At St Edmund's we want children to view history as a living field – to feel empowered to act as historians by asking questions and examining sources – rather than as a subject where someone else has all the answers. We encourage children to extend their knowledge by undertaking their own research, and by beginning to develop their own explanations and theories. We also want them to develop confidence in making links between periods, or between cultures, whilst developing a clear understanding of chronology through learning key dates in British history. We can strengthen this by embedding history across the curriculum – for instance giving a historical dimension to scientific discussions about invention or innovation, or ensuring that a sense of the historical period underpins our approach to literature or British values.

Our aim is for our pupils to be able to understand and learn from the people from the past who have made the greatest impact. 

Through following the Rising Stars History scheme, the children cover a range of topics in each year group that expose them to times in the past that can capture their imagination, developing their understanding of our national history and history of the world. Our aim is for children to really appreciate and dive deep into History to become independent and creative learners. We want our children to be critical thinkers and problems solvers and feel empowered to act as historians by asking questions and examining sources, in a range of different formats.

To build of their interest from the topics, children are encouraged to develop their understanding of the subject through research, which extends their knowledge further. In doing so, they can begin to develop their own explanations and theories for the past, with their own evidence and deeper understanding. 

 Throughout their History journey at St Edmund’s we aim to equip children with the confidence to make links across time periods, understand chronology and key dates in history and reflect on past events, making them inquisitive learners.

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 History – key stages 1 and 2 

History planning for KS1 and KS2 is based-upon by the Rising Stars history scheme of work which is chosen because it is  ambitious and delivers the core of knowledge required by the National Curriculum in an interesting and engaging way.

Children are required not to simply acquire knowledge but to apply it in meaningful contexts. Questions and tasks to stretch and challenge the most able pupils are incorporated where appropriate. Revisiting ideas and concepts in different, more challenging, contexts in later units, using varied assessments and the inclusion of quizzes are all designed to help pupils remember content and integrate new knowledge into their evolving conceptual framework. Quality resources and materials are provided online to support the history curriculum and are sequenced towards the accumulation of skills, knowledge and understanding, working towards the next key stage.

History is delivered in Reception through the ‘Understanding of the World’ element of the Early Years goals.

In Key Stage 1 , History is allocated 1hour of curriculum time per week, for 1 half term of each term. It is allocated 18 hours of curriculum time annually.

In Key Stage 2, History is allocated 1 ½ hours of curriculum time per week, for 1 half term of each term. It is allocated 27 hours of curriculum time annually.

The external curriculum has been enhanced by visitors and trips linked to historical topics to enhance learning and develop cultural capital.