History

Subject Lead: Mrs Liezel Jacobs

At Stanley Park Infants’ School, we believe that a good historian should be able to look at the significance of past events and use evidence to further develop their historical knowledge and thinking.  Our history curriculum covers a wide range of topics that are of the most relevance and interest to the children at SPIS, meaning that by the end of their time with us they will have a good historical knowledge of the wider world and of their own personal history. 

How we teach History 

At SPIS, our aim in the teaching and learning of History is to give our pupils the knowledge, skills and understanding of the world around them. Historical enquiry allows our children to question, interpret, explain and communicate their reasoning as a historian. Each history topic is launched with a 'key question’ – a question where the answer is unknown at the beginning of the unit, but one that the children will be able to answer by the end. This encourages children to raise questions and deepen their understanding. By the end of the unit, through the use of questions and discussions, children will be able to answer their main topic question. As children move through the school, their knowledge grows across different time periods and they build upon and develop their skills from previous years. To support the children with their enquiries, we make links to modern day scenarios that are relevant to our children within the classroom, history lessons are enriched with a range of different resources and artefacts.  

Useful Links:  

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zkqmhyc 

Discover all about Florence Nightingale!

In Year 2, the children learn about Florence Nightingale and the significance she had on nursing today. As an immersion to begin the topic, the children are shown lots of different artefacts to get them hooked and engaged in the topic. We ask the children lots of questions surrounding the artefacts to encourage them to raise questions themselves about what they can see. 

The Great Fire of London

One of the topics in Year 2 is learning about the Great Fire of London. Children learn many different pieces of information about the Great Fire of London, learning about what caused it and why it spread so easily. The children design and make their very own Tudor Houses by looking at the key features of houses that were around when the Great Fire of London happened. The teachers build a model of London in 1666 using the Tudor House made by the children. As a year group, we then re-enact the Great Fire of London by taking the model in the playground and setting it on fire from a safe distance, just like the Great Fire of London! Here are some photos of our reenactment. 

Black History Month

Every year we celebrate and learn about Black History Month by looking at lots of different important people who have had a significant impact in different areas of life and celebrating their achievements. EYFS and KS1 learn about a range of different people, for example: Rosa Parks, Jesse Owen and Lewis Hamilton. This allows children to understand the importance of diversity. We look at different people all over the curriculum and not just in History. For example, in Year 2 children study the artist Alma Thomas and recreate a piece of art in the style of her work, as well as reading lots of different texts from diverse authors.

Year 1 trip - Rural Life Centre

One of the topics in Year 1 is looking at the Victorian period and learning about what life would have been like in this time. To fully explore this topic, Year 1 go on a wonderful trip to the Rural Life Sentence. They dress up as Victorian’s and get to experience life in a Victorian school. 

Curriculum Coverage and Skills Progression

History-nc-coverage-skills-progression

History-progression-of-skills-and-knowledge

Child Friendly Umbrella Learning

History-umbrella-learning

Year Group Curriculum Overviews

History-year-1-curriculum-overview

History-year-2-curriculum-overview