“The more you know about the past, the better prepared you are for the future” – Theodore Roosevelt
History-Curriculum-Overview-for-Parents
📚 History Curriculum at Tebay Primary School
Welcome to our History curriculum page, based on the Kapow Primary scheme.
✨ Intent: Why History Matters
Our aim is to help children:
- Develop a secure understanding of the past and how it shapes our present.
- Ask thoughtful questions, investigate evidence, and explore different perspectives.
- Build chronological awareness and understand key historical concepts such as invasion, empire, civilisation, and society.
- Appreciate diversity, identity, and the complexity of human experiences.
We want our pupils to become reflective, informed citizens who can use historical knowledge to make sense of the world around them.
🛠️ Implementation: How We Teach History
History is taught in weekly one-hour lessons, alternating with Geography each half-term. At Tebay Primary School, we deliver History through mixed-age phases:
- Year 1 and Year 2
- Year 3 and Year 4
- Year 5 and Year 6
This approach allows for collaborative learning, differentiated planning using Kapow’s adaptable resources, and spiral progression where key concepts are revisited and deepened over time.
Each lesson follows a consistent structure designed to help children know and remember more:
- Opportunities to revisit and retrieve prior learning
- Introduction of key vocabulary
- Use of a ‘Knowledge Stamp’ to identify and reinforce essential knowledge
Our teaching also includes engaging lesson plans, hands-on activities, storytelling, artefact exploration, and enquiry-based learning. We make cross-curricular links with subjects such as English, Art, and PSHE.
Each unit builds on prior learning and prepares pupils for future topics, ensuring progression and depth.
📈 Impact: What Pupils Achieve
We assess pupils through:
- Formative methods: questioning, retrieval practice, and interactive tasks
- Summative assessments: end-of-unit quizzes and pupil reflections
- Progress tracking: evidence of learning through work samples and discussions
Our History curriculum helps children retain key knowledge and vocabulary, develop historical enquiry skills, and gain confidence in expressing ideas and interpretations.
📎 Useful Links
History is taught in blocks each half term alternating with Geography. We aim to provide hands on experiences by including visits where children can see and handle historical artefacts and begin to understand the footprints left from the past and determine the legacy they want to leave for future generations.
