History

At New York Primary School we provide children with a broad and rich curriculum which gives children an insight into times past. We cover a range of topics focusing on local, British and global history.

We are passionate about our local area and proud of its rich history and heritage. We believe that understanding our local heritage helps children develop a strong sense of identity, belonging and pride in the community in which they live. Each October, we celebrate Local Heritage Week, providing opportunities for children to explore the history of our local area and discover the stories, people and places that make it special.

Our commitment to heritage has been recognised by Historic England, and we are incredibly proud to have been awarded Champion Heritage School status — a prestigious achievement that recognises our dedication to bringing history and heritage to life for our children.

We work on a topic based approach where we complete an in-depth study across a term, focusing on developing historical skills. We make links and comparisons between topics taught in previous year groups and with present day. We focus on several key aspects for comparison purposes.

Our curriculum offers an insight into key points in history across the world through a topic approach which aims to support learning by means of artefacts, visits, archaeological evidence, visitors, children making their own deductions and investigations. Children are taught a range of skills which are built upon and developed each year. These skills include:

Chronological understanding
Historical enquiry
Interpreting history
Continuity and change
Causes and consequences

Lessons take place weekly, in alternating terms with geography. In a non-taught history half term, we have weekly history meetings where we continue to develop and recap previously taught knowledge and skills. History meetings consolidate skills and learning and provide frequent opportunities to further practise skills.

At New York Primary School we value the diverse needs of all learners and strive to promote equality of all. We follow a growth mind-set approach and celebrate our mistakes. We ensure we provide children with an inclusive curriculum which promotes and celebrates all skills, should they be gained in or outside of school and across all areas of the curriculum.

Sources of evidence

In history lessons, we think like historians and use a range of different sources of evidence to find out about the past. We use primary sources of history such as records and physical objects along with secondary sources such as books and newspaper reports in order to interpret how and why things happened.

Timeline

Chronological understanding is a key skill which we start to develop within our early years provision. In school, we have a large timeline displayed, which has been designed to match our history curriculum. Each year group has different coloured bubbles which highlight taught topics so children are aware of what and when they will learn about different periods from the past.