History
' A people without the knowledge of their History, orgin and culture is a tree without roots'
Marcus Garvey
In History at St Benedict’s Catholic Primary School, we aim for children to be able to:
- to foster in children an interest in the past and to develop an understanding that enables them to enjoy all that history has to offer;
- to enable children to know about significant events in British history and to appreciate how things have changed over time;
- to develop a sense of chronology;
- to know and understand how the British system of democratic government has developed and, in so doing, to contribute to a child’s citizenship education;
- to understand how Britain is part of a wider European culture and to study some aspects of European history;
- to have some knowledge and understanding of historical development in the wider world;
- to help children understand society and their place within it, so that they develop a sense of their cultural heritage;
- to develop in children the skills of enquiry, investigation, analysis, evaluation and presentation.
History teaching focuses on enabling children to think as historians. We place an emphasis on examining historical artefacts and primary and secondary sources. In each key stage we give children the opportunity to visit sites that are local and of historical significance. We encourage visitors to come into the school and talk about their experiences of events in the past. We recognize and value the importance of stories in history teaching and we regard this as an important way of stimulating interest in the past. We focus on helping children understand that historical events can be interpreted in different ways and that they should always ask searching questions, such as ‘how do we know?’, about information they are given.
