Vision 

Through our history curriculum, our children will have the opportunity to develop an understanding of the past, in Britain and the wider world and its implications for the present day, ensuring we learn from the mistakes of the past. Through investigating the history that is local and relevant to them, as well as the events that shaped Britain and the rest of the world, children are able to gain an understanding of who they are, of change and continuity, of cause and consequence and of why society is arranged as it is. We aim to provide activities for them to develop a sense of chronology, understand that the past can be interpreted in different ways and give them the chance to use a range of historical skills and sources to find and present information. It will inspire pupils with a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. 

How is our curriculum unique to St Mark’s? 

As St Mark’s is not placed in an ethnically diverse locality, we believe that it is important to explore this within our history curriculum, linking closely with other subjects such as geography and RE. This may be through studying significant people or events from a range of cultures, communities, civilizations and religions and making observations relating to the similarities and differences they uncover. 

As the children are familiar with our locality, it is important to teach them about the history that occurred here and how it has changed over time. In particular, the significant changes to Weston Seafront and tourism, the development of the railways and the links to World War II. 

At the end of Year 6 our children will be able to: 

• Put major historical events that they have studied in chronological order.  

• Understand the impact that important historical figures or events had on the people of Britain or other places in the world.  

• Explain the changes that have occurred within our locality and how they may have affected how we live now. 

• Explain why and how a source would or would not be useful to help find out about the past.  

• Use historical concepts to make connections, draw conclusions and frame their further questions about the past and the decisions that affect our futures. 

• Begin 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. 

What does it mean to be a historian? 

History can transport us to the past, to another world; it can help us to understand the present and make better choices for the future. As Historians, we are like detectives, investigating what has happened and why, using evidence, which helps us to build a clearer, more accurate understanding of the past. It opens our eyes to the way other people live and lived, allowing us to make connections and compare their way of life to our own.​ 

Studying history could give you endless opportunities in the future, including becoming an archaeologist, a teacher, a tour guide, a researcher (for film, TV programmes, books, museums etc), a journalist or even a politician. 

Our curriculum 

The History curriculum has been constructed using the National Curriculum content incorporated with links to significant local history surrounding St Mark’s and areas of the past that interest our children. This has been developed into a thorough skills and knowledge progression that divides the intended learning into 4 key recurring strands: Who is leading the people? How has my life changed? What was happening around St Mark’s in the past? And what was it like for a child in .....? The children revisit these strands each year, sometimes in multiple units allowing them to gain a developing understanding of the changes that occurred throughout history and make links between different time periods and societies. The history curriculum has also been developed closely alongside the geography curriculum to ensure that children can make connections between the physical environment and the historical changes, as well as significant physical factors that may have influenced the settlement of people and how all of these have changed over time. 

History is taught as part of cross-curricular project approach, which includes a range of subjects that link together to give children a broad and well-rounded experience. Before the start of each project, the children are given an opportunity to examine vocabulary and pictures relating to the project. The children can then offer their ideas and ask questions about the areas of the topic they would like to find out more about. This information then informs the direction of the teachers planning and the key areas and questions to be answered throughout the project.  

Throughout the projects, we plan activities and lessons to build on the children’s prior learning within history while also making meaningful links across the curriculum so that the children are able to learn and remember more. This includes simple prior knowledge assessment tasks to establish their individual starting points. We give all children the opportunities to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding through a progressive scheme of work, so that there is an increasing challenge for the children as they move through the school.  

Throughout the projects, the children also experience a range of WOW days linked to different topics, have the opportunity to go on trips, have visits from experts and handle a range of artefacts and sources (either from our own resources or borrowed from Weston Museum). 

At St Mark’s the children in the EYFS follow the curriculum set out in the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage.  The provision of History is assured through the area of learning of ’Understanding the World’ and assessed against the ELG. Where possible the learning is linked to the 4 key strands that run through the rest of the school but this is not essential. 

At St Mark’s, we ensure that all children have the opportunity to take part in History and that lessons are adapted accordingly to meet the needs of all the children in the class, including those with SEND.