Information and Documents

Intent for Our History Curriculum

Our intention at Christ the King is to encourage children to think critically, ask questions, and consider and act as historians by evaluating evidence, allowing them to develop a broad understanding of the complexity of people’s lives and historic events.

History has had an impact on the lives and experiences of everyone today. We live in a society that has been shaped by significant events and people of the past. We aim to provide the children with a rich and diverse history curriculum, equipping them with a coherent knowledge and understanding of the past, whilst providing them with the skills to investigate and interpret the past, understand chronology, be able to communicate historically, encompassing the British Values throughout.

Local history is taught within our history curriculum, as we want our children to develop an appreciation for the people and events that are part of our local, national and international history, aiming to inspire curiosity and fascination about the past in Britain and the wider world, whilst developing coherent chronological knowledge and an enquiring mind.

Our teaching of chronology helps to develop a sense of identity and a cultural understanding, based on their historical heritage. This enables our children to learn to value their own and other people’s cultures in modern multi-cultural Britain.

Implementation in our History Curriculum

Our History Curriculum has been designed to be both knowledge-rich and coherently sequenced. It has been planned in such a way as to ensure full National Curriculum coverage, whilst ensuring that key concepts are addressed and developed throughout the school. It has been designed especially for the pupils at Christ the King.

Key knowledge and skills for each unit are identified and consideration has been given to ensure progression across the topics within each year group across the school. This begins with EYFS, where children learn about the past and present, for example, by talking about the lives of the people around them and their roles in society; knowing about our Royal family as well as knowing some similarities and differences between things in the past and present, drawing on their own experiences and what has been read in class; understanding the past through settings, characters and events encountered in books and storytelling.

In Key Stage 1, pupils develop their knowledge and understanding of what History is. They encounter the term ‘significance’ and develop their understanding of this through the study of significant individuals and significant events, both locally and globally. They begin to identify similarities and differences between different time periods and show an understanding of how event studies fit into the chronological framework.

In Key Stage 2, children build on prior knowledge and continue to develop a chronologically secure knowledge of British, local and world history. Children learn to ask and answer historically valid questions, identify contrasts and trends over time, and make connections. Children also learn how our knowledge of the past is constructed through a range of sources. A series of lessons are planned, with clear knowledge and skills-based learning objectives and subject-specific vocabulary. Teachers assess learning in history against knowledge and skills-based learning objectives within unit overviews. Enrichment opportunities, such as educational visits and events, provide our children with rich experiences which enhance teaching, learning and knowledge.

All learning starts by revisiting prior knowledge. This will be scaffolded to support children to recall previous learning and make connections. Staff will model explicitly the subject-specific vocabulary, knowledge and skills relevant to the learning, to allow them to integrate new knowledge into larger concepts. Scaffolding supports children to retain new facts and vocabulary in their long-term memory. Our historians will be given a variety of enrichment experiences, both in and out of the classroom, where appropriate, to create memorable learning opportunities and to further support and develop their understanding.

Our History curriculum promotes children’s Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development, ensuring that our pupils become reflective and responsible citizens. Fundamental British Values are actively promoted within History lessons in order to prepare the children for life in Modern Britain.

All teachers follow a carefully sequenced long-term plan, they have access to Key Stage History and the Historical Association to help with the delivery of their lessons and to help with their own subject knowledge.

Impact of our History Curriculum

Children at Christ the King will be able to know more and remember more about history. They will be able to understand historical concepts and vocabulary and have an understanding of the events and people that have shaped the world that we live in today. They will develop skills such as problem solving, asking and answering questions, testing and evaluating hypotheses as well as developing a sense of intrigue. The children will be well equipped to use these skills across other areas of learning that will allow them to progress in their future learning. Through the breadth and depth that our curriculum offers, our children will become passionate historians, who, inspired by the subject, are curious to find out more about the past and have a love of history that will remain with them for the rest of their lives.