History

Subject Leader: Emily Lile

Our Vision

At Hartwell, History is recognised as a portal into understanding, enjoying and appreciating the world in which we live. Fun and engaging lessons are vital for bringing history to life and allowing the children to become historians. We pride ourselves in delivering a high-quality education which values the place of history within the curriculum, allowing children to gain a cohesive understanding of Britain’s past, alongside that of civilisations from across the wider world.   

The staff at Hartwell value enquiry based learning in which we foster opportunities that inspire the children to become inquisitive and take charge of their learning. Children are eager and confident to ask their own questions to extend their understanding, whilst using a range of primary and secondary sources to build their own informed responses to the questions they ask. Through the application of a variety of teaching and learning styles, pupils are motivated to enquire, weigh evidence to support arguments and think critically as they focus on recent eras of history, significant individuals and ancient civilisations from all around the world, whilst considering how these have impacted our modern lives. 

 

Intent:

At Hartwell, our intent is to provide a high-quality History curriculum that inspires pupils’ curiosity, critical thinking and understanding of the past. We aim to equip all children with secure historical knowledge, skills and concepts so they can make sense of the world around them and appreciate how the past influences life today.

Our curriculum is designed to ensure that pupils develop:

  • Chronological understanding of key periods, events and individuals.
  • Knowledge and understanding of events, people and changes in the past.
  • Historical enquiry skills, including questioning, investigating, interpreting and evaluating evidence.
  • Historical interpretation, understanding how and why different accounts of the past exist.
  • Organisation and communication skills to express historical understanding clearly and confidently.

We believe History should help pupils make meaningful connections, see the relevance of the past to their lives, and develop respect for diverse cultures and perspectives.

Implementation:

Curriculum Structure & Planning

  • All KS1 and KS2 year groups study two History topics each year, following Historical Association guidance.
  • Topics include an even balance of overview studies and in-depth studies, ensuring broad knowledge and deeper enquiry.
  • Each lesson includes a key question used as an assessment tool to measure understanding.

Teaching and Learning

Teachers use a wide range of strategies to make History dynamic, meaningful and engaging. These include:

  • Questioning
  • Role play
  • Drama
  • Class and group discussions/debate
  • Investigation of primary and secondary sources

Evidence types used:

  • Documents
  • Photographs, portraits, pictures
  • Artefacts
  • Visits and local studies
  • Buildings
  • Websites and digital resources
  • Audio/video content
  • Information from experts and local residents

Historical Vocabulary

  • Teachers use vocabulary linked to chronology and time across the curriculum.
  • Vocabulary progression is reinforced through repeated use of key historical terms.

Supporting Memory and Retention

To help pupils retain key knowledge and concepts:

  • We use flip chart collections of learning to revisit in later lessons
  • Repetition of key ideas and vocabulary
  • Recurring skills taught across topics (e.g. chronology, source work)
  • Learning is linked to previous topics and specifically taught in a stand alone lesson
  • Use Vocabulary from the History Progression Document
  • Create History topic displays with prompts, information and visuals
  • Provide next-step activities to consolidate previous learning
  • Use whole school, class and book timelines to revisit and recap learning

Assessment, Recording and Reporting

  • Assessment is continuous and recorded within short-term planning
  • Evidence includes written work, post-it verbal evidence, photographs and pupil responses
  • Symphony Grids track progress against National Curriculum expectations
  • Subject Leader and class teachers use assessment information to monitor progress and inform reports to parents
  • Knowledge organisers

Impact:

By the end of their time at Hartwell, children will:

  • Develop secure knowledge of key historical periods, events, concepts and people.
  • Demonstrate strong chronological understanding and be able to make connections across time periods.
  • Show confidence in interpreting historical evidence and asking perceptive questions.
  • Use historical vocabulary accurately and with increasing sophistication.
  • Communicate historical understanding clearly through discussion, writing, drama and other forms.
  • Retain key historical knowledge through repetition, vocabulary focus and retrieval practice.
  • Achieve well and make strong progress, with outcomes monitored through Symphony Grids and Target Tracker.
  • Leave EYFS/KS1/KS2 as inquisitive, reflective learners who understand the significance of the past in shaping their world.

