Geography

Intent

History teaching at our school has two main aims: to encourage children to learn about the past and to ensure history reinforces skills of finding out and reasoning which are applicable in many areas of life. We want to stimulate the children’s interest and understanding about the life of people who lived in the past, both in Britain and in the wider world. We teach children through contextual lenses including:

• Chronology
• Accessing evidence
• Using evidence
• Historical communication
• Historical vocabulary

Implementation

History leads at least one topic per year group.  We begin with a stunning start designed to excite and stimulate the children's interest.  We teach History in line with the National Curriculum and children will learn about the following areas when in our school:

• Changes in living memory
• The lives of significant individuals - Mary Anning, King Charles, King Henry VII, Ibn Battua, Neil Armstrong
• The Great Fire of London
• Significant local historical events and people -  The Prince Regent, Martha Gunn, Magnus Volks
• Changes in Britain including the Stone Age, Anglo-Saxons and Vikings, Romans and Modern Day
• Early civilizations including The Ancient Mayans, The Shang Dynasty, The Ancient Greeks

We deliver these lessons by:

• Developing a sense of chronology to help develop a sense of identity and a cultural understanding based on their historical heritage: they learn to value their own and other people’s cultures .
• Exploring how events in the past have influenced our lives today
• Helping children to formulate questions that allow them to deepen their own investigation of past events
• Holding experience days where children will develop the skills of enquiry, analysis, interpretation and problem-solving through the use of informed role-play.
• Making connections with the study of history through other subjects including geography and religious education, which will give the opportunity to celebrate and recognise the contributions of diverse societies and people to politics, sciences and the arts.
• Creating an immersive experience of history, where children will be inspired to use their creativity to support their analysis with the exploration of history.
• Referring to the eras of history that are studied throughout a child’s journey at St Margaret’s, via timelines, sequencing them chronologically, but also to comparing and contrasting them to seek out relationships, similarities and differences.
• Exploring our local area history and that of the United Kingdom as well as a range of ancient and diverse places and societies that have left their mark on history.
• Investigating case studies of significant events in history, examining the perspectives of those involved and the factors that caused or led to the consequences of these events.
• Providing a range of different information for the children to explore including primary and secondary sources that allow the children to make connections and draw their own conclusions about historical events.
• Developing the use and understanding of key vocabulary to explore historical communications with a deeper understanding.

Impact

By the time children leave our school, they should have visited some local site(s) of historical importance and have a greater awareness of how the global events have impacted the world we live in now. They will have engaged with some informed role-play that deepens their understanding of historical eras. They will be confident with asking questions and will seek out and listen to a diverse range of voices and perspectives to gain a deep understanding and make an informed choice of their own values, beliefs and understanding. They will understand how events and societies from around the world have influenced, contributed and shaped each other. They will have strong reasoning and analytical skills that will allow them to make balanced and informed judgements rooted in their knowledge and understanding of the past and will begin to utilise these with issues that they face today. They will be able to discuss and present their knowledge and understanding using appropriate vocabulary to share their point of view. Children will be able to make deductions from evidence, research using books, empathise with people from the past and encourage them to recognise similarities and differences between different time periods.

Enrichment activities to do outside of school

There are many activities that you can do with your children outside of school that will help to ignite and excite their interest in history as well as deepening their knowledge and understanding.  In our local area we are lucky to have a number of resources at our finger tips.

• Visit Preston Manor
• Visit the Sea Life Centre, one of the oldest aquariums in the country
• Visit the Brighton Pavilion, the holiday home of George IV
• Visit the Brighton Museum
• Go further afield to visit Bignor Roman Villa
• Go to  Brighton Palace Pier, first opened in 1899
• Travel on the Volk's Railway
• Visit the fishing museum to learn how Brighton developed from a fishing village into the city that it is today
• Visit the Brighton Toy Museum to learn about old toys.
• Visit Rottingdean windmill
• You will also find that many place such as Fishbourne, Arundel, Newhaven and the Weald and Downland Museum near Chichester have exciting hands on and dramatic activities during school holidays especially aimed at children

Please see our enrichment plan to see what we have planned into the school year for what your children can expect to experience with us.