History at St. Peter’s
At St. Peter’s, our aims, vision and values are at the core of everything we do.
We are guided by the key message of our Mission Statement,
'If we follow Jesus, the world will follow us.'
They define our teaching and learning, and provide an environment which prepares our pupils as confident, capable, resilient and responsible citizens able to enjoy a healthy life to the full.
Our inclusive school community works in partnership to meet the responsibility of developing each child in every way – spiritually, emotionally, academically, physically and socially because each child who is a unique creation of God and loved by God, deserves this.
We deliver the History curriculum through the unique approach of the St. Peter’s Family.
Why is History important at St. Peter’s?
- History provides the context for a child to understand the world in which they live
- It is important to learn from past mistakes and triumphs
- It helps children understand aspects of what it means to be human
- Children learn to appreciate difference and similarity
- History develops a value system and links to British Values
- It develops a sense of continuity and change
- Children learn to appreciate different cultures, periods and time
- It is a core element of cultural capital and hereafter knowledge: an understanding of key historical figures and periods enhances understanding of other academic subjects particularly English
- History develops the social and intellectual skills to analyse and interpret the situations that children find themselves in
What are the key knowledge concepts in History at St. Peter’s?
Society
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Institutions
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Culture
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Commerce
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Social class
Health
Everyday Life
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Military
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Arts
Festivals
Celebrations
Sacrifice / Worship
Beliefs / Myths
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Trade
Agriculture and land use
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Politics
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Agents for Change
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Local Significance
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Power
Government
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Significant People
Adventure
Movements
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Relationship with the wider world
Inter-connectivity
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What are the key History subject discipline skills?
- Sequence events across time
- Develop a sense of chronology (where different events / periods fit in time and different timescales)
- Describe and give reasons for change and continuity
- Find links and patterns
- Compare and contrast
- Develop confidence and precision in use of historical terms and language
- Identify cause and consequence
- Discuss people, events and developments
- Use different sources to research and investigate
- Report findings in different ways
- Question reliability and bias
- Empathy
- Recognise what is significant
- Ask questions and try to answer them with curiosity, empathy and imagination
How does St. Peter’s ensure progression in our key knowledge and concepts in History?
- Curriculum identifies points where comparisons can be made
- Topics start with link to chronology
- Knowledge taught becomes more in depth
- Increasing complexity of language and precision expected
- Children make comparisons across wider times
- Knowledge organisers show precise knowledge children will learn in each topic
- Children develop their knowledge of the past through a range of sources
- Pupils demonstrate their knowledge and understanding as a historian through a project
- Children are able to identify cause and consequence through significant events
- Children understand the significance of events and people in different situations
How do we know our children have made progress?
End points
FS children can:
- Talk about things using the past tense
- Sequence several events chronologically
- Talk about things that happened in the past in their own lives and those of other family members
- Recognise things that are the same and different between the past and now
- Say how they know that something is from the past
- Use language related to the past (yesterday, when I was 3, in the olden days, long ago, about a year ago)
End points
Year 6 Children can:
- Describe some changes that happened from the Stone Age to the Iron Age and why they were important
- Describe a famous explorer and their achievements and challenges
- Explain what it means to be a citizen of Britain
- Discuss whether Maya were a great civilization referring to some of their achievements and follies
- Sequence events across periods at British, local and world level
- Compare and contrast, including across periods
- Identify trends and patterns and suggests reasons for these
- Explain the significance of people and events
- Select relevant sources
- Take into account bias and credibility of sources
- Empathise and recognise different points of view
- Interpret sources and events and use conjecture
- Written work is structured and detailed and includes technical historical terms and dates
- Present a balanced point of view.
In History lessons, as in all aspects of the curriculum, children are true to their faith. This can be summarised through one line taken from our Mission Statement: ‘We are happy when we do our best in our work and play’.