At Shortlanesend School, our vision is to provide all children with the ability to, ‘Dig deep to learn!’ We ensure that they are passionate about History, they make connections to the world of the past and the world in which they live now. We aim for our history learning to inspire children to actively explore different periods of time as well as cultures, in order to be confident to compare and contrast various civilisations and time periods.
We teach our children the disciplinary concepts required to be a good historian; how to research and gather information, how to question information for authenticity, perspective and reliability. History helps pupils to understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups, as well as their own identity and the challenges of their time.
We want all of our pupils to be curious about history, to foster an awe and to wonder about the past and to actively ask what the cause of events were, and what were their effects.
Our children’s History journey starts in our Nursery and is incorporated within the Understanding the World aspect of the EYFS curriculum. Here, children continuously learn about people who are special to us and why we remember special times and events throughout the year.
The journey through the past continues in Reception, where once again History is incorporated within the 'Understanding the World' strand of learning. Over the year our children will talk about members of their immediate family and community through ongoing discussions and when presenting their 'All About Me' box that they bring to school in September containing photographs of people who are special to them. Through their Reception Year, they will look at key figures from the past and link these people to relevant and topical learning. Through these stories discussions will arise around common themes such as; bravery, difficult choices and kindness, and will talk about the children's experiences with these themes.
- understand and use the key skills of chronological awareness
- have a firm understanding and knowledge of events in the past
- confidently enquire and interpret historical events and the effects they had on the people of the time
- organise and communicate their understanding clearly
- how learning lessons from history can influence the decisions society and individuals face today
- know more, remember more and understand more about History
