We learn and live through our Christian Values of KINDNESS, THANKFULNESS and PERSEVERANCE. We celebrate how everyone SHINES through our motto: "Let your Light Shine". Matthew 5:16
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History

At St George’s, we recognise history as being a medium through which pupils can understand, enjoy and appreciate the world in which we live. We believe that the teaching of fun, engaging lessons that bring history to life is seminal in developing children to enjoy learning and thus become life-long learners. This fundamental belief means that we pride ourselves on delivering a high-quality education which helps pupils gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world.

We appreciate the value of enquiry based learning and therefore have designed our curriculum so that history lessons foster opportunities for children to be inspired and ask questions why. Pupils construct informed responses to their own questions that involve thoughtful selection and organisation of relevant historical information. This involves taking children through significant periods in history from the Stone Age to World War II. Often, a class text on which a series of English lessons are focussed, provide the foundations on which children develop their understanding of a historical topic. Through a variety of teaching and learning styles, pupils learn about significant people, events and places from both the recent and more distant past. They learn about change and continuity in their own area, in Britain and in other parts of the world.

They look at History in a variety of ways, for example from political, economic, technological and scientific, social, religious, and cultural perspectives. They use different sources of information to help them investigate the past both in depth and in overview, using dates and historical vocabulary to describe events, people and developments. They also learn that the past can be represented and interpreted in different ways. Good use is made of the local environment, which is rich in resources.

Early Years Foundation Stage

We teach history in EYFS as an integral part of the topic work covered during the year. We relate the historical side of the children’s work to the objectives set out in the Early Learning Goals (ELG’s) which underpin the curriculum planning for children aged 3 to 5. History makes a significant contribution to developing a child’s understanding of the world (UTW) through activities such as talking about things they have done in the past and discussing the meaning of vocabulary such as ‘new’ and ‘old’. Children are regularly asked to recall what they have done at the weekend or over the half-term holidays and, during some educational trips, they look at new and old buildings and transport – such as during a trip to the Haynes Motor Museum.

Key Stage 1:

Pupils should be taught about:

  • Changed within living memory. Where appropriate, these should be used to reveal aspects of change in national life
  • Events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally for example: Great Fire of London, the first aeroplane flight or events commemorated through festivals or anniversaries
  • 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 [for example, Elizabeth 1 and Queen Victoria, Christopher Columbus and Neil Armstrong, William Caxton and Tim Berners-Lee, Pieter Bruegel the Elder and LS Lowry, Rosa Parks and Emily Davison, May Seacole and/or Florence Nightingale and Edith Cavell]
  • Significant historical events, people and places in their own locality.
 
Key Stage 2

Pupils should be taught about:

  • Changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age.
  • The Roman Empire and its impact on Britain
  • Britains settlement by Anglo-Saxons and Scots.
  • The Viking and Anglo Saxon struggle for the Kingdom of England to the time of Edward the Confessor.
  • A local history study.
  • A study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils’ chronological knowledge beyond 1066
  • 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 Grece – a study of Greek; life and achievements and their influence on the western world.
  • A non-European society that provides contrasts with British history – one chosen from: early Islamic civilisation, including a study of Baghdad c. AD 900; Mayan civilisation c. AD 900; Benin (West Africa) c. AD 900-1300