History

“History is who we are and why we are the way we are.” – David McCullough

History Lead - Mrs Michelle Lawford

Intent

At St Dennis Primary Academy, we are passionate about delivering a high-quality history curriculum that not only sparks children’s natural curiosity about the past but also encourages them to think and talk like historians. Through a strong focus on oracy, we empower our children to express historical ideas confidently, listen to others’ viewpoints, and articulate their own understanding using precise historical language. By providing opportunities for structured discussion and debate, children develop critical thinking skills and learn to evaluate evidence and interpretations with clarity and curiosity.

Our history curriculum is designed to connect children with both their local heritage and the broader context of British and world history, as set out in the National Curriculum. We ensure children explore the richness of the past through the lens of real-life experiences — whether that’s investigating local landmarks, welcoming visitors from the community, or stepping into the shoes of historical figures during immersive educational visits. These experiences help deepen their understanding of key historical concepts such as chronology, cause and consequence, continuity and change, and the complexity of human societies, from ancient civilisations to non-European cultures, and the expansion and dissolution of empires.

We recognise the important role that the environment and community play in shaping a child’s sense of identity and historical perspective. Our children learn about the past not only through classroom lessons but also by engaging with the world around them — from the heritage of St Dennis and Cornwall to the global narratives that have shaped modern life. By building these connections, we help children develop a sense of belonging and responsibility to both their community and the wider world.

Equally, we understand that learning history contributes to a child’s wellbeing. Through meaningful exploration of people’s lives, struggles, and achievements across time, children develop empathy, resilience, and respect for diversity. Our intent is to instil a life-long love of history by nurturing children’s curiosity and giving them the confidence to explore historical questions independently, using the knowledge and skills outlined in our knowledge organisers as the foundation for deeper understanding and discovery.

Implementation

At St Dennis Primary Academy, we are committed to delivering a high-quality, coherently planned history curriculum that is carefully sequenced across all year groups to ensure clear progression of knowledge and skills. Each unit of learning is driven by a key enquiry question, with a series of lessons designed around smaller questions that guide pupils towards answering the main enquiry at the end of the unit. Throughout each lesson, children are encouraged to think like historians, with a focus on developing historical skills that are clearly displayed in their books as helpful reminders.

We follow the Chris Quigley structure to ensure consistency and depth in our history provision, underpinned by our curriculum drivers. The four ‘Threshold Concepts’ — ‘investigate and interpret the past,’ ‘build an overview of world history,’ ‘understand chronology,’ and ‘communicate historically’ — are revisited regularly, enabling children to strengthen their understanding over time. Each concept is explored through key themes including settlements, beliefs, culture, food and farming, conflict, society, location, and travel and exploration, helping children to connect ideas, build subject-specific vocabulary, and deepen their knowledge.

History Themes

Settlements - This is where people come together to live in an area.	homes (including the types of materials used and construction techniques) sanitation heating public facilities (e.g. libraries, bath houses) monuments and memorials gathering places (e.g. citadels, amphitheatres, town squares) the nature of a settlement (e.g. villages, towns, cities) defences important features (e.g. proximity to a river or sea port)
Beliefs - A firm thought that something is true.	pagan practices religions key events ideologies symbols
Culture and Pastimes - Beliefs and behaviours that are traditionally shown by a group of people and activities that you do to pass the time.	artworks artists and artisans jewellery architecture and architects games sports plays and theatre music and instruments great thinkers and big ideas stories and books
Food and Farming - Farming is when plants and animals are grown or reared for people to eat.	main food groups (e.g. grains, fish) popular foods and dishes methods of collection (e.g. hunter-gatherers, farming) important technological breakthroughs (e.g. plough – for cultivating land, shaduf – for irrigation) use of animals trade in foods and spices
Travel and Exploration - How and where people have travelled.	types of transport and how they were powered (e.g. foot and animals) technological advancements and their pioneers breakthrough events (e.g. the Moon landings) reasons for travel (e.g. to explore, conquer, trade, survive) trade routes holidays and how they have changed because of transport
Conflict - A serious disagreement.	historic events reasons for conflict (e.g. invasions) weapons resistance tactics types of conflict (e.g. battles, wars) resolutions to conflicts
Society - A large group of people who live together in an organised way.	life for different sections of society (e.g. rich and poor, men and women, adults and children, urban and rural) education crime and punishment health and medicine clothing social organisation (e.g. nation states, systems of government)
Location - The place where something happened or is situated.	modern geographical locations historical geographical locations (e.g. Mesopotamia) multiple locations, including the associated terminology (e.g. empire, commonwealth, union) movement and its associated terminology (e.g. migration, immigration, invasion, exploration, conquest)

