At Thwaites School, History helps pupils understand the past and how it has shaped the world in which they live today. We want pupils to become curious, knowledgeable and reflective historians who can ask meaningful questions, examine evidence and construct well-supported explanations.

Our History curriculum is based on Kapow Primary and has been carefully adapted for our mixed-age classes and rolling curriculum. History is taught in planned units, with weekly lessons during the periods in which the subject is scheduled. It alternates with Geography across the curriculum year.

Nursery children develop their understanding of the past separately through the EYFS area of Understanding the World. They explore their own history, notice changes over time and begin to understand the difference between the past and the present. Where appropriate, their learning is linked to the History curriculum being followed by Reception and Key Stage 1.

Curriculum Organisation

From Reception to Year 6, the History curriculum is organised around six strands:

• Chronological Understanding

• Historical Knowledge

• Change, Continuity and Cause

• Historical Enquiry and Evidence

• Interpretation and Perspective

• Communication and Historical Expression

These strands are revisited through different historical periods, societies and themes. This helps pupils build upon previous learning and develop increasingly sophisticated historical knowledge and thinking.

The curriculum balances three important elements:

• substantive knowledge—knowledge about people, events, periods and societies;

• disciplinary knowledge—an understanding of how historians investigate, interpret and explain the past; and

• long-term understanding—the ability to remember learning and apply it when studying different periods and contexts.

Carefully planned curriculum cycles ensure that all pupils encounter the required National Curriculum content. Pupils study local, British and world history and make connections between different periods, places and societies.

Chronology and Historical Knowledge

A secure understanding of chronology is central to our History curriculum. Pupils use timelines regularly to place people, events and periods in chronological order and to develop an understanding of duration, sequence and overlap.

In Reception and Key Stage 1, pupils develop an awareness of the past and present, compare aspects of life in different periods and learn about significant people and events. They begin to use timelines and historical vocabulary to describe when events happened.

In Key Stage 2, pupils develop a broader chronological framework of British and world history. They explore how societies changed over time and consider connections, contrasts and trends between different periods.

Historical vocabulary is explicitly taught, modelled and revisited. This enables pupils to describe events accurately, explain historical concepts and communicate their understanding with increasing precision.

Historical Enquiry

Pupils are taught to think and work like historians. They ask questions about the past and investigate them using sources such as artefacts, photographs, images, written accounts, maps and historical texts.

They learn to examine sources carefully, make inferences and use evidence to support their ideas. As they progress, pupils consider the origin and usefulness of evidence and recognise that sources may provide incomplete or differing accounts of the past.

Pupils also learn that historical events and individuals can be interpreted in different ways. They compare accounts, consider different perspectives and develop reasoned judgements supported by historical knowledge and evidence.

Discussion, comparison and enquiry are important parts of lessons. Pupils communicate their understanding through conversation, timelines, source work, diagrams, presentations and written explanations.

Inclusion and Challenge

Our History curriculum is designed to be accessible to every pupil. Teachers use stories, images, artefacts, visual timelines, discussion, structured enquiry and practical activities to bring the past to life and reduce reliance on extended written responses.

Adult support, visual resources, scaffolding, structured questioning and carefully adapted tasks are provided according to pupils’ needs. Success in History is demonstrated through pupils’ knowledge, reasoning and explanations, not solely through the quantity of their writing.

Pupils who demonstrate secure understanding are challenged through open-ended enquiries, increasingly complex sources and opportunities to compare, evaluate, interpret and justify their conclusions in greater depth.

Assessment

Assessment in History is purposeful and focuses on what pupils know, understand and can explain. It draws upon pupils’ developing historical knowledge, chronological understanding and ability to investigate and interpret the past.

During lessons, teachers assess learning through observation, questioning, discussion, timeline work, source analysis and pupils’ explanations. This helps teachers identify misconceptions, adapt teaching and provide appropriate support or challenge.

At the end of each lesson, pupils use the school’s POG system to reflect upon their progress against the learning objective and success criteria:

• Pink – Developing: “I am starting to learn this, but I still need help.”

• Orange – Secure: “I can do this on my own most of the time.”

• Green – Advanced: “I can do this confidently and could help someone else.”

At the end of each unit, teachers complete a class assessment summary based on the knowledge and historical skills taught within that unit. Teachers also make termly judgements about pupils’ longer-term progress across the six curriculum strands. These judgements draw upon evidence from lessons, pupils’ books, discussions, source work, timelines and end-of-unit assessments.

Retrieval is planned throughout the curriculum so that pupils revisit important people, events, vocabulary and concepts. Each year, pupils also take part in a History Review Day. Through timeline activities, source investigations, discussion and explanation, pupils revisit learning from across the year and make connections between different periods and units. This helps pupils strengthen their long-term memory and apply their historical knowledge and skills in new contexts.

Curriculum Impact

By the end of Year 6, we aim for pupils to:

• place significant people, events and periods within a secure chronological framework;

• demonstrate strong knowledge of local, British and world history;

• explain change, continuity, cause, consequence and significance;

• ask historical questions and investigate them using a range of sources;

• make inferences and draw conclusions supported by evidence;

• recognise that the past can be interpreted from different perspectives;

• make meaningful connections between periods, societies and themes; and

• communicate their historical understanding using accurate vocabulary.

We want pupils to leave Thwaites School with the knowledge, curiosity and critical-thinking skills needed to engage thoughtfully with the past. They should understand how history continues to influence the present and feel confident asking questions, examining evidence and reaching informed conclusions.