“The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.”
― L.P. Hartley
Our intent at Northern is to make the study of history engaging, relatable and spark a curiosity about the past through a question-based approached to our curriculum. Throughout the school we ensure all aspects of the National Curriculum for Key Stage 1, 2 and EYFS are covered in a way that challenges children to push their historical skills and see the past as living, breathing people just like them rather than as dry sequence of events and dates that are distant and meaningless. To that end, we have organised our curriculum around 4 key aspects that can be readily applied to any period of time, including the present, to enable children to compare and contrast their own lives today, as well as easily compare different time periods to secure a good understanding of chronology.
In each topic in each year group, we cover;
The role of women in that time period
How children were treated
Inventions and technology
Food and drink
Entertainment and culture
By studying these universal human experiences we hope to bring history to life in a meaningful way for children at Northern. Please see below for a detailed breakdown of coverage and progression through the school.
In the Reception class, History is taught as an integral part of topic work covered during the year. History is about having the opportunities to find out and learn about the world they live in and discover the meaning of new and old in relation to their own lives.
History makes a significant contribution to the development of each child’s knowledge and understanding of the World. We provide activities such as examining photos of themselves at birth and looking for change over time, using stories that introduce a sense of time and people from the past, comparing artefacts from different times e.g. teddies, and making the most of opportunities to value children’s histories from their own and other cultures.
During Key Stage 1 children learn about people’s lives and lifestyles from different periods in the past. They listen to and respond to stories and use sources of information to help them ask and answer questions. They learn how the past is different from the present and learn how artefacts and other sources can help us to find out about the past.
During Key Stage 2 children learn about significant people, events and places from both recent and more distant past. They learn about change and continuity in their own area, in Britain and in other parts of the world. They look at history in a variety of ways covering substantive concepts such as civilisation, trade, tax, monarchy, empire and religion. They use different sources of information to help them investigate the past both in depth and in overview, using dates and historical vocabulary to describe events, people and developments. They also learn that the past can be represented and interpreted in different ways.
History work within the school has been carefully organised to provide continuation to develop a breadth of knowledge and understanding as well as developing skills. The organisation of the topics and skills covered ensures that the development throughout each phase builds on children’s previous work. Our key question based approach is designed to push not only children's historical investigative skills but our overall ethos of a love of learning and challenging misconceptions.
Year 1
Why is London Burning? The Great Fire of London Events beyond living memory. Entertainment and Culture What songs did people sing?
Food and Drink What were bakeries like when the Great Fire happened? Inventions and Technology How did people fight the fire? Children and Women What jobs did women have to do at the time of the fire?
| What Makes A Family? Chronology and sources. Changes within living memory. Entertainment and Culture What was music like 50 years ago? Food and Drink How has our food changed in the last 50 years? Inventions and Technology What difference has the car made? Children and Women Is what we play with the same as older people in our community? |
Year 2
Where Do We Live? Local history and sources, significant places in our own locality (including schools and playgrounds). Entertainment and Culture How did Bacup’s brass bands entertain the town? Food and Drink What were people given to eat in the mills? Inventions and Technology What were Bacup’s Trams like? Children and Women What was life like in the Bacup mills for women and children?
| Where Can We Explore? Significant people Entertainment and Culture How do the artists Pieter Bruegel the Elder and LS Lowry compare to each other? Food and Drink How did Christopher Columbus change the way the world eats?
Inventions and Technology The world wide web vs the printing press – did Berners-Lee or Caxton make the biggest leap forward? Children and Women How did Jeanne Baret defy the odds and become the first woman to travel around the world? | What Was It Like At The Seaside In The Past? Seaside resort and Victorians Events beyond living memory – the seaside then and now. Entertainment and Culture What did people do at the seaside in the past?
Food and Drink What can we find out from a seaside picnic? Inventions and Technology Why did the Victorians build so many piers? Children and Women How are our activities on holiday different from children 100 years ago?
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Year 3
Is There Any Place Like Home? Local history, sources and links across periods. Entertainment and Culture What would people in Bacup do for fun in World War 2? Food and Drink How did war rationing change people’s diets in Lancashire?
Inventions and Technology What was built in Bacup to protect from bombs?
