At The Stoke Poges School, we believe that high-quality history lessons inspire children to want to know more about the past and to think and act as historians.  By linking learning to a range of topics, children have opportunities to investigate and interpret the past, understand chronology, build an overview of Britain’s history as well as that of the wider world, and to be able to communicate historically.

We aim to develop these essential characteristics to help children become historians:

• An excellent knowledge and understanding of people, events and contexts from a range of historical periods, including significant events in Britain’s past
• The ability to think critically about history and communicate ideas confidently to a range of audiences
• The ability to support, evaluate and challenge their own and others’ views using historical evidence from a range of sources
• The ability to think, reflect, debate, discuss and evaluate the past by formulating and refining questions and lines of enquiry
• A respect for historical evidence and the ability to make critical use of it to support their learning
• A desire to embrace challenging activities, including opportunities to undertake high-quality research across a range of history topics
• A developing sense of curiosity about the past and how and why people interpret the past in different ways
• Believe that they have a voice and a role as responsible members of a community

History fires pupils’ curiosity about the past and the wider world.  Children will develop skills and knowledge, through researching, sifting through evidence and engaging in active discussion – skills that will prepare them for adult life.

British values are woven into the History curriculum promoting values such as Mutual Respect, Tolerance and Individual Liberty.  Themed days, visitors and school visits are used within the History curriculum to develop a deeper understanding of the time periods studied and to inspire the children so that they have a lifelong love of History.

In EYFS the children will start to look at themselves as they age, their family around them and start to learn about the passing of time.  They will look at some past and present events in their own lives and in the live of family members.  They will also help the children learn about similiarities and differences between themselves and others, and among families, communities and traditions such as the Chinese New Year.

In Key Stage 1 children will develop an awareness of the past.  They will learn about significant individuals who have contributed to the world and will also learn about significant historical events and people within the local area.  In Key Stage 1, they will be looking back at changes within living memory such as how shops and homes have changed as well as events beyond living memory such as The Great Fire of London and history of toys.  The children’s learning is placed within a chronological format.

In Key Stage 2 children will continue to appreciate history in a chronological context.  They will work on securing an understanding of British, local and world history.  In lower Key Stage 2 children will be focusing on areas such as prehistoric Britain and Ancient Greece and Egypt, whilst Upper Key Stage 2 will be looking at Anglo Saxons, Vikings and Victorians as well as more recent events such as childhood experiences during WW11.  Children will make connections and patterns over time and develop an excellent use of historical terms.  There will be a focus on different sources and how our knowledge of the past is shaped from them.