Our History Curriculum Intent

At Farway School, we believe that history helps children understand the world in which they live by exploring the people, events and changes that have shaped our lives and communities.

Our history curriculum aims to inspire curiosity about the past, encourage children to ask thoughtful questions and develop their understanding of how and why life has changed over time. We want our children to become confident young historians who can investigate the past, use historical evidence, recognise different perspectives and make meaningful connections between past and present.

Our curriculum is rooted in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework and the National Curriculum for England. It is designed to develop children's chronological understanding, historical knowledge, enquiry skills and subject-specific vocabulary progressively throughout their time at our schools.

We aim to ensure that all children, regardless of their starting points or individual needs, experience an ambitious, engaging and inclusive history curriculum that prepares them for the next stage of their education.

Our Rolling History Curriculum

As a small rural school with mixed-age classes, we organise our history curriculum through carefully planned rolling programmes based on Kapow Primary's history curriculum.

In EYFS and Key Stage 1, children follow a three-year rolling programme, organised into Cycles A, B and C. Every child experiences all three cycles during their time in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2.

Our programme incorporates historical enquiries alongside locally developed learning opportunities. Children explore personal history, changes within living memory, significant individuals and events, and how life in the past compares with life today.

In Key Stage 2, children follow a four-year rolling programme, designed to cover the statutory National Curriculum for history across Years 3, 4, 5 and 6. This will enable children to explore significant periods, events, societies and civilisations from British and world history.

Our rolling programmes allow children of different ages to investigate shared historical topics while working towards learning objectives appropriate to their age, prior knowledge and stage of development.

We recognise that children may experience historical units in different orders. Therefore, our approach to progression is based not simply on the sequence of topics, but on the careful development and revisiting of important historical knowledge, concepts, vocabulary and enquiry skills.

Teachers adapt learning to ensure that children develop increasingly sophisticated historical understanding as they move through school.

Developing Historical Knowledge and Skills

Our history curriculum develops two important aspects of learning.

Substantive knowledge enables children to understand significant people, events, periods and changes in the past. Children develop knowledge of chronology, everyday life, societies, achievements and the ways in which the past has influenced the present.

Disciplinary knowledge enables children to think and work like historians. They learn to ask historical questions, investigate sources, consider evidence, identify similarities and differences, explain change and continuity, and explore the significance of historical events and individuals.

Throughout their time at our schools, children revisit these important concepts in increasingly challenging contexts.

We aim for children to develop a secure understanding of the past rather than simply remember isolated facts.

History in EYFS and Key Stage 1

In our mixed-age Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 classroom, history begins with children's own experiences and understanding of the world around them.

In Reception, children explore the concepts of past and present through family memories, photographs, stories, familiar objects, celebrations and changes in their own lives. These experiences develop the foundations of chronological understanding and historical vocabulary.

As children progress through Key Stage 1, they begin to investigate the past in greater depth. They explore changes within living memory, significant historical events and individuals, and similarities and differences between life in different periods.

Our continuous provision approach enables all children to explore historical ideas through purposeful play, practical investigation, role-play, construction, stories and artefacts.

These experiences complement direct teaching and provide opportunities for children to revisit vocabulary, apply their knowledge and develop independence.

Although children may investigate the same historical enquiry, teachers provide appropriate levels of challenge and support to ensure that Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 pupils make progress towards their respective curriculum expectations.

History in Key Stage 2

In Key Stage 2, children build upon the historical knowledge and enquiry skills developed during EYFS and Key Stage 1.

Through our four-year rolling programme, pupils will study the statutory areas of British, local and world history, developing a broader chronological understanding of the past.

Children will explore significant historical periods, investigate how societies and civilisations developed, and consider the causes and consequences of important events.

They will develop greater confidence in using historical sources, comparing interpretations, identifying change and continuity, and explaining the significance of people and events.

As pupils progress from lower to upper Key Stage 2, they will be encouraged to make increasingly complex connections between different periods, societies and historical concepts.

Our intention is that children leave Year 6 with a secure foundation of historical knowledge, the ability to think critically about evidence and the confidence to approach further historical study with curiosity and independence.

Exploring Our Local History

As a school situated in the East Devon village of Farway, we believe that local history is an important part of our curriculum.

We want children to understand the history and heritage of the communities in which they live and learn, recognising how local places and people connect to wider historical events and changes.

Our EYFS and Key Stage 1 rolling programme includes a dedicated local-history enquiry tailored to our school.

At Farway, children investigate St Michael's Church and consider what this historic building can tell us about the village in the past.

Through local visits, photographs, maps, historical sources and practical experiences, children develop a sense of belonging and an appreciation of their community's heritage.

We aim to build upon this understanding as children progress through school, helping them recognise the connections between local, national and world history.

Vocabulary and Historical Enquiry

Vocabulary is central to our history curriculum.

We carefully introduce and revisit historical language so that children can discuss the past, explain their understanding and communicate their ideas with increasing accuracy.

In the early years, children develop an understanding of words such as past, present, old, new, before and after.

As they progress through school, they develop more precise historical vocabulary, including terms such as chronology, timeline, artefact, evidence, source, change, continuity, significance and consequence.

Vocabulary is taught explicitly, modelled by adults and revisited through discussion, questioning, practical experiences and historical enquiries.

We want children to become confident in using historical language to ask questions, explain their reasoning and support their ideas with evidence.

Assessment and Progression

Assessment is an important part of our history curriculum.

Teachers use questioning, discussion, observation, practical activities and children's work to identify what pupils know, understand and remember.

Assessment focuses on the essential historical knowledge, vocabulary and enquiry skills identified within each unit.

Within our mixed-age classes, teachers consider the different expectations for each year group and adapt teaching accordingly.

Children are encouraged to revisit prior learning, make connections between historical topics and develop increasingly detailed explanations of their understanding.

This approach supports progression across our rolling programmes, regardless of the order in which children encounter individual topics.

Our Intended Outcomes

By the time children leave Farway School, we want them to:

• Have a secure and increasingly coherent understanding of British, local and world history.

• Understand chronology and recognise how people, events and societies have changed over time.

• Ask thoughtful historical questions and investigate the past with curiosity.

• Use historical sources and evidence to develop and support their understanding.

• Recognise similarities, differences, change, continuity, cause, consequence and significance.

• Use historical vocabulary accurately and confidently.

• Appreciate the heritage of their local communities and understand its connections to the wider world.

• Develop respect for different societies, cultures, experiences and perspectives.

• Be confident, curious and independent learners who are well prepared for further historical study.

Above all, we want our children to understand that history is more than learning about events from the past. It is about investigating evidence, asking questions, understanding change and recognising how the past has shaped the world we live in today.