Intent

“The more you know about the past, the better prepared you are for the future.”  - Theodore Roosevelt   

At St Keverne School, we are committed to providing a primary history curriculum that is underpinned by our three curriculum drivers: aspiration, curiosity, and diversity. Our history curriculum aims to capture, celebrate and share the stories of our ancestors and significant people and places within our corner of Cornwall, as well as events further afield.

 We believe that history is a fundamental part of understanding the diverse world around us and our place in it. It is through the study of our history curriculum that our students gain valuable insights into the past, which in turn helps them make sense of the present and navigate the challenges of the future. We inspire our students to become historians of their: own lives; their family’s; their locality’s; to explore the rich tapestry of human experiences, and to be curious and learn from the lessons of the past.  

Due to the nature of our mixed age classes, it is not possible to teach all historical topics in chronological order for all children. However, placing an emphasis on adding each KS2 unit to a developing timeline not only makes links between learning, but also ensures that wherever the child joins the cycle, they will develop a deep chronological understanding (to ensure they ‘know and understand the history of these islands as a coherent, chronological narrative’ N.C.).

To ensure an engaging history curriculum, and to develop a sense of curiosity, we approach each topic with an over-arching enquiry question and have individual lesson focus questions which help build towards children being able to answer the over-arching question by the end of each unit.

In Reception, history is taught as an integral part of the theme work covered during the year. We relate the historical aspects of the children’s work to the objectives set out in the Early Years curriculum. History makes a significant contribution to the Early Learning Goal objectives of developing a child’s understanding of the world through activities such as talking about past and present events in their own lives and in the lives of family members. Skills of curiosity are encouraged through the Characteristics of Effective Learning.