Craneswater Junior School Learn to think, think to learn
History
At Craneswater, we aim to teach children about history by giving them the tools they need to learn about it. As well as discussing stories full of action, colour and some occasional gory bits, we teach the children how to look at the evidence we have about the past. Some of it might be tiny fragments whilst some of it might be contradictory. We help the children to unpick the evidence and test it for reliability, to know which questions to ask and to make judgements about what they have discovered.
History is often like completing a jigsaw puzzle. We don’t have all the pieces and we don’t quite know where they fit. There is no nice clear picture on the lid to work from and so we teach the children to use clues and to act like detectives to hunt down evidence and to solve historical puzzles together. In doing so, they learn to work collaboratively and to be open-minded and respectful.
Of course, historical knowledge is important too and below you will find an overview of the areas of history that we cover in each year group here at Craneswater. We try to ensure the children build up their chronological understanding as they progress through our history curriculum and to start to develop their subject knowledge – something which they will build upon at secondary school.
Overview
Year 3
Autumn
Ancient Egyptians
Where is Egypt
Why is it ‘ancient’
Tombs and mummification
Weighing of the heart
SMSC – Social, moral cultural- through similarities /differences
Summer
Changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age
Timeline overview
Stone Age periods
Stone Age hunter gatherers
Stone Age and farming
Skara Brae
Stonehenge
Iron Age life
Maiden Castle
SMSC – Social, moral cultural- through similarities/differences
Year 5
Autumn 1
Anglo Saxons
Describe the settlement by Anglo Saxons
Provide an account of a historical
event
Compare sources
of information for different points in the past
Anglo Saxon workshop
SMSC: Social, moral cultural- through similarities / differences
Autumn 2
Anglo Saxons into Vikings
Describe the Viking and Anglo-Saxon
struggle for the kingdom of England
SMSC: Social, moral cultural- through
similarities /differences.
Summer
Queen Victoria
Use, order and place events on a timeline
Give reasons for important historical events
Make comparisons between aspects of periods of history
Compare sources of information
Describe a local history study - Southsea Walk
Cross curricular writing – Queen Victoria
-
Use technical language
-
Connectives to build cohesion, summarise and sequence
-
Link ideas across paragraphs
SMSC: Social, moral cultural- through similarities /differences.
Year 4
Autumn
Ancient Greeks
Comparing Greece now and then
Timeline of Ancient Greece
Greek gods and goddesses
Greek myths and legends
What life was like for men/slaves/women/children
The Persian Wars
Ancient Greek legacy
SMSC: Social, moral cultural- through similarities / differences
Summer
Romans in Britain
Life in Britain before the Roman invasion
Why the Romans Invaded
The Roman Army and Celtic Warriors Boudicca
Everyday life in Roman Britain
The Roman Legacy
SMSC – Social, moral cultural- through similarities/ differences.
Year 6
Autumn
The Maya
Placing the Maya civilization on a timeline
Compare Maya lifestyle with modern day
Understand religious beliefs
Understand the Maya number system
Research everyday life, the end of the Empire and Maya legacy using historical resources
SMSC – Religious beliefs
Summer
The Tudors
Local History Study - Mary Rose visit
Impact of the Tudor era on life in Portsmouth
Understanding the relationship between Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon
The break from Rome