“I find history fun because it’s a good way to compare the past with the present to see how the world has changed.” Lauren – Year 6
“It’s cool to learn about stories that were told in the past. I like myths, they are so different to now.” Jack – Year 5
“It is really interesting to learn about the past and what happened.” James H – Year 4
At Manland, we use the National Curriculum for history together with Chris Quigley skills to teach an engaging and inspirational history curriculum. We teach a skills-based programme of learning, which encourages our pupils to explore the past through investigative enquiries. We give pupils the opportunity to develop their knowledge and understanding by handling artefacts, searching for and questioning evidence. As our children dive into different periods of history, we aim to foster a love of the past and a depth of understanding about how life has changed.
Within our teaching, we tailor our learning to the interests of the children. We learn about a range of topics which build upon the pupil’s historical skills. At Manland, we include lessons about inspirational historical events and figures that take into account their diverse interests and backgrounds.
In addition to class teaching, children have the opportunity to develop their passion for history through a wide range of activities. We take part in off-site visits to locations such as Hatfield House and include immersive activities, such as ‘History off the Page’, into our curriculum. As part of our House Learning Day events, we often include a focus on historical figures, which allows pupils the time to explore their interests in more detail through cross-curricular activities.
Our Aims – History National Curriculum
The national curriculum for history aims to ensure that all pupils:
• Know and understand the history of these islands as a coherent, chronological narrative, from the earliest times to the present day: how people’s lives have shaped this nation and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world
• Know and understand significant aspects of the history of the wider world: the nature of ancient civilisations; the expansion and dissolution of empires; characteristic features of past non-European societies; achievements and follies of mankind
• Gain and deploy a historically grounded understanding of abstract terms such as ‘empire’, ‘civilisation’, ‘parliament’ and ‘peasantry’
• Understand historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance, and use them to make connections, draw contrasts, analyse trends, frame historically-valid questions and create their own structured accounts, including written narratives and analyses
• Understand the methods of historical enquiry, including how evidence is used rigorously to make historical claims, and discern how and why contrasting arguments and interpretations of the past have been constructed
• Gain historical perspective by placing their growing knowledge into different contexts, understanding the connections between local, regional, national and international history; between cultural, economic, military, political, religious and social history; and between short- and long-term timescales.
Ways to Develop History Skills at Home
• Explore books and magazine articles that have a history focus.
• Visit museums in the UK and around the world. A virtual tour is available for most of the major museums such as The British Museum https://www.britishmuseum.org/
• Research the life of the average person during a period of history you are studying or have an interest in. Dress how they would have done or try some cooking from the period.
