History has always been held in high regard at Long Row Primary and Nursery School, with the school’s location having its own rich history. The history curriculum at Long Row makes use of resources within the immediate and wider local area, enabling children to develop a deep understanding of the history of their locality. Our history curriculum brings together the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (2021), National Curriculum (2014), the principles of Guerrilla teaching and the cultural capital of the school. The history curriculum at Long Row is carefully planned and structured to ensure that current learning is linked to previous learning, and that the school’s approaches are informed by current pedagogy.

Our history curriculum includes topics that are selected to ensure all educational programmes of study are covered over a 2-year cycle in KS1 and KS2 during our ‘discover term’ of the year (autumn), and throughout the year in EYFS. To support the development and planning of our EYFS curriculum we also use Development Matters. Even though all of our children become historians during the autumn term, our learning in this subject doesn’t end there. Through high-quality teaching, we strive for opportunities throughout the year to secure children’s understanding of chronology; including the use of timelines, sequencing of historical eras and events, and the revisiting of prior learning to help give context to new learning. By the end of Year 6, children will have a chronological understanding of British history from the Stone Age to the present day. They are able to draw comparisons and make connections between different time periods and their own lives. Interlinked with this are studies of world history, such as the ancient civilisations of Egypt. Our curriculum is successfully adapted, designed or developed to be ambitious and meet the needs of pupils with SEND - developing their knowledge, skills and abilities, to apply what they know and can do with increasing fluency and independence. 

History is taught on a weekly basis during the autumn term, with at least 2 lessons a week lasting between 1 and 2 hours. Sometimes a day may be given over to history for enrichment activities, so the children can become fully immersed in the learning that is taking place during that experience. We use a range of active approaches to learning in history; including: debates, drama, and hot seating, as well as opportunities for children to demonstrate their historical knowledge in writing, such as through fact files and reports. Cross-curricular outcomes in history are specifically planned for to enable further contextual learning.