At West Lodge Primary School, our History curriculum is designed to arouse curiosity and inspire our children to gain a coherent understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world. The rich history of the local area and community is also drawn upon to support our curriculum. Children at West Lodge learn that History is about real people who lived, and real events which happened in the past. It is important for children to understand how the past has influenced the present and where they identify themselves within this. History helps our children understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies, the relationships between different groups as well as the changes and challenges of their own time. Key historical concepts such as continuity, chronology, cause and effect and interpretation of evidence are woven through carefully planned units of work. At West Lodge, we teach History through History focused lessons, making meaningful links to other areas of the curriculum where possible. Activities to enrich children’s understanding, such as visits, guest speakers, focus days all contribute to making the learning aspirational and ambitious. We believe a good historian should exercise a range of skills, understand that the past has influenced society today, analyse evidence and draw conclusions based on interpretation but understand that there may be many interpretations and make links with historical knowledge. Our history curriculum covers a wide range of topics that are of interest and relevance to the children of West Lodge.

How we teach History

History is taught through an enquiry based approach. Within the lessons, children are given ongoing opportunities for historical enquiry, exploring how evidence is gathered, interpreted and used to make historical claims. Children are encouraged to question and think critically to evaluate and examine evidence thus broadening their knowledge and applying it meaningfully. In supporting these skills where possible, links to current day scenarios relevant to the children are also made, for example links to the UNCRC articles and the Sustainable Development Goals. History lessons are delivered  with a range of high quality resources and artefacts. Activities to further enrich children’s understanding, such as visits (Celtic Harmony Camp, The British Museum), guest speakers, focus days (History off the Page) all contribute to making the learning aspirational and ambitious. History is taught chronologically where possible to support the children in establishing clear narratives within and across the periods they study. We believe it is important that pupils are given opportunities to investigate and explore so that they acquire the knowledge and skills needed to uncover the wonders of the past that have shaped the world they live in today.

Useful Links

BBC - History

Primary / Historical Association (history.org.uk)

Primary history - Teaching History to Primary School Pupils | Keystage history

Subject Leader

The Subject Lead for History is Mrs Anjna Kambo