History

Our BRAVE curriculum is organised into three broad themes: Create (Art / Design and Technology / Drama / Music), Explore (Geography) and Discover (History). Within each theme are two topics, carefully selected to motivate and inspire children. 

The Discover (History) curriculum will fire pupils’ curiosity to learn more about the past. The history curriculum reflects the scope and ambition of the National Curriculum but responds to the personal experience of our pupils.  The history progression map begins with nursery and ends with Year 7 – we know where our children begin their journey as historians and where they need to go.  Pupils will learn to ask perceptive questions and think critically. In every topic within this theme children will order events in time; find differences and similarities; identify cases and consequences and compare different historical periods. They will use a range of sources to evaluate their usefulness and communicate their understanding. All classes will aim to link ‘then’ with ‘now’. This theme allows pupils to see the diversity of human experience and understand more about themselves as individuals and members of society. What they learn can influence their decisions about personal choices, attitudes and values. 

In EYFS, children study history through the overarching concept, 'Understanding the World: Past and Present’. We increase children’s knowledge and understanding of various concepts such as: different types of families; the numerous, important roles of people within society and cultural and social differences within our communities, past and present. 

In KS1, children will learn to sequence events in a simple narrative, using words and phrases to mark the passing of time.  They will be able to describe important events and list some causes and effects. 

In KS2, children will use developed explanations as their reasoning becomes more sophisticated, moving onto linking causes and consequences, classifying them and ranking relative importance by the end. Children will become more confident with chronology in KS2 and will reference time within a historical period, moving on to being able to make comparisons between several periods of history using evidence that they have evaluated for reliability.  

Children at Westgate Hill Primary Academy are curious, bright and creative; they have their own skills, talents and experiences to achieve their ambitions.  To build upon this uniqueness, the BRAVE Curriculum recognises what we know about our children and what they need for future success.  For example, trips to local historical sites and visits from historical figures are provided at key points in a unit to engage.  Parents are invited to attend these trips to make valuable links with their own past and present and future and encourage further learning at home.  In the classrooms, accessible books relating to the current topic are provided in our libraries and concrete examples for the topic are available for independent discussion with friends.  Every day we celebrate the cultural capital of our children, recognising that they already have much of what they need to succeed.