History

History vision statement

“We are not makers of history. We are made by history.” Martin Luther King

Definition of the subject

History is the study of change over time, covering all aspects of human society. Political, social, economic, scientific, technological, medical, cultural, religious and military developments are all part of history

Child-friendly definition

History is the study of people, events, actions and decisions in the past.

Subject Aims

At HBJS, we recognise the importance of history in every aspect of daily life. We aim to provide children with a rich knowledge of past events, and to build their understanding of how these events are sequenced chronologically.

Teachers will deliver the knowledge required for children to compare and contrast different periods of history, and the relevant causes and consequences of key events. Children will be equipped with the skills to enable them to understand how their new learning ties in with pre-existing historical knowledge through examining a range of historical sources.

Alongside having a solid understanding of historical facts and knowledge, children will learn how to think critically and question different perspectives of history, and begin to build their own understanding of events.

Our history curriculum aims to be progressive, inclusive and linked to our local community. At HBJS we recognise the value of story-telling when teaching history. We aim to retell the stories of World War Two and the Blitz, of the horrors of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, of Ancient Egypt and mummification, of how Boudicca fought the Romans, and many other thrilling tales of conflict, intrigue and often injustice. We tell both the positive and negative stories, providing children with the knowledge to draw their own conclusions about the motives and morals behind each event, and hopefully learning from these past events in the process.

We visit local museums and universities, and in turn are visited by local experts, archaeologists, historians and theatrical groups, in order to make history as engaging and inviting as possible for our children. Our Castleton residential in Year Four is a major highlight for history at HBJS, providing children with the opportunity to take part in activities such as an archaeological dig, building a Roman siege engine, marching in battle formation with Roman shields, and learning lots about the Romans, Celts, Saxons and Vikings from on-site experts.

Subject dream

Learning history at HBJS will help the children understand how events in the past made things the way they are today. With lessons from the past, the children not only learn about themselves and how we came to be, but also develop the ability to avoid mistakes and create better paths for our societies. Historical research builds and codifies these stories. When children study history, they learn how we got where we are, and why we live the way we do. It’s the study of us—of humans and our place in an ever changing world. Without it, we wouldn’t understand all of our triumphs and failures, and we would continually repeat patterns without building forward to something better.

As Spanish philosopher George Santayana once said, “Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.”

5 - point fingerprint ( academic essence of the subject)

1. To develop a chronologically secure knowledge and understanding of British, local and world history

2. To note connections, contrasts and trends over time

3. To develop appropriate use of historical terms

4. To regularly address and devise historically valid questions about change, cause, similarity, difference and significance, constructing informed responses that involve thoughtful selection and organisation of relevant historical information

5. To understand how our knowledge of the past is constructed from a range of sources

Big ideas of History

Substantive big ideas	Pupil friendly definition
civilisation	A group of people with their own languages and way of life.
settlement	Places where people choose to live.
technological advances	The use of knowledge to invent and improve devices or tools.
empire	A group of territories ruled by one single ruler or state.
invasion	An enemy moving into territory that belongs to someone else.
beliefs	A firm thought that something is true or important.
legacy	Something that is handed down from one period of time to another.

History second-order concepts: shape the major questions asked about the past. They help to answer how knowledge of the past is organised, created and debated. They help to form children’s disciplinary knowledge within history.

2nd order big ideas	Pupil friendly definition
Historical bias	How we think things are or should be, even if this is not accurate.
Cause	Why something happens.
Consequence	The result of someone’s actions or choices/ the impact of an event
Change	Things that have changed over time.
Continuity	Things that have remained unchanged over time.
Similarity	Things that are the same/shared.
Difference	Things that are different.
Reliability	Can the source be trusted? Does it paint an accurate picture of the events of the past?