Substantive and Disciplinary Knowledge

Across the school, children develop both substantive and disciplinary knowledge, using historical enquiry to explore cause and consequence, continuity and change, similarities and differences as well as handling evidence and evaluating interpretations.

Continuity and change: Chronologically, over time, what changes or remains the same.

Cause and consequence: What caused an event to happen and what the consequences of the event were.

Similarity and difference: A comparison of two elements of the past. This could be people, societal roles or individuals.

Significance: This means that it is sufficiently great or important enough to be worthy of attention.

The recording method is deliberately chosen to support understanding of these concepts.

Sources

Lessons are supported by the deliberate use of a wide range of historical sources, which encourage children to gather information and develop an understanding of how different interpretations of the past can emerge. As they move through the school, children are taught to question and explain why historians may view the same event or period differently.

EYFS

KS1

KS2

Stories

Provision

Stories

Non-fiction

Artefacts

Testimony

Non-fiction

Artefacts and replicas

Primary sources

Secondary sources

Testimony

Historian’s interpretations

Learning activities to support the learning are selected and designed, providing engaging activities with an appropriate level of challenge to all learners, in line with our commitment to inclusion.

From the very start of their learning journey in the Foundation Stage, children are introduced to the concept of chronology and the language of the past through stories, artefacts, photographs, and conversations with family and community members. As part of the EYFS curriculum, they explore similarities and differences, learn about change over time, and are introduced to other cultures and traditions, laying the foundation for historical thinking.

In Key Stages 1 and 2, the curriculum fully follows the breadth of the National Curriculum programmes of study for history. Children record their learning in different ways: in Key Stage 1, children use a floor book, and in Key Stage 2, they work in individual exercise books.

History underpins many topics and ‘big questions’ which also encourage an enquiry-based approach. To make history learning meaningful and inspiring, each new topic begins with a ‘Stunning Start’ and often includes real-life experiences such as visits to historical sites or workshops with experts. Community is at the heart of our curriculum, and families are invited to celebrate the children’s achievements through a ‘Fabulous Finish’ at the end of each unit. This partnership with home and the wider community ensures history is relevant, engaging, and firmly rooted in real-world understanding.

To support learning, each child uses a knowledge organiser in class and at home, which outlines key learning points, timelines, vocabulary, maps and diagrams to support retention and deepen their understanding. These are also displayed in classrooms and shared on our year group pages for families to access. These can also be found on year group pages.

Chronology

A timeline in each child’s book helps them to develop a secure understanding of chronology and, particularly in Key Stage 2, to recognise how historical periods overlap both in Britain and across the wider world. This visual support enables them to compare eras, make links across periods and identify patterns of continuity and change.

Key Stage One Timeline

Key Stage 2 Timeline

SEND

Our history curriculum is designed to be ambitious and accessible for all children. By placing a strong emphasis on practical, hands-on experiences — including the use of artefacts and a wide range of historical sources — we ensure that every child can take an active role in their learning. This approach helps to deepen understanding and spark curiosity, making history both engaging and meaningful for all.