Children and Women Why did evacuees come to Bacup?
How did the women workers of the north west help in the war? | What Is A Rock? Ancient Britain - Stonehenge Entertainment and Culture What do artefacts tell us about the culture of Iron Age Britain?
Food and Drink From hunters to farmers – how did the agricultural revolution impact food?
Inventions and Technology Was the Stone Age an era of primitive cavemen?
Children and Women How did home life change from the Stone Age to the Iron Age?
| What Did The Romans Do For Us? Roman Britain Entertainment and Culture How did people in Roman Britain spend their leisure time?
Food and Drink What foods did the Romans introduce to Britain?
Inventions and Technology How did Roman technology change Britain forever?
Children and Women Was the warrior queen Boudicca a hero or villain?
How did the Roman invasion change life for children?
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Year 4
Could You Survive The Great Plague? A theme in British history beyond 1066 – the Great Plague of 1665. Entertainment and Culture Why did gardens become so popular in Stuart England? Food and Drink Who drank in England’s first coffeehouses?
Inventions and Technology What was the state of medicine at the time of The Great Plague? Children and Women How were boys and girls treated differently growing up in Stuart England?
| Where Does Water Come From? Ancient Egypt, Shang Dynasty, Ancient Sumer, Indus Valley. The River Nile. Entertainment and Culture Was Ancient Egypt all work and no play?
Food and Drink What did the Nile provide the Egyptian diet?
Inventions and Technology Did the Egyptians do anything other than build pyramids?
Children and Women Is our school anything like the schools in Ancient Egypt?
Were Ancient Egyptian women free to follow their dreams? | Who Are The World's Greatest Hunters? Settlement/ Anglo-Saxons and Scots (including place names) Entertainment and Culture How did the Anglo-Saxons use games to help their work?
Food and Drink What was on the menu for an Anglo-Saxon feast? Inventions and Technology Was the time of the Anglo-Saxons really the “Dark Ages”? Children and Women An Anglo-Saxon king described his people as ”men who fight, men who work and men who pray.” Who did he forget?
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Year 5
Why Is Britain Great? Georgians 1714–1837Entertainment and Culture An age of spectacle – was Georgian England cruel or cultured?
Food and Drink The invention of ‘lunch’ - how sweet was Georgian lunchtime?
Inventions and Technology Why was Britain the “workshop of the world?”
Children and Women Was marriage like a prison in the Georgian era? What was expected from Georgian children?
| What Are The Most Amazing Inventions? Early Islamic civilization, Baghdad c 900 CE Entertainment and Culture How did the love of books and House of Wisdom usher in a Golden Age?
Food and Drink How did the Silk Road and spice trade impact Baghdad’s diets?
Inventions and Technology From maths to medicine, what is the legacy of Islamic civilisation? Children and Women Who were the extraordinary women who contributed to the Golden Age?
What was home life like for children in Baghdad? | What Does It Take To Be An Olympian? Ancient Greece, including sport. Entertainment and Culture How important was the theatre in Ancient Greek life?
Food and Drink How did the seasons effect what the Greeks ate and drank?
Inventions and Technology How did Greek technology change the world?
Children and Women How and why were women in Athens and Sparta treated differently?
What did ‘oikos’ mean to Ancient Greek children?
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Year 6
What Makes A Super Sleuth? Britain circa 850CE-1066CE Viking and Anglo-Saxon struggle for the Kingdom of England Entertainment and Culture Was a Viking’s only idea of fun to have a fight?
Food and Drink Was the diet of Vikings fit for conquerors?
Inventions and Technology How did the Vikings master navigation?
Children and Women Shieldmaidens, skalds and slaves – how varied were the lives of women under Norse rule?
Did the Vikings treat their children like “small adults”?
| What's It Like To Be Beside The Seaside? Victorians. Entertainment and Culture How did the Victorians relax on holiday?
Food and Drink The rich and the poor, countryside and city – how does what Victorians ate tell us about how divided society was?
Inventions and Technology Was the Victorian Era the true “Age of Invention”?
Children and Women Which Victorian women have left us the greatest legacy?
Did life get better for children over the Victorian age?
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