Bowmansgreen Primary
School History
‘History is who we are and why we are the way we are.’
-David McCullough
At Bowmansgreen Primary School, we aspire to develop historians who possess an enquiring mind and a desire to explore the past and the world around them surrounding them. We believe that a high-quality history curriculum should foster an understanding of Britain’s history within not only the school’s locality, but the broader global context. It is vital for our pupils to grasp significant periods of British and local history, enabling them to connect the history they study with the contemporary world and cultivate their own sense of identity.
Our meticulously designed curriculum sequences historical knowledge as pupils progress through the school. It has been structured in a way that allows our pupils to make connections between historical periods so that they are able to draw upon prior learning in order to help consolidate new learning. We believe that pupils should develop progressive skills of a historian throughout their time at Bowmansgreen and not just learn a series of facts about the past. Through the use of carefully planned unit overviews, the teachers can consider how the following skills can be integrated into each lesson:
Chronological understanding- Pupils will be able to place events studied on a timeline, including those previously studied. Pupils will also be able to identify similarities and differences between ways of life in different time periods.
Knowledge and understanding of events, people and changes in the past- Pupils will develop their curiosity by questioning why people did things in the past. Pupils will also understand why events occurred and what happened as a result.
Historical interpretation- Pupils will identify different ways to represent the past and discuss the reliability of these sources.
Historical enquiry- Pupils will answer historical questions about the past using their own historical knowledge. They will also use a range of sources to find out about a time period and build a picture on this event.
Throughout the curriculum, we have sought to utilise the locality of Bowmansgreen Primary School to the city of St. Albans and its surrounding areas in order to consistently link history to a local level. This provides our pupils with meaningful opportunities to learn about pivotal historical events and influential figures that have shaped their local landscape. This approach allows students to build a comprehensive understanding of their local history, linking it to their personal lives.
We aim to aspire our pupils through providing them with rich, hands-on learning opportunities to create memorable experiences. We believe that educational visits, workshops and trips linked to the topics covered, will allow our pupils to put their learning into perspective and experience the past through their own eyes. This includes being transported back in time, taking on the role of different occupations and investigating artefacts.
Our whole curriculum is shaped to ensure that every pupil can achieve excellence and are provided with equal opportunities. By the end of KS2, our pupils will be competent historians who are able to explain significant events in time and historical figures, identifying their importance and impact. Pupils will have acquired the appropriate use of historical vocabulary to discuss change over time and make informed comparisons and contrasts between different periods; having regularly addressed and sometimes devised historically valid questions about them. Furthermore, pupils will also understand the methods of historical enquiry, including how a range of sources are used rigorously to make historical claims, and discern how and why contrasting arguments and interpretations of the past have been constructed.
If you would like to find out more information about how our school approaches the teaching of History and the impact we intent for it to have, then please read our Intent, Implementation and Impact document below.
Intent, Implementation and Impact
Overviews
History Vocabulary Progression