At Eccleston Primary School, we want our pupils to be inspired to know more about Britain's past and that of the wider world. Knowledge of Britain's past can help them to understand the challenges of our own time. It engages pupils in questions about people and events in the past and helps pupils to understand the present and prepare them for the future. We want all pupils to develop a deep sense of life-long historical knowledge enabled by skills that they use for the rest of their lives.
We encourage all pupils to develop a context for their growing sense of identity and a chronological framework for their knowledge of significant events and people. The programme of study for history states that ‘History helps pupils to understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationship between different groups, as well as their own identity and the challenges of their time.’
At Eccleston Primary School, our History curriculum builds a strong foundation of knowledge and skills through an approach that teaches both the substantive knowledge and disciplinary skills that pupils will need. Pupils are taught to approach their learning as a Historian. Both the knowledge and skills build sequentially as pupils move through each year and are mapped to ensure that pupils can make links with what has already been taught. Within the History curriculum, pupils are taught subject specific vocabulary and are able to use this within their explanations, giving them the cultural capital they will need to be successful in society.