We are committed to removing barriers and creating an inclusive environment where every child can succeed. To achieve this, we carefully consider a variety of teaching approaches and adaptations, including maintaining a supportive and inclusive classroom, using multi-sensory resources (including ICT), working with additional adults, and providing appropriate scaffolding for tasks. We also focus on thoughtful groupings to support positive peer relationships, offer flexible recording methods, and ensure clear, accessible communication for all learners.

Curriculum adaptations for children with SEND in history

Enrichment

Our history curriculum is further enriched through the use of authentic artefacts from museums, alongside visits from guest speakers and trips to museums or sites of historical significance. These experiences are carefully chosen to complement our curriculum and reflect our commitment to providing meaningful, real-life learning opportunities that bring history to life for our children.

Impact

Children enjoy history lessons and look forward to finding out more.
Children learn research skills that they use independently to further their own enjoyment and fascination about the topic or subject.
Evidence of work shows a range of topics covered and connections are being made with other subjects. For example, in Year 1 children learn about materials in science and children make this link with what toys are made of.
Standards in history are high and match standards in other subjects such as English.

We measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:

Revisiting previous learning through a ‘Memory Master' task at the beginning of a unit
Whole class feedback and feedforward at the beginning of every lesson
Formative assessing of on-going learning and children’s understanding
A cumulative quiz that builds each week during a unit
Summative assessment through end of unit 'Show what you know' tasks to assess critical knowledge, skills and understanding
Weekly dedicated retrieval time for history, where the subject leader has planned questions using a 'Four from Before' approach
Images and videos of the children’s practical learning
Interviewing the pupils about their learning (pupil voice) with their books

How does history promote British Values?

At St Dennis Primary Academy, British Values are woven throughout our history curriculum, helping children develop a strong sense of identity, respect, and responsibility as citizens of modern Britain.

Children explore the concept of democracy by studying its historical roots and development, particularly through topics such as Ancient Greece. This helps children understand how democratic systems have evolved over time and encourages them to reflect on the importance of having a voice and participating in decision-making, both in history and in their own lives.

Through the study of historical events and civilisations, children learn how societies have created laws to maintain order and protect citizens. They examine the consequences of living with or without rules and develop an understanding of the fairness and importance of laws, both past and present.

Our history curriculum highlights moments in time when individuals have fought for freedom and rights — from significant historical figures to wider social movements. This encourages children to appreciate the freedoms they enjoy today and to understand the role of individual choice and responsibility throughout history.

History lessons naturally promote mutual respect by encouraging children to listen to and consider a range of perspectives, especially when studying different societies, cultures, and viewpoints from the past. Through discussion and group work, children learn the value of treating others with fairness and kindness.

By exploring the beliefs, cultures, and traditions of people from both British and global history, children develop an understanding of diversity and the importance of tolerance. Learning about the past helps children appreciate different ways of life and nurtures empathy, acceptance, and open-mindedness.

How does history promote spiritual, moral, social and cultural development?

History involves the mystery of how and why events in the past happened and raises questions as to what could have happened if events had different results. Artefacts are used to give children a sense of the past and aid them in understanding the people who produced and used these objects. Our children are encouraged to explore the role played by important individuals, for good or ill, in the shaping of the world we live in and reflect upon different interpretations of the past.

Children are asked to consider and comment on moral questions and dilemmas. Events and beliefs in the past will often be at odds with what we would consider unacceptable today. Children are encouraged to show compassion for people facing dilemmas and to empathise with decisions which people in the past made and the reasoning behind these decisions. Ideas of right and wrong are explored in connection with events from the past, linking with the value of justice.

Children explore the similarities and differences between past and present societies and are made aware of how, in the main, we are very fortunate to live in the modern world. They examine how other cultures have had a major impact on the development of British culture. Children also be encouraged to build up their own social development through collaborative and team working activities. The study of social issues is a common theme in history lessons.

Children are encouraged to gain an understanding of and empathise with people from different cultural backgrounds. They examine how other cultures have had a major impact on the development of Britain. The contribution of different cultures to development and progress are studied, which links with the values of mutual respect and tolerance.