History

What does History look like at Brill?

At Brill Church of England School, we believe that History helps children understand the world they live in by understanding the people, events and ideas that shaped it.

We want children to be fascinated by the past, curious about the lives of people who came before them and confident in asking questions about how we know what happened and why different interpretations of the past may exist.

History forms part of our Brill Horizons curriculum and is supported by Cornerstones Maestro, providing a carefully sequenced progression of historical knowledge and skills from the Early Years through to Year 6.

Throughout their journey at Brill, children build an increasingly secure understanding of chronology, change, cause and consequence, similarity and difference, and historical significance, while learning to think and enquire like historians.

INTENT

Our History curriculum is ambitious for every child.

We want children to develop a coherent understanding of the past, rather than seeing History simply as a collection of unrelated periods, people and events.

Children progressively build knowledge of British, local and world history, developing an understanding of how societies have changed over time and how events and people from the past continue to influence the world in which we live today.

Our curriculum develops both:

Substantive knowledge – what children know about the past, including people, places, events, periods and societies;

and

Disciplinary knowledge – how historians investigate and interpret the past using evidence, enquiry and historical reasoning.

Through our History curriculum, we aim for children to:

develop an increasingly secure chronological understanding;
build a rich body of historical knowledge;
understand significant events, individuals and developments in British and world history;
recognise continuity and change over time;
explore cause and consequence;
identify similarities and differences within and between periods;
consider why particular people, events and developments are historically significant;
understand how evidence helps us learn about the past;
recognise that accounts and interpretations of the past can differ;
ask and investigate increasingly sophisticated historical questions;
use historical vocabulary accurately; and
make connections between periods of history and their wider learning.

We want children to understand that History is not simply about remembering dates. It is about asking questions, examining evidence, considering different perspectives and using what we know to make sense of the past.

Our children are encouraged to be bold in asking questions, brave in challenging assumptions and Brill-iant in using evidence to explain their thinking.

IMPLEMENTATION

Brill Horizons and Cornerstones Maestro

History is taught through our Brill Horizons curriculum, supported by Cornerstones Maestro.

Learning is carefully sequenced so that children’s historical knowledge and understanding build progressively from their earliest experiences of past and present in the Early Years through to increasingly complex historical study in Key Stage 2.

Children revisit important concepts throughout their time at Brill, allowing them to connect new learning with what they already know.

Our Brill Horizons Big Ideas provide further opportunities to make these connections. In History, children frequently explore concepts including Humankind, Change, Significance, Comparison, Processes and Place and Space.

This helps children understand that historical knowledge is connected and that the events and societies they study form part of a much bigger story.

Building Chronological Understanding

Chronology is fundamental to understanding History.

From children’s earliest understanding of past and present, we progressively develop their ability to place people, events and periods within an increasingly secure chronological framework.

Children learn to use dates and historical vocabulary appropriately and develop an understanding of duration, sequence and concurrence.

As their knowledge grows, children are encouraged to make connections between periods they have previously studied and new learning.

This allows them to understand what was happening when, how periods relate to one another and how societies and ideas have changed over time.

Our aim is that children develop an increasingly coherent mental timeline of the past onto which new historical knowledge can be placed.

Historical Enquiry

We want children to learn not only what happened, but how we know.

Children encounter a range of historical sources and learn to use them to ask and answer questions about the past.

Depending upon their age, children may explore:

artefacts;
photographs and images;
written accounts and documents;
maps;
buildings and monuments;
archaeological evidence; and
other primary and secondary sources.

As they progress through the school, children learn to consider what a source can tell us, what it cannot tell us and why evidence needs to be considered carefully.

They begin to understand that historians construct accounts of the past by examining, questioning and interpreting evidence.

Thinking Like a Historian

Historical thinking is explicitly developed throughout our curriculum.

Children learn to consider:

Change and continuity – What changed? What stayed the same?

Cause and consequence – Why did something happen? What happened as a result?

Similarity and difference – How were people’s experiences alike or different?

