefully mapped out to ensure high quality teaching activities are used and there is distinct progression between year groups.

Each child’s book starts with a ‘history journey timeline,’ which supports the children in understanding this chronology of key events and eras studied across primary school. This document functions as a reference point in lessons, in order to consolidate pupils’ understanding of where important historical events and eras are placed in time.

Each history topic has a key question that links to it. For example: “How did The Great Fire of London change the way London looks today?” This question guides the sequence of lessons and children display their ability to answer the key question, as well as use vocabulary correctly in context, in an assessment at the end of each unit.

Knowledge organisers are provided at the beginning of each new topic, which outline the Tier 3 vocabulary the children will learn in the topic, as well as a timeline of the key events in this period of history, further supporting their chronological understanding. The knowledge organisers also outline how this history topic links to the pupils’ prior knowledge and their future learning.

In Key Stage One, the children secure their understanding of the difference between the past and present and use appropriate words and phrases relating to the passing of time. They begin to establish a chronological understanding of where the people and events they study fit within a chronological framework. The children in Key Stage One find similarities and differences between ways of life in past societies and compare those with the present.

In Key Stage One, children start to use and evaluate some of the ways in which we find out about the past and identify different ways the past can be represented.

Children in year 1 build up their understanding of the past by identifying changes within their living memory. They begin this process by reflecting on their own history and key events in their own life and the life of their peers. They use objects and photographs from their past to understand how artefacts and sources of evidence are crucial to providing us with clues about past events.

They progress to investigating events beyond living memory, which have had a significant effect on national life such as The Great Fire of London and changes during The Industrial Revolution, as well as studying the lives of significant individuals who have contributed to national and international achievements such as Mary Seacole and Greta Thunberg.

Knowledge is consistently revisited through knowledge recall activities. These are used at the beginning of each lesson. This consistent retrieval of knowledge ensures the children are consolidating their understanding and deepening their knowledge of topics studied.

Key Stage Two

In Key Stage Two, pupils study two in depth history topics throughout the year. Throughout Key Stage 2, pupils 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.

In Key Stage Two, history knowledge taught is categorised into four concepts: government, empire, culture and belief. Being complex concepts to define, we categorise each lesson into the four concepts, developing the children’s schemata of these concepts through learning about them in different historical contexts.

History lessons in Key Stage Two address questions about change, cause, similarity, difference and significance. Children in Key Stage 2 develop an understanding of how our past is constructed through a range of sources and that the work of a historian is through the careful analysis of sources and the careful selection of sources to build hypothetical observations.

In Key Stage Two, children learn about the changes that happened in Britain from The Stone Age, The Vikings and The Anglo-Saxons and The Victorians. In Year 3 and 5, the children also learn about early civilizations including Ancient Egypt, The Romans and The Ancient Greeks and reflect on their impact on the western world. In Year 6, children learn about World War 2 and the impact of the blitz on Hackney, showing the impact of national history on our local area.

Trips and Visits

Throughout their time at St John St James, the children visit places of historical interest both in our local area and around our city to support the contextualisation of their learning. In our local area, we visit historical landmarks such as St Augustine’s Tower, St John’s Church and Sutton House. We work closely with Hackney Museum, who deliver workshops for our pupils using their extensive artefacts they have at their disposal, including maps and photographs of Hackney from The Victorian era and during World War Two. The children also visit museums such as The Transport Museum, The Imperial War Museum, The Museum of London and The British Museum to provide further insight into their history topics.

Impact

Regular book looks and lesson walkthroughs showcase our broad and balanced history curriculum and our pupils’ curiosity to find out about the past. It is evident that children learn through historical enquiries and think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments, and develop perspective and judgement in doing so. Pupil voice displays our pupils’ chronological understanding and their coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world.

Humanities Curriculum Map

To view our Humanities curriculum map, please click here.

To view our History journey map, please click here.

Black History

Black British history is by its nature a part of global history with stories of migration and settlement firmly planted in Britain, Africa and The Americas. Our history curriculum therefore reflects this and teachers use David Olusoga’s “Black and British” as an essential history text to inform their subject knowledge and planning of their history lessons. Children learn that black people have been inherent in British history since The Roman conquest and discover key figures such as Mary Seacole, The Ivory Bangle Lady and the soldiers from the empire who fought for Britain in World War Two. In Key Stage Two, the children learn about The British Empire,how Britain benefitted from The Triangular Slave Trade and the experience of black men and women from The West Indies and Africa in the Second World War. As part of learning about World War Two, the children also learn about The Empire Windrush and the experience of the Windrush generation both in 1948 up until the modern day.

Black History Month

At St John St James, we have a Black History Month curriculum, which is a series of history lessons that every pupil studies in the month of October. These lessons are mapped out ensuring an annual progression of knowledge, which focuses on African and Caribbean history in Key Stage 1. As they progress to Key Stage 2, children learn about Sierra Leone and Britain’s involvement in The Transatlantic Slave Trade. Each year, children also carry out a Black History Month workshop at Hackney Museum, which have previously covered themes such as hair, fashion, music and what it means to be black in the borough of Hackney.