St Peter in Eastgate Infant School
History Policy 2016
The Headteacher, history subject leader and governors reviewed this policy in the Autumn Term of
2015. To be reviewed Sept 2017.
This policy has been created with reference to the history policies from St Bede Church of England
Primary School, Winchester and Ecclesall Infant School, Sheffield.
Aims and Objectives
The aim of history teaching here at St Peter-in-Eastgate Infant School is to stimulate the children’s
interest and understanding about the life of people who lived in the past. We teach children a sense
of chronology, and through this they develop a sense of identity, and a cultural understanding based
on their historical heritage. Thus they learn to value their own and other people’s cultures in modern
multicultural Britain and, by considering how people lived in the past, they are better able to make
their own life choices today. We teach children to understand how events in the past have
influenced our lives today. We also teach them to investigate these past events and by doing so to
develop the skills of enquiry, analysis, interpretation and problem solving.
The objectives of teaching history in our school are:
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To foster in children an interest in the past and to develop an understanding that enables
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To enable children to know about significant events in British History and to appreciate how
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them to enjoy all that history has to offer.
things have changed over time.
To develop a sense of chronology.
To have some knowledge and understanding of historical development in the wider world.
To help children understand society and their place within it, so that they develop a sense of
their cultural heritage.
To develop the skills of enquiry, investigation, analysis, evaluation and presentation.
Teaching and Learning Style
History teaching focuses on enabling children to think as historians. We place an emphasis on
examining historical artefacts and primary sources. We give the children the opportunity to visit sites
of historical significance e.g. Lincoln Castle, Gainsborough Old Hall and The Museum of Lincolnshire
Life. We recognise and value the importance of stories in history teaching and we regard this as an
important way of stimulating interest in the past. We focus on helping children understand that
historical events can be interpreted in different ways and that they should always ask searching
questions, such as ‘how do we know?’, about the information they are given.
We recognise that in all classes children have a wide reange of ability in history and we seek to
provide suitable learning opportunities for all children by matching the challenge of the task to the
ability of the child.
We achieve this by:
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Setting tasks that are open-ended and can have a variety of responses.
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Providing resources of different complexity, depending on the ability of the child.
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Setting tasks of increasing difficulty to suit all abilities.
History Curriculum
Foundation Stage
We teach history in reception as an integral part of the topic work covered during the year. As the
reception class is part of the Foundation Stage of the National Curriculum, we relate the history side
of the children’s work to the objectives set out in the Early Learning Goals (ELGs) which underpin the
curriculum planning for children aged three to five. History makes a significant contribution to the
ELG objectives of developing a child’s knowledge and understanding of the world through activities
such as dressing up in historical costumes, looking at pictures of famous people in history or
discovering the meaning of new and old in relation to their own lives
Early learning goal – people and communities
Children talk about past and present events in their own lives and in the lives of family members.
They know that other children don’t always enjoy the same things, and are sensitive to this. They
know about similarities and differences between themselves and others, and among families,
communities and traditions.
Key stage 1
Pupils should develop an awareness of the past, using common words and phrases relating to the
passing of time. They should know where the people and events they study fit within a chronological
framework and identify similarities and differences between ways of life in different periods. They
should use a wide vocabulary of everyday historical terms. They should ask and answer questions,
choosing and using parts of stories and other sources to show that they know and understand key
features of events. They should understand some of the ways in which we find out about the past
and identify different ways in which it is represented.
In Key stage 1 teachers are often introducing pupils to historical periods that they will study more
fully at key stages 2 and 3.
Pupils should be taught about:
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Changes within living memory. Where appropriate, these should be used to reveal aspects of
change in national life
Events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally [for example, the
Great Fire of London, the first aeroplane flight or events commemorated through festivals or
anniversaries]
The lives of significant individuals in the past who have contributed to national and
international achievements. Some should be used to compare aspects of life in different
periods [for example, Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria, Christopher Columbus and Neil
Armstrong, William Caxton and Tim Berners-Lee, Pieter Bruegel the Elder and LS Lowry, Rosa
Parks and Emily Davison, Mary Seacole and/or Florence Nightingale and Edith Cavell]
Significant historical events, people and places in their own locality.
Contribution of History to other subjects
English
History contributes significantly to the teaching of English in our school by actively promoting the
skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening. Some of the texts that we use in the Literacy are
historical in nature. Children develop oracy through discussing historical questions or presenting
their findings to the rest of the class. They develop their writing ability by composing reports and
letters and through using writing frames.
Mathematics
The teaching of History contributes to children’s mathematical understanding in a variety of ways.
Children learn to use numbers when developing a sense of chronology through activities such as
creating time lines and sequencing events in their own lives.
Information and communication technology (ICT)
We use ICT in history teaching where appropriate. Children use ICT in history to research
information using the Internet.
Assessment and recording
Children demonstrate their ability in history in a variety of different ways such as role play, hot
seating, art, written work and verbally. Teachers will assess children’s work by making informal
judgements during lessons, at the end of each term and at the end of the year. Teachers will assess
children as being emerging, expected or exceeding within history. The history subject leader will
keep samples of work in the history subject folder.
Resources
There are sufficient resources for all history teaching units in the school. Class teachers have their
own resources as well as a central store of resources for use by all.. The library contains a good
supply of topic books to support children’s individual research.
Monitoring and review
Monitoring of the standards of children’s work and of the quality of teaching in history is the
responsibility of the history subject leader. The work of the history subject leader also involves
supporting colleagues in the teaching of history, being informed about current developments in the
subject, and providing a strategic lead and direction for the subject in the school. The history subject
leader has specially-allocated time in which to fulfil this role by reviewing samples of children’s work
and visiting classes to observe teaching in the subject.