The aim of history teaching here at Thurnby Mead Primary Academy is to stimulate the children’s interest and understanding about the life of people who lived in the past. We teach children a sense of chronology and through this, they develop a sense of identity, and develop their cultural understanding based on their historical heritage. Thus, they learn to value and respect their own and other people’s cultures in modern multi-cultural Britain and, by considering how people lived in the past, they are better able to make their own life choices today. In our school, history makes a significant contribution to citizenship education by teaching them about how Britain developed as a democratic society.
We teach children to understand how events in the past have influenced our lives today. We have developed our history curriculum to incorporate links to our local area as well to enable the children to recognise and understand the world around them and embed their learning of History.
Subject Leader/s
Mrs W Follows
| Autumn term | Spring term | Summer term | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | Remembrance
BIG CONCEPT: |
The Story of Thurncourt Shops
BIG CONCEPT: |
Nurturing Nurses
BIG CONCEPT: |
| Year 2 | The Great Fire of London
BIG CONCEPT: |
Who was Lady Jane Grey?
BIG CONCEPT: |
Who was Thomas Cook and why was he important?
BIG CONCEPT: |
| Year 3 | Changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age
BIG CONCEPT: |
Roman Britain
BIG CONCEPT: |
Beliefs in Ancient Egypt
BIG CONCEPT: |
| Year 4 | Invaders & Settlers
BIG CONCEPT: |
Early Islamic Civilisation
BIG CONCEPT: |
What did the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings leave behind?
BIG CONCEPT: |
| Year 5 | The Blitz – all we need to know about WW2
BIG CONCEPT: |
The Ancient Greeks
BIG CONCEPT: |
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| Year 6 | Georgians
BIG CONCEPT: |
King Richard Third & The Tudors
BIG CONCEPT: |
EYFS framework is structured very differently to the national curriculum as it is organised across seven areas of learning rather than subject areas.
DSP follows a broad and differentiated curriculum which includes a selection of the topics from different year groups.
Impact
The children within the Early Years classes are first introduced to the concept of time by focusing on past and present. By recognising themselves in a photograph as a baby they begin to acknowledge they had a past, and now they are different in the present time. The children then build on this by commenting on familiar situations and events from the past identifying similarities and differences and drawing on their own experiences. Children learn about the concept of time and the vocabulary related to this.
Within Year one’s History lessons the children begin to identify that some events have happened before they were born; such as events relating to grandparents, parents and famous historical figures. Through learning about the lives of significant people such as Florence Nightingale & Mary Seacole, the children recognise changes through time and the impact of them on life today. The children learn about local history and commemorate significant events of the past.
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In Year two the children expand their knowledge by going further into the past and learning about historical events e.g. the Fire of London and local, Leicestershire historical figures such as Lady Jane Grey and Thomas Cooke. The children learn these topics through a variety of methods.
Sequencing events using timelines.
Using ICT to explore historical places in present day.
Visitors in school to demonstrate changes over time.
By year three the children then learn about the major causes of advancement from Stone to Bronze to Iron and identifying how these impacted globally, nationally, and locally. Then recognising why our interpretations of these time periods is difficult due to limited primary sources or written evidence. They also learn about Roman Britain as well as Ancient Egypt.
These are a few of the varied ways children learn.
Children re-enacting a ceremony.
Year 3 children examining artefacts, roleplaying, and completeing activities whilist role playing on a trip to the New Walk Museum.
Children play a bartering game to understand how trade worked during the Iron Age.
The children in Year four will learn History through three topics: Invaders and Settlers, Early Islamic Civilisation and What did the Anglo Saxons and Vikings leave behind. When exploring each topic the children will recognise, identify, and understand how developments in the past impact and influence the way we live today.
In Upper Key Stage 2 the children expand their historical knowledge investigating World War II and the Ancient Greeks. They deepen understanding. They begin to compare lifestyles and observe re-enactments that deliver authentic experiences. Within the Ancient Greek topic they study Myths and Legends. Within the World War II topic the children will learn when and why World War II began and find out about the key individuals and countries involved. In addition to this, they will discover what it was like for people on the home front and how they contributed to the war effort.
At Year 6 the children are taught the topics of the Georgians and King Richard III and The Tudors. For these topics the children will be able to use locally based events and locations. Access to these sources will enable the children to identify relevant evidence in these subjects, use the evidence as the basis for an opinion and begin to make references to evidence as justification of their ideas.
As the DSP includes children with a range of ages and abilities, History is taught using a selection of different activities differentiated for each child. The topics covered are taken from the whole school curriculum and are changed yearly to ensure a rich and varied experience.
The topics are:
| 2022/23 | Remembrance | Lady Jane Grey | Thomas Cooke |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/24 | The Fire of London | Nurturing Nurses | Changes in Britain-Stone Age to Iron Age |
