"I have great respect for the past. If you don’t know where you’ve come from, you don’t know where you’re going." Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou was an American memoirist, poet, and civil rights activist.
History at St Thomas'
At St Thomas', we aim to inspire curiosity and fascination about Britain’s past and that of the wider world and we strive for our pupils to develop a chronological understanding of the past, through the development of key historical skills and knowledge.
Our rich curriculum equips our pupils with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to thrive academically, socially, and culturally in an ever-changing world. We strive to inspire a life-long curiosity for history and create a generation of informed and responsible citizens. Our curriculum is rooted in the understanding that history plays a vital role in shaping pupils' identities, promoting understanding and respect for diverse cultures, and nurturing an awareness of the social and cultural complexities of our rapidly changing world.
Our History curriculum is based on the Schemes of work from Curriculum Maestro (Cornerstones) and has been developed and refined to meet the needs of our school and our context as a coastal school. It is well designed and sequenced and helps children to build upon their knowledge, allowing them to develop understanding of historical concepts and themes, and enabling them to make links to prior learning as they progress through school. We have designed a well-structured, knowledge-rich curriculum with a logical sequencing of topics and key learning and vocabulary clearly identified ensuring that pupils acquire a breadth and depth of historical knowledge. As historians, pupils are taught to interpret and critically evaluate historical sources and are encouraged to discuss and debate.
We focus not only on significant individuals, events and influences from the wider world, but also on the history of our town, St Annes on Sea. Our children learn about the development of our town as a seaside resort, the role the local area played in the war efforts and learn about significant local individuals such as Lord Ashton. Vocabulary development is well planned, and children are explicitly taught key historical words and phrases.
We want our children to enjoy learning about the past and we believe in making history come alive through a variety of inspiring learning experiences. These are planned into our curriculum offer, and include educational visits to museums, historical sites and local landmarks, as well as inviting guest speakers or experts to share their knowledge and experiences with our pupils. Mr Worrell’s History visits into school are a real treat and help us bring learning to life for all the children.
| Name | |
|---|---|
| HIstory overview.pdf | Download |
Take a look at our Learning in history
Reception children read 'Once There Were Giants' by Martin Waddell to help them understand how we grow and change as individuals and how we develop independence as we grow.
The children learn all about what is was like to go to experience the sea side in the past compared with today.
Year 3 learn all about the history and structure of the Roman Empire. They visit Ribchester Museum where they learn all about the life of Roman soldiers and experience real life Roman sites and artefacts. They also take part in a workshop and are given the opportunity to scribe like a Roman and recreate battle tactics!
Year 5 learn all about the Ancient Greeks. They have a visit from a local historian and they learn all about daily life and social hierarchy. The children love to dress up for these spcial days!
They learn all about The Ancient civilisation of the Shang Dynasty by digging for evidence such as jade, bones and dragon bone.
Year 1 compare childhood in the 1950s with today by looking at schools, family life and everyday life.
They also compare how children were taught at school during the Victorian age compared with school life today.
Year 2 focus on significant people within history such as explorers and civil right activists.
They also learn about significant monarchs and the changes they imparted, right through from Henry VIII, Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth I and our current monarch, King Charles III.
Year 4 learn about the Roman withdrawal from Britain and the power struggle between the Picts, Scots and Anglo-Saxons.
They also delve into Egyptian civilisation and hierarchy through educational experiences such as a visit to Bolton Museum to explore real life artefacts.