We use drama workshops, trips to local sites, artefacts, and of course London’s excellent museums, to inspire and inform.History
Our History curriculum is planned carefully so that our children develop an understanding of chronology and a deepening curiosity of people in the past and their experiences.
Key Stage 1 children learn history through topic work, while in Key Stage 2 children are taught by a specialist history teacher as a discrete subject. Early Years examples: Planning topics such as All about me and My Family; understanding their own chronology; special people and celebrations. Key Stage 1 examples: Planning topics such as Toys, Changes to our Seaside and Transport; understanding changes within their living memory; placing special events on timelines. Key Stage 2 examples: Children develop historical enquiry and changes over long periods of time. We plan our learning with the children so that they show increasing depth of factual knowledge and understanding of aspects of the history of Britain and the wider world. Specialist teaching ensures our children develop their skills of enquiry as they build on their knowledge and understanding of the past. By the end of KS2 children are beginning to describe, analyse, and consider why there are different historical interpretations of events, people and changes. Our Year 2 children learn about the Great Fire of London. Linking this with Science, Art and DT, the children built houses from the period. They make their own model of the Great Fire of London and placed it in a bonfire. This allowed them to see for themselves how building materials and the close proximity of the buildings contributed to the disaster. Drama workshops led by teachers and outside specialists give our children the opportunity not just to read about the past, but to live it. We have transformed our hall into a Roman fort, a Viking village and a Victorian seaside town. This inspired children through crafts, drama and role-play to immerse themselves in history. We also use our local area to support history lessons. Visits to Alexandra Palace, Kenwood House and Lauderdale House (where it is said that Nell Gwyn dangled her baby out the window) help us to reinforce that history is all around us and that it is part of our everyday life.Curriculum overview
The Great Fire of London
Bringing history to life
