“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots,” Marcus Garvey.

‘The more you know about the past, the better prepared you are for the future’

– Theodore Roosevelt, previous American President, author, explorer, soldier and naturalist.

 Our curriculum has been designed so that our children study history in a way that inspires their curiosity, encourages them to think critically and children ask critical questions but more importantly enables them to have a better understanding of the society in which they live and that of the wider world. As specified in the National Curriculum, the aim of History teaching at Bond is to equip our pupils to be able to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, evaluate arguments, and develop their own perspective and judgement. Our curriculum has been developed to ensure full coverage of the National Curriculum from Early Years, all the way through to Year 6. Our children’s historical learning is part of a knowledge-rich curriculum which not only prepares them for the next phase of their education, or for the workplace, but gives them opportunities to make sense of the world, and where they fit within it; we are helping them learn what it means to be human (Burns, 2019). History has an important contribution to make to this aim and we want our children to recognise this so we have developed our history curriculum to ensure it is relevant to our children, and to make a positive difference to the way in which they perceive themselves and their place in the world. History helps pupils to understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups, as well as their own identity and the challenges of their time. Primary history at Bond enables all children to access and enjoy ‘the story of our nation, their continent and the world’ in a progressively sequenced, knowledge rich and creative way. Throughout their time at Bond, students will increase their historical knowledge and understanding and use this knowledge to ask and answer relevant historical questions, discover links and connections, explain cause and consequence, recognise significance and identify different versions and why they might have been created.

How we teach History

The History curriculum at Bond is carefully planned and structured to ensure that current learning is linked to previous learning and that the school’s approaches are informed by current pedagogy. History is taught in blocks throughout the year, so that children achieve depth in their learning. The key knowledge and skills that children acquire and develop throughout each block have been mapped to ensure progression between year groups throughout the school. Topics are informed by the National Curriculum and are sensitive to children’s interests, as well as the context of the local area. Lessons are planned so that there is time for discussion and debate, fostering an environment of enquiry which enables children to revise and justify their opinions as well as encouraging children to ask and answer questions about the past. By the end of Year 6, children will have a chronological understanding of British history from the Stone Age to the present day. They are able to draw comparisons and make connections between different time periods and their own lives. Interlinked with this are studies of world history, such as the ancient civilisations of Greece and the Egyptians.