History

History at Fishburn Primary School and Subject Policy

In History, we learn about the past and how it has shaped the world we live in. Our curriculum develops children’s curiosity about people, places and events in Britain and the wider world, including the history of our local area.

Intent, Impact and Implementation

Intent 

We want children to develop a secure understanding of the past and learn how historians investigate it. Pupils build knowledge of significant people, events and societies while exploring change, continuity, causes, consequences and historical significance.

Children learn to ask questions, examine evidence and explain their conclusions. They develop historical vocabulary and an understanding of chronology, helping them connect learning across different periods.

Our curriculum encourages children to consider different experiences and perspectives, developing thoughtful understanding of how people lived and why societies changed.

Implementation

History is taught through carefully sequenced enquiries, with each topic organised around a key question. Our two-year curriculum cycle supports mixed-age classes, with expectations developing as pupils move through the school. We are following Cycle A in 2026/27.

Lessons combine knowledge about the past with the skills needed to investigate it. Children use sources such as photographs, written accounts, artefacts and historical representations to ask questions and support their answers.

Timelines help pupils place events and people in chronological order. Regular retrieval activities revisit earlier learning, strengthen vocabulary and help children make connections between topics.

Discussion is an important part of learning. Children explain ideas, consider different interpretations and communicate their understanding through spoken responses, written work and other appropriate activities.

History in Early Years

In Nursery and Reception, foundations for History develop through Understanding the World. Children explore their own lives and families, talk about how they have grown and changed, and begin to distinguish between past and present.

Stories, photographs, objects and conversations help children develop vocabulary about time and notice similarities and differences. These experiences prepare them for historical enquiry in Key Stage 1.

Local history and enrichment

Local history helps children connect their learning with the community around them. Our curriculum includes opportunities to explore the area’s mining heritage and the impact of significant events on local people.

Historical sources, stories and appropriate enrichment experiences help children understand lives and places beyond their own experience. These opportunities support the knowledge and enquiry questions being taught.

Inclusion and support

All pupils have access to an ambitious History curriculum, including children with special educational needs or disabilities.

Teachers adapt explanations, resources and activities to support understanding. Scaffolds may include visual timelines, vocabulary banks, sentence starters, carefully selected sources and opportunities to rehearse answers orally.

Support helps children participate in historical enquiry and communicate their knowledge while developing independence.

Assessment and Impact

Teachers assess learning through questions, discussion, observation, children’s work and end-of-unit checks. Assessment identifies misconceptions and gaps so that teaching and subsequent retrieval activities can respond to pupils’ needs.

Leaders review planning, pupils’ work and classroom learning, alongside discussions with children, to evaluate the curriculum.

As children progress, we expect them to remember important historical knowledge, use vocabulary accurately, place learning within a chronological framework and draw increasingly well-supported conclusions from evidence.

 Curriculum documents

Our long-term plan shows the topics taught across both curriculum cycles. Our progression document explains how historical concepts and enquiry skills develop from Year 1 to Year 6.

For further information about History or to discuss your child’s learning, please contact the subject lead through the school office.

Telephone: 01740 620 162
Email: fishburnadmin@edenacademytrust.co.uk

National Curriculum

History Long-Term Plan 2026/27

 

Progression in Historical Knowledge and Skills

 

Road Maps