History Intent – This Is What We Want for Your Child

At Green Park Community Primary School, we are proud to offer a high-quality, bespoke History curriculum that is designed to inspire and empower our children to think and act like confident, skilled historians. We believe that learning about the past not only enriches our understanding of the world today but also deepens our appreciation of the diverse cultures and values that shape our community. Our aim is to instil a genuine love of learning about history—uncovering how and why events happened and exploring the stories that connect us all. We encourage children to engage with evidence and artefacts, to ask probing questions, and to draw meaningful inferences about our shared past. Ultimately, by the end of their journey at Green Park, we want every child to have built a robust historical vocabulary, think critically about the past, and form coherent explanations that link different periods together, ensuring they are well-equipped to understand their own place in our world.

 

History Implementation – Bringing the Past to Life in the Classroom

Our History curriculum is carefully structured to ensure that children know more, remember more, and can do more as they progress through our school. It is built around four key Golden Threads which serve as the backbone of our learning:

• Legacy/Invention: Understanding how ideas and innovations shape societies.
• Invasions: Exploring the impact of conflicts and conquests on communities.
• Hierarchy & Power: Examining the structures of authority and their influence on historical events.
• Settlements: Investigating how communities form, develop, and evolve over time.

In the Early Years, our approach to History begins with simple discussions about the past and present. Children learn to compare and contrast their own experiences with those of people long ago, drawing on personal and shared histories. As they move into Key Stages 1 and 2, our curriculum becomes more ambitious, with carefully sequenced units that use enquiry-based learning to challenge and engage. Each history unit is underpinned by a clear chronological narrative, allowing children to piece together the complex, intertwined stories of our past. Our lessons are taught in blocks, giving children ample time for sustained study and deep reflection. We enrich our teaching with hands-on activities, access to high-quality resources and artefacts, IT tools, field trips, themed days, loaned artefacts, and guest speakers, ensuring that history is both practical and engaging. Our curriculum is continuously refined in line with the latest research and best practices, ensuring that it remains relevant, effective, and adaptive to the needs of all our learners.

 

History Impact – The Difference It Makes for Our Children

The impact of our History curriculum at Green Park is profound. Our children not only gain secure knowledge and understanding of key people, events, and contexts from a variety of historical periods—they also develop the ability to think critically about the past and express their ideas with confidence. Through our rich and engaging curriculum, pupils come to:

• Develop a secure grasp of historical events, figures, and contexts.
• Think critically about history, using evidence to support their views.
• Cultivate a passion for history and a curiosity that drives them to explore how different interpretations arise.
• Engage in thoughtful debate and discussion, evaluating and challenging their own and others’ perspectives using accurate historical evidence.
• Build the skills necessary to research, reflect on, and articulate well-reasoned historical arguments.
• Demonstrate respect for historical evidence, using it to support clear explanations and judgements.
• Embrace challenging projects and high-quality research across a range of topics.

We continually monitor and assess our children’s progress through formative assessments, pupil discussions (Pupil Voice), and internal monitoring by our SLT and History Team. Celebrations of learning, such as our Curriculum Floor Book, showcase the progression and achievements across the school. Our goal is for each child to leave Green Park Community Primary School with not only a deep and broad understanding of history but also the critical thinking skills to apply this knowledge in their everyday lives and future studies. We are immensely proud of our children’s accomplishments in History and are confident that their passion and understanding of the past will continue to inspire them as they move forward.

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The History Progression Documents (knowledge and skills)