History

History is taught to help pupils both develop a sense of past and present in their own lives and also to understand events, famous people and daily lives in the past. The St Louis Curriculum is adapted to meet our children's needs from the Primary Knowledge Curriculum (PKC). 

Intent 

Our curriculum allows children to develop a chronologically secure knowledge and understanding of local, British, and world history. The knowledge in the curriculum has been carefully chosen and sequenced using a largely chronological approach. Each unit of work is not a stand-alone topic, but a chapter in the story of the history of Britain and the wider world.

Implementation

The children will learn about fascinating ancient civilisations, the expansion and dissolutions of empires, and the achievements and atrocities committed by humankind across the ages. The St Louis history curriculum is balanced to enable children to look in some depth at local, national and world history, encouraging children to explore the connection between significant events and people and how they have influenced the modern world.

Children are introduced to a wide variety of people from the past. From Aristotle and Martin Luther King to Emmeline Pankhurst and Alan Turning—studying the lives of the widely venerated as well as the lives of the less well-known offers pupils rich insights into life during key historical periods.

Furthermore, the history curriculum aims to develop disciplinary knowledge by supporting children to understand how the past is constructed and contested.

In KS1 children learn: 

Changes within living memory, used to reveal aspects of change in national life

Events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally

The lives of significant individuals in the past who have contributed to national and international achievements.

Some should be used to compare aspects of life in different periods

Significant historical events, people and places in their own locality.

They gain knowledge of Kings and Queens, Parliament and Prime Ministers,  Romans in Britain and The Tudors.

In KS2 children learn:

The achievements of the earliest civilisations – an overview of where and when the first civilisations appeared and a depth study of one of the following: Ancient Sumer; The Indus Valley; Ancient Egypt; The Shang Dynasty of Ancient China,  Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece – a study of Greek life and achievements and their influence on the western world and one study chosen from: early Islamic civilisation. 

Changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age, the Roman Empire and its impact on Britain,  Ancient Rome, the Rise and Fall of Rome, Britain’s settlement by Anglo-Saxons and Scots, the Vikings, the Viking and Anglo-Saxon struggle for the Kingdom of England to the time of Edward the Confessor. 

The Industrial Revolution,  the Victorians, World War I  and World War IIA study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils’ chronological knowledge beyond 1066, Law and Power , the War of the Roses, the Stuarts, the Early British Empire, the Transatlantic Slave Trade and Industrial Revolution.

The History of Human Rights and Equality.

 Impact

Children understand what a historian does, are able to look at basic sources and simplified perspectives to develop an appreciation and understanding of what it means to be a historian. As their substantive knowledge grows, children will be able to ask perceptive questions, analyse more complex sources and begin to use their knowledge to develop perspectives. They gain a broad knowledge of empires, how history impacts on our lives today and gain an appreciation of how significant events and people have led to changes in the world today.