History
“The more you know of your history, the more liberated you are.” Maya Angelou
A high-quality history education will help pupils gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world. It should inspire pupils’ curiosity to know more about the past. Teaching should equip pupils to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments, and develop perspective and judgement. History helps pupils to understand the complexity of peoples’ lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups, as well as their own identity and challenges of their time. (National Curriculum)
“The time is always right to do what is right.” Martin Luther King Jr.
We aim to go beyond the history National Curriculum. We study more local history topics in order to develop children’s understanding of the rich and diverse local area they live in. This culminates in a final local history topic in year 6 which brings us right up to the modern day and the Notting Hill Race riots. Covering a variety of civilisations enables us to engage children from all backgrounds in our school from the Islamic world to Benin as well as Ancient Greece, Rome and Ancient Egypt.
An example of our ambition is illustrated through the topic ‘heroes of healthcare’ in Y2 when we learn about Mary Seacole and Florence Nightingale. We think about why these are inspirational women and how they show our school values through service to others. Equally we learn about diverse individuals, such as Mae Jemison or Katherine Johnson throughout our history curriculum.