History
The aim of history teaching at The Brent 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 respect 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 the skills required to research past events and, by so doing, to develop the skills of enquiry, analysis, interpretation and problem-solving which can be used across a range of subjects.
Using their Growth Mindsets children take responsibility for their learning showing resilience and respect for the world around them.
Our History Journey Through The Brent
In EYFS, we study History by starting with something that is real to the children. They start by understanding their own personal living memory and plot it on a timeline. Introducing the concept of Past and Present.
In Year 1, we make connections by looking at historical homes in Dartford. They start by discussing and comparing their own homelife and what is in their homes e.g. a television; different bedrooms; plumbing. They move from this to a visit to the local area with a focus on Victorian houses and they look at similarities and differences between what home life was like in the Victorian era. They make links between their Victorian school building and their homes. In the summer term, they visit Botany Bay and compare modern holidays with Victorian seaside trips. This allows children to start using the concept of Compare and Contrast.
In Year 2, we expand their historical understanding further by taking them back in time to London in 1666 to the Great Fire of London. We start using primary and secondary sources to explain how we find out about the past. We introduce them to simple enquiry questions e.g. How can we find out about what the houses were like? The sequence the events of the Great Fire of London, the Gunpowder Plot and the Plague within the time period of the Stuarts. This topic allows children to think about the concept of Settlements and Rights and Equalities of people as they look at how this event affected both the rich and the poor.
In Year 3, we build on the children’s knowledge of migration learned in Year 2 to begin to look at our Island Story. This builds on the concept of Settlement, looking at how these people shaped our nation. Children learn about the concept of invasion of the Anglo Saxons and Vikings. They sequence events from their arrival, and they can begin to evaluate the usefulness and reliability of different sources. They build on their historic knowledge of The Great Fire of London by looking at The Tudors, identifying the power nations of Europe and the impact Henry VIII had on the Catholic faith and the creation of the Church of England.
In Year 4, we expand the use of primary and secondary sources further by looking within the Roman Era where they are taught to sequence significant events and look at the cause and effect of the Roman invasion and occupation of Britain. We build on this by continuing to look at primary sources, secondary sources and artefacts and how these impact on our lives today e.g. roads. We expand their historical understanding further by taking them back in time to an ancient civilisation the Egyptians. We link the learning in Year 2 and 3 thinking about the importance of the River Nile with our local settlements on the River Thames.
In Year 5, pupils continue their understanding of the ancient world with a study of Ancient Greece. We think carefully about democracy and the legacy of the Greeks on the other civilisations we have studied. They use a range of different sources to draw conclusions and validate their opinions.
In Year 6, the understanding of significant events is explored further through our immediate area. We explore the impact the Industrial Revolution had on the local area, Dartford. This reconnects pupils learning from Year 1 where children evaluate sources independently. They use and apply historical enquiry skills learned over the previous years as they develop their understanding of the cause and effect of World 1 and 2 and its impact. Year 6 finish the year with Prehistoric Britain, using all of their knowledge, skills and understanding of the historic concepts to build an idea of how people lived without any primary sources. They draw conclusions based on archaeological evidence, which is often conflicting, to validate their opinions.
Historical Events Gallery
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Victorian Day
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Great Fire of London workshop
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Greek sources and artefacts
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Visit from Queen Elizabeth II