Subject Leader

As history subject leader, my aim is to support and enrich an inclusive and engaging whole-school history curriculum. In order to ensure that history is taught effectively across Hartwell Primary School, I monitor teaching and learning through learning walks, lesson observations, book scrutinies and conversations with our pupils. This enables me to celebrate strengths and successes from history across the school, whilst also support where there are areas that need further development. I have established a learning environment in which history is celebrated, enjoyed and valued.

Pupil Voice

As a school, we believe that it is important to gather the children’s views and opinions about history in order to really understand what is working within our history curriculum and effectively consider where to go next. Below are the most recent results of our pupil voice survey:

Please click here to see our History pupil voice 25-26

Please click here to see our SMSC in History.

The History Curriculum at Hartwell

We believe that children learn best through a curriculum that has rigour, challenge, depth and breadth, and which connects all areas of learning. At Hartwell, our history curriculum focuses around four key skills that we incorporate into our teaching and learning in order to allow the pupils to become true historians. These skills include: developing chronological understanding, historical interpretation, historical enquiry and organisation and communication. These skills are integrated into a breadth of topics across the school, from looking at changes in living memory (Our Village – Year 1) to exploring different ancient civilisations like the Ancient Egyptians (Year 4), the Ancient Greeks (Year 3) and the Mayans (Year 6).

   

Key stage 1

Pupils should develop an awareness of the past, using common words and phrases relating to the passing of time. They should know where the people and events they study fit within a chronological framework and identify similarities and differences between ways of life in different periods. They should use a wide vocabulary of everyday historical terms. They should ask and answer questions, choosing and using parts of stories and other sources to show that they know and understand key features of events. They should understand some of the ways in which we find out about the past and identify different ways in which it is represented.

Pupils should be taught about: 

  • changes within living memory. Where appropriate, these should be used to reveal aspects of change in national life  
  • events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally  
  • the lives of significant individuals in the past who have contributed to national and international achievements. Some should be used to compare aspects of life in different periods  
  • significant historical events, people and places in their own locality. 

Key stage 2

Pupils should continue to develop a chronologically secure knowledge and understanding of British, local and world history, establishing clear narratives within and across the periods they study. They should note connections, contrasts and trends over time and develop the appropriate use of historical terms. They should regularly address and sometimes devise historically valid questions about change, cause, similarity and difference, and significance. They should construct informed responses that involve thoughtful selection and organisation of relevant historical information. They should understand how our knowledge of the past is constructed from a range of sources.

Screenshot

Pupils should be taught about: 

  • changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age 
  • the Roman Empire and its impact on Britain 
  • Britain’s settlement by Anglo-Saxons and Scots 
  • the Viking and Anglo-Saxon struggle for the Kingdom of England to the time of Edward the Confessor 
  • a local history study 
  • a study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils’ chronological knowledge beyond 1066 
  • the achievements of the earliest civilizations – an overview of where and when the first civilizations appeared and a depth study of one of the following: Ancient Sumer; The Indus Valley; Ancient Egypt; The Shang Dynasty of Ancient China  
  • Ancient Greece – a study of Greek life and achievements and their influence on the western world  
  • a non-European society that provides contrasts with British history – one study chosen from: early Islamic civilization, including a study of Baghdad c. AD 900; Mayan civilization c. AD 900; Benin (West Africa) c. AD 900-1300. 

Early Years Foundation Stage

Our ambitious history curriculum begins in the Early Years where it is practical and inclusive. It is taught with support and challenge from adults in class sessions, small groups and from working with individuals. There is a combination of adult-led and teacher-taught sessions as well as a wealth of stimulating continuous provision opportunities where adults scaffold learning through skilful interactions and questioning, including independent exploration/play.

Through Understanding of the World, a specific area of learning within the Early Years’ framework, children’s foundations of historical knowledge are laid as they learn to:

Begin to make sense of their own life-story and family history
Comment on images of familiar situations from the past
Compare and contrast characters from stories, including figures from the past
Talk about the lives and roles of people around them
Know similarities and differences between things in the past and now through drawing on their experiences and what they have read in class.
Understand the past through settings, characters and events read in class and storytelling.

Useful Documents

Please click here to see Hartwell History LTP

Please click here to see our Progression Document.

Please click here to see our Vocabulary Lists.

Please click here to see our History SDP 2025 to 26

Please click here to see our History Policy 2025-26

Useful Website Links