History

INTENT

History at Trefonen School is committed to providing our pupils with a foundation to better understand the wider world around them. We aim to provide the knowledge and skills necessary to better understand our rapidly changing world and face the ever growing challenges that we face in our societies both locally and globally.

Our History curriculum begins with the expectations set out for the EYFS Framework (2021) and the National Curriculum (2014) and builds upon them, in line with our school’s  Curriculum Design Strategy.

At Trefonen, children study a wide number of different historical periods designed to help them to know about and understand British history as a coherent, chronological narrative ,from the earliest times to the present day, including how peoples lives have shaped the nation and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world.

We want our children to know about and understand significant aspects of the history of the wider world, including the nature of ancient civilisations; the expansion and dissolution of empires; the characteristic features of past non-European societies; and the achievements and follies of mankind.

Through our History provision we aim for our pupils to develop and use their critical thinking skills to give them an increasingly rigorous understanding of History within context and its impact on more recent and modern day civilization. Through our curriculum  we aim for our children to develop an increasing understanding of how History reflects and shapes our civilization and contributes to the culture, creativity and wealth of modern day society. In developing our strategy we have drawn on the statutory requirements and best practice in organising and scheduling teaching units. We have been mindful of maintaining the integrity of History as a distinct and special subject, whilst also recognising the importance of connecting learning across the curriculum, to enable our children to make connections that will support their long-term learning, in line with our School’s Curriculum Design Strategy. Through our History curriculum provision we aim to support children in making appropriate connections (e.g. historical, cultural, religious, equalities, sustainability and other connections) that help them to understand the importance of History in the development of our civilization and our world.

We want our children to understand the ‘big ideas’ such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance, and use them to make connections. We want children  to 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. Through our History curriculum we want our children to gain an increasingly mature  and informed historical perspective of the world. Our overall goal is to help children to gain historical perspective by placing their growing knowledge into different contexts, understanding the connections between local, regional, national and international history; between cultural, economic, military, political, religious and social history; and between short- and long-term timescales and to have an appreciation of the value and worth of History.

IMPLEMENTATION

Long Term Study Cycle

Year A – Red Study Cycle

Year B – Blue Study Cycle