"A people without the knowledge of their history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots."
(Marcus Garvey)
"The more you know about the past, the better prepared you are for the future."
(Theodore Roosevelt)
At St. Andrew’s, we believe that every child is entitled to a creative, challenging and captivating curriculum that equips them for today and tomorrow. (See our Curriculum Statement https://www.st-andrews.notts.sch.uk/curriculum/ ). Through our history curriculum, which is supported by the KeyStage History scheme, the children will be involved and engaged in investigating questions about people and events in the past in order to enable them to better understand their lives today and for the future as more informed and enlightened citizens.
Through our history curriculum, the children will develop critical thinking skills through logical, broad and balanced enquiry-based projects which reflect the guidance and demands of the National Curriculum. The projects are chronologically sequenced as children progress through school which allows them opportunities to evaluate change and progress from one historical period to another and build on previous knowledge and understanding as they tackle more complex and demanding projects. The projects also make links across themes and topics, building children’s contextual knowledge across year groups. For example, children first explore the concepts of hierarchy and power in Queens in KS1. Then, in KS2, children study how hierarchy and power develop and change from the earliest times in Britain and the wider world, through to World War 2 .
The projects expose children to a wide range of ambitious, subject-specific vocabulary. Vocabulary is introduced, revisited and reinforced over time, so that children become confident and articulate as they progress throughout the curriculum.