History at St. Thomas More Catholic Primary School

Intent

Our aim is for all children to become confident, creative and engaged learners who achieve their full God-given potential.  We aim to inspire curiosity and fascination about the Britain’s past and that of the wider world. It is our aim that pupils through our Catholic Social Teaching, particularly the dignity of the human person and solidarity, will reflect on key historical events and movements, highlighting how Catholic values have influenced and responded to historical struggles. The goal is to understand how faith-based ethical frameworks can shape societal change and deepen our understanding of history through a moral lens.

We ensure that through the lens of faith we develop individual, unique people and form the foundations of them being able to contribute to society.  Our school vision is that as a Catholic school, God is at the heart of all we do. We believe that each person is made in His image, deserving to be treated with respect and dignity.  Showing respect, love and care for everyone and everything, we aim to develop harmony between pupils, parents the school and Parish and grow as a Christian community. We aim to enable each individual to realise their full potential, spiritually, academically, physically, socially and emotionally.

Our curriculum aims to ensure that children in:

Early Years Foundation Stage

Know: That the past is different from the present and that people lived differently.

Understand: Simple concepts of time (e.g. yesterday, long ago) and change.

Do: Talk about past events in their own lives and stories; begin to ask questions about pictures and objects.

Key Stage 1 (Years 1–2):

Know: Key historical figures and events from the past, especially those with national or local significance.

Understand: The difference between past and present; begin to explore cause and effect.

Do: Use sources like photos and artefacts to ask and answer questions; sequence events chronologically.

Lower Key Stage 2 (Years 3–4):

Know: Major periods and civilizations (e.g. Ancient Egypt, Romans, Anglo-Saxons).

Understand: Concepts like continuity and change, cause and consequence, and historical significance.

Do: Use a range of sources to investigate the past; begin to construct historical narratives and explanations.

Upper Key Stage 2 (Years 5–6):

Know: A broader range of historical periods, including British history and world history.

Understand: How different sources and perspectives shape our understanding of the past.

Do: Conduct independent enquiries, evaluate sources critically, and communicate findings using historical vocabulary and reasoning.

Implementation

To ensure high standards of teaching and learning in history at St Thomas More Catholic Primary School, we implement a curriculum that is progressive throughout the school.  We understand the importance of substantive and disciplinary historical concepts. All themes begin by identifying the key content and key vocabulary. Learning then will start by revisiting prior knowledge. It will be scaffolded to support children to recall previous learning and make connections. Staff will model explicitly the subject-specific vocabulary, knowledge and skills relevant to the learning to allow them to integrate new knowledge into larger concepts. 

In EYFS, historical skills and understanding are taught through ‘Understanding the World’ and continuous provision.  In Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, history is taught as part of the Faithful Foundations curriculum, where learning is linked into key themes, with other foundation subjects, including literature. History learning has been divided into 3 sections Global History, British History and a Famous Person Study. The skills are then split into: Topics; Chronological Understanding; Historical People, Events and Periods; Historical Enquiry and Evidence (Sources) and Historical significance.

Where appropriate subject lead and teachers will offer a wide range of extra-curricular activities, visits, trips and visitors to complement and broaden the curriculum, which are purposeful and link with the knowledge that will be taught in class.

Impact

The impact and measure of our curriculum is to allow children to become increasingly critical and analytical within their thinking. Making informed and balanced judgements based on their knowledge of the past.  Children will become increasingly aware of how historical events have shaped the world that they currently live in. They will be equipped with historical skills and knowledge that will enable them to be ready for the curriculum at Key Stage 3 and for life as an adult in the wider world.

We want the children to have thoroughly enjoyed learning about history, therefore encouraging them to undertake new life experiences now and in the future.