History

At Henley CofE Primary School, we believe that History stimulates children’s interest and understanding of the lives of people who have lived in the past and how this will shape our future. History also helps children to understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of society and relationships between different groups as well as their own identity and challenges of their time. We aim to build on children’s knowledge so that children leave with a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world. We teach children the skills required to be a good historian; how to research and gather information, as well as how to question information gathered for authenticity, perspective and reliability. Children have access to a wide range of resources to aid them in their discovery, and opportunities across the curriculum to present, test and evaluate their historical knowledge.

Our vision is that children will be confident, creative and independent learners who delve deeper and make connections to the past and the world which they live in now. 

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

• 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.

Click here for History National Curriculum

Which values underpin the curriculum content?

• Community – pupils ask and answer questions about a range of countries and communities around the world.
• Respect – pupils to have a respect for a range of cultures across history.
• Compassion – pupils become compassionate historians who talk about historical events sensitively.

How are British Values taught from History?

By looking at the achievements of famous British people, pupils develop an awareness of how they have influenced and shaped the country in which we live. These values are also encouraged in the day to day teaching and learning through showing respect for different viewpoints and ideas as well as in the ability to work effectively together both individually and in group