A high quality history education will help pupils gain a coherent knowledge, chronology and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world. It should inspire pupils’ curiosity to know more about the past. Teaching should equip pupils to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments and develop perspective and judgement. History helps pupils to understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups, as well as their own identity and the challenges of their time.

At Midfield Primary School we provide our children with a range of life experiences and expand their understanding of the world they live in. This begins in EYFS where we develop pupils’ understanding of ‘past’ and ‘present’ through a range of stories and discussions around objects. Building on this, our curriculum takes the children on a chronological journey through the ages from year 1 to year 6. Starting at the dawn of time, we teach right through the eras to the present day to develop a deep understanding of the rich history of the British Isles and some of the significant empires and time periods from around the world.

We teach our pupils to ‘think like a historian’ by examining artifacts and sources from the time and encouraging them to think critically about what we might be able to learn from the evidence. Each unit provides experiential learning which engages the children and helps to secure the knowledge whilst building on their understanding of key historical concepts across the school. Woven through our planning is a recognition of diversity - we teach the pupils that people from all backgrounds, ethnicities and religions have had an impact on the world and we hope that every child sees themselves in our curriculum. In addition to this, we ensure our topics lend themselves well to our promotion and learning of British Values, with talks of democracy throughout the ages and discussions about the rule of law, tolerance and the rights of people. Our curriculum is fully inclusive supported by use of historical artefacts, secondary sources and educational visits to promote oracy.

In the summer term, each year group takes part in an ‘Immersion Day’ based on a previously studied period. On this day, pupils experience a range of activities linking to the topic and spend the day immersed in a different time in history.