At St. John’s C of E Primary, we want all children to gain a sound knowledge and understanding of historical events. We strive to develop children’s experiences and understanding of History and the methods used to study. The aim is to help them make sense of the world in which they live and appreciate how past events and actions have influenced and formed their present lives.
In History lessons children ask questions, think critically, consider evidence and make judgements. Teachers plan exciting educational visits that link closely with the work studied in class and help to develop and extend children’s historical knowledge and enquiry. This opportunity engages children more fully in the topics they are studying and really brings their learning to life.
In Early Years, children are by nature curious; it is our aim to develop this curiosity about the past, concepts of time, place, awareness of their own environment and family developing the idea about their own history.
In Key Stage 1, children learn about the lives of significant individuals, events beyond living memory and history in their own locality. We use a variety of sources of evidence such as visits, visitors, artefacts, books and the internet as starting points for history.
In Key Stage 2, children learn about key periods of British and World History. Throughout school there is a focus on the sense of chronology and using what they have already learned in previous years. We aim to compare the past with themselves and how their lives differ to really embed how much things have changed.
At St. John’s, bringing History alive is one of our key aims! In addition to off-site educational visits, we have joined with Historic England, English Heritage and The Friends of Stockton and Darlington Railway to be involved in ongoing local history projects. Our town of Shildon has very important links with the birth of the railways, so these projects will enable our children to deepen their knowledge and understanding of the importance of their own locality. This will happen through accessing high quality maps, unique historical documents and specialists in the history of our locality. We are so proud our school has been chosen to be part of such pioneering, exciting and international historical projects!
Subject Plan
You can view or download the subject plan by clicking the link below.