History
Battle and Langton History Curriculum
Themes and endpoints
There are essentially three areas of study that run through our history curriculum:
Ancient peoples: Where children study different ancient cultures from across the world and compare similarities and differences. They look at societal structures, belief systems and cultural legacies whilst considering the continuity and change of each of the areas. They look at why certain societies are historically significant, and study the role of archaeology in historical research.
The history of Britain to 1066: Children study Britain before humans looking at fossil records and learning how geological evidence can support our understanding of prehistory. They study the beginnings of civilisation in the Iron Age and map each epoch defining invasion from the Romans to the Normans. This brings them knowledge of power structures and how competing interests would find reasons beyond themselves to justify invasion and or settlement. They study the role of religion and beliefs in each of these settlements and study the ongoing legacies of each peoples. They develop a sense of chronology and have an understanding of the narrative threads that make our country's history. They read primary sources throughout and learn to recognise bias and the truism that history is often written by the victors.
Significant individuals and events: From early in the curriculum children are introduced to significant individuals and events such as the sinking of the Titanic, Mary Anning’s work on fossils and the Gunpowder plot.
Throughout the units of work, we thread the following themes:
Equality: A knowledge that throughout history, life hasn’t been equal and certain groups have been more successful than others, usually through oppressing them directly or through denying them status, resources or information.
Power: A knowledge that all societies structure themselves into systems, and a struggle for control of those systems is often a catalyst for change. Through this thread we see the development of the concepts of monarchy, hereditary rights, ruler, invasion, occupation, settlement and claims to power. We also look at some ways in which power is held on to: control of information, control of an army or a claim of divine providence. Children are also introduced to the concept of democracy and are taught to compare life now to life at different times in history.
Beliefs: A sense that humans have always made sense of their world and made themselves feel safe through beliefs and ritual.
The everyday human: A sense that despite huge differences in time and space, humans have always eaten, clothed themselves, lived communally, raised a family, expressed themselves artistically
Connected Learning Concepts:
Continuity & Change: Critical to an understanding of history is the ability to see what has changed and what has remained throughout different periods. The curriculum spans thousands of years so finding common threads is important for children to remain grounded and place the knowledge within their existing schema. They look at changes that occurred after significant events such as the Roman invasion of Britain, or the Great fire of London but they also look at the things that have remained from those periods such as influences on language of the many invasions in British History.
Evidence & Proof: Throughout the curriculum children are introduced to the work of an Historian, and how we know about different periods. They study secondary sources such as newspaper reports of the sinking of the Titanic, but wherever possible, primary sources such as archaeological evidence, letters warning of the Gunpowder plot or contemporary accounts of the Battle of Hastings from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle amongst others. This level of historical source encourages the children to learn to question ‘how’ someone knows something is true, and teaches them that sometimes there are different interpretations of historical ‘facts’.
1066 Day
Given our school's unique position in Battle, we feel it is really important that our children have a deep and long-lasting knowledge of the events of 1066. For this reason, every year on the final day of the first term (close to the anniversary of the battle) we hold 1066 day.
On this day, all classes are taught parts of the story of the Battle of Hastings and do lots of different sorts of activities to reinforce the knoweldge. The learning culminates in Year 5 with a visit from our local re-enactors, and in Year 6 with a trip to the battlefield itself.
Below is the outline of the learning on the day:
For further information about the curriculum please speak to your child's teacher or make an appointment to see Mr Alexander