Significance – Why do we remember particular people, events or developments?

Evidence – How do we know?

Interpretation – Why might people describe or understand the past differently?

As children progress through Brill, they are expected to draw upon an increasingly rich body of knowledge when answering these questions and to support their ideas with historical evidence and reasoning.

Knowledge and Vocabulary

Secure knowledge is essential if children are to think deeply about History.

Important historical knowledge and vocabulary are explicitly taught, revisited and connected to previous learning.

Children develop increasingly precise use of terms relating both to the periods they study and to historical thinking itself.

Teachers support children in retrieving prior knowledge and making connections so that learning is remembered rather than simply encountered.

This enables children to discuss and write about History with increasing confidence, accuracy and sophistication.

Local History – Making the Most of Brill

Our location provides wonderful opportunities for children to understand that history exists all around them.

Brill and the surrounding area provide a rich local context through which children can explore how places and communities develop and change over time.

Our village, local landscape, buildings and landmarks – including our distinctive Brill Windmill – provide opportunities for children to connect the history they encounter in the classroom with the physical evidence of the past on their doorstep.

Where appropriate, local history is used to help children recognise connections between their own community and the wider historical story.

We want children to develop curiosity about the place in which they live and understand that History isn’t something that only happened somewhere else – they are surrounded by it.

Bringing History to Life

We want History to be memorable.

Where appropriate, children’s learning is enriched through artefacts, visitors, workshops, historical sources, trips and experiences which allow them to engage more deeply with the periods they study.

High-quality texts and carefully chosen resources help children explore the lives and perspectives of people from the past.

These experiences support knowledge rather than replacing it, helping children to visualise, question and connect with their learning.

Diverse Histories and Perspectives

History provides important opportunities for children to encounter lives and experiences beyond their own.

Throughout their time at Brill, children explore a range of societies, individuals and perspectives and consider how experiences of the past differed according to factors such as place, culture, circumstance and historical period.

We want children to recognise that History contains many voices and that our understanding becomes richer when we consider whose experiences are represented and whose may be less visible within the historical record.

This encourages children to approach the past with curiosity, thoughtfulness and respect.

An Inclusive History Curriculum

History is for every child at Brill.

Teachers use appropriate adaptations, vocabulary support, visual resources, artefacts and carefully structured learning to enable all pupils, including those with SEND and additional needs, to access important historical knowledge and concepts.

Children who demonstrate secure understanding are challenged to make increasingly sophisticated connections, evaluate evidence, consider different interpretations and construct well-reasoned historical arguments.

Our ambition is for every child to experience success while being challenged to think deeply about the past.

History Across Brill Horizons

History connects naturally with many areas of our wider curriculum.

Children use their English skills to read historical information, discuss evidence and communicate their understanding. Geography helps children understand how place and environment influence societies, while Art, RE and other subjects provide further insight into the beliefs, creativity and experiences of people from different times and places.

Through Brill Horizons, children are encouraged to recognise these connections.

The more knowledge children acquire, the more connections they can make – enabling them to develop an increasingly rich understanding of how the past has shaped the world they know today.

IMPACT

By the end of their Brill journey, we want our children to see themselves as knowledgeable, curious and thoughtful young historians.

We want children to leave Brill able to:

demonstrate secure knowledge of the periods, people and events they have studied;
place their learning within an increasingly secure chronological framework;
make connections within and between historical periods;
explain change and continuity over time;
identify causes and consequences of significant events and developments;
compare different societies and experiences;
consider historical significance;
ask thoughtful historical questions;
use evidence to investigate the past;
recognise that evidence and interpretations need to be considered critically;
use historical vocabulary accurately; and
communicate historical understanding clearly and confidently.

Most importantly, we want children to leave Brill understanding that the world they live in has a story.

We want them to remain curious about the people who came before them, to question how we know about the past and to recognise that understanding History helps us make sense of our present and think more thoughtfully about our future.

Be Bold. Be Brave. Be Brill-iant.