Birkby Junior School

What are the aims of teaching history?
The National Curriculum for England describes the purpose of history as:

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 people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups, as well as their own identity and the challenges of their time.

The National Curriculum for history aims to ensure that all pupils:

• know and understand the history of these islands as a coherent, chronological narrative, from the earliest times to the present day: how people’s lives have shaped this nation and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world
• know and understand significant aspects of the history of the wider world: the nature of ancient civilisations; the expansion and dissolution of empires; characteristic features of past non-European societies; achievements and follies of mankind
• gain and deploy a historically grounded understanding of abstract terms such as ‘empire’, ‘civilisation’, ‘parliament’ and ‘peasantry’
• understand historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance, and use them to make connections, draw contrasts, analyse trends, frame historically-valid questions and create their own structured accounts, including written narratives and analyses
• understand the methods of historical enquiry, including how evidence is used rigorously to make historical claims, and discern how and why contrasting arguments and interpretations of the past have been constructed
• gain historical perspective by placing their growing knowledge into different contexts, understanding the connections between local, regional, national and international history; between cultural, economic, military, political, religious and social history; and between short- and long-term timescales.

History at Birkby Junior School:

At Birkby Junior School, our whole school curriculum aims to provide a creative, enjoyable and rewarding learning experience for each child in an inclusive, secure and stimulating environment. We aim for a high-quality History curriculum, which should inspire in our pupils a curiosity and fascination about Britain’s past and that of the wider world. Our curriculum equips pupils with knowledge about people and events and the significance of those events in the History of Britain and how it has influenced and been influenced by the wider world; know and understand about significant aspects of the History of the wider world like ancient civilisations and empires; changes in living memory and beyond living memory; learn about the lives of significant people of the past; understand the methods of historical enquiry and be able to ask and answer questions. We want children to enjoy and love learning about History by gaining this knowledge, not just through experiences in the classroom, but also with the use of fieldwork and educational visits.

Useful History websites:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/forkids/

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/

https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/

http://teachinghistory100.org/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zf49q6f

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

https://huddersfield.exposed/wiki/Category:Maps

http://www.primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/history/index.html