History

We teach a broad and varied History curriculum, at South Hill, which aims to develop skills and knowledge to ensure pupils have a coherent narrative, knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and the wider world from the earliest times to the present day, how people’s lives have shaped Britain and how Britain have influenced and been influenced by the wider world.

By the end of Year 6, we want our pupils to have a solid chronological understanding of the historical events studied, to have a knowledge of how History has shaped Britain (and the wider world), to be able to think critically and to understand that what has happened in the past is critical to shaping our future.

How is History taught at South Hill?

Our History curriculum is mapped out on our ‘Long term plan’ and this details our substantive knowledge, disciplinary knowledge and substantive concepts (Golden Threads):

Substantive knowledge- Knowledge about the past (historical information and facts)
Disciplinary knowledge - Knowledge about how historians investigate the past, and how they construct historical claims, arguments and accounts
Golden Threads (Substantive concepts): we have carefully mapped out 7 key concepts that weave in and out of our learning. These allow us to build on previous knowledge and to make links between historical periods and events that we have already learnt to those that we are learning now and in the future:

30135066-F08F-4B07-BF9D-57E2D15AC9E5 (1).jpeg

Long Term Plan

Subject Overview

Examples of knowledge organisers

We have tailored our History curriculum, in some areas, to reflect our locality and local community so that our pupils have a real sense of how history has shaped who we are today in Hemel Hempstead.

For example:

In EYFS, we focus on the building blocks to our History curriculum by studying our family
In Year 1, we take a walk around our local streets, focusing on how houses have changed in the last century.
In Year 2, we study our School, how it has changed over time, as well as the local ‘Water Gardens’
In Year 3, we study the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, who visited our town to open ‘The Queen’s Square’ in Adeyfield in 1952
In Year 4, we study the Romans and look specifically at how they took over St. Albans (Verulamium) and visit the museum, Hypercaust and Roman Walls
In Year 5, we study Hemel Hempstead and look at how it has changed over the past 100 years
In Year 6, we study WW2 and how this impacted our local area

Trips and theme days:

Our History curriculum is enriched by a number of school trips, theme days and assemblies and these provide excellent opportunities to bring our historical learning to life. Examples are:

EYFS - Trip to St. John's Church, Boxmoor and 'Fairy tale castle day'
Year 1 - Local homes trip and 'Victorian' theme day
Year 2 - Visit by the Fire Brigade (linking to the 'Great Fire of London' topic)
Year 3 - 'Stone Age' theme day and visit to Windsor Castle
Year 4 - Trip to the Verulamium museum and 'Roman' and 'Greek' theme days
Year 5 - Local history walk and 'Viking'' and 'Egyptian' theme days
Year 6 - Trip to the RAF museum and WW2 theme day

Black History month forms an important part of our History curriculum and every year we complete a whole school project which aims to promote and celebrate Black contributions to British society, and to foster an understanding of Black history in general. This year, we focused on each class reading one of the following books:

Fruits - by Valerie Bloom
Sulwe - Lupita Nyong'o
Wagari's Tree of Peace - A true story from Africa - Jeanette Winter

Pupil Voice

“History is really interesting and can tell you things about the past and how we can learn from it for the future.” Miles – Y5

“I remember doing a Victorian day and learning about school back then. The teachers were really strict!” Iannis – Y3

“I loved our trip to St. Albans to learn more about the Romans! Did you know that Boudicca led a revolt right where we stood in the park!” Rishika – Y4

“I absolutely love learning about History. Our WW2 topic has been so engaging. I’ve loved every minute of it and now I want to learn even more.” Scott – Y6

South Hill Primary School

Building Character, Learning Together

History

Examples of knowledge organisers