History

Our vision for history

Children learn how people lived, how societies changed and how the past shapes our world. They consider evidence, chronology and the different ways people interpret events.

What children learn

Year A (2026–27) is being taught now. Year B (2027–28) follows next year. Years 1–2 use Cornerstones Year 1 projects, Years 3–4 use Year 4 projects and Years 5–6 use Year 6 projects where Cornerstones is used. Individual year-group expectations remain important.

Cycle and phase	Autumn	Spring	Summer
Year A · Years 1–2	Childhood History	Bright Lights, Big City Geography	School Days History
Year A · Years 3–4	Through the Ages History	Rocks, Relics and Rumbles Geography	Emperors and Empires History
Year A · Years 5–6	Maafa History	Frozen Kingdoms Geography	Britain at War History
Year B · Years 1–2	Movers and Shakers	Coastline	Magnificent Monarchs
Year B · Years 3–4	Invasion History	Misty Mountain, Winding River Geography	Ancient Civilisations History
Year B · Years 5–6	Dynamic Dynasties History	Sow, Grow and Farm Geography	Groundbreaking Greeks History

Essential Knowledge and progression

Reception begins with children’s own experiences of past and present. Across the two-year cycle, children deepen chronological understanding and learn to ask increasingly thoughtful questions of sources. The Year A and Year B Cornerstones projects together provide the phase sequence.

A learning journey: In Childhood and School Days, younger children compare familiar life now with life in the past and begin to order events. They learn that photographs, objects and accounts can tell us about earlier times. In Years 3–4, Through the Ages and Emperors and Empires extend chronological reach and require pupils to connect change and continuity across longer periods. In Years 5–6, Maafa and Britain at War invite more demanding questions about causes, consequences, different experiences and the limits of sources. Pupils move from saying what a source shows to explaining what it can and cannot tell us.

How we teach it

Teachers introduce each period, locate it in time, teach essential knowledge and use sources, images, artefacts or accounts to help pupils investigate and discuss the past.

DISCERN in this subject: When studying a period, pupils recall its place on a timeline. The teacher introduces a source and its context, models how to ask what it shows, and supports an initial interpretation. Children compare ideas with others; questions check whether claims fit the evidence. They then record a reasoned explanation and return to the timeline in the next enquiry.

How all children take part

Teachers introduce and revisit key vocabulary, model new ideas clearly and adapt resources and support so that every child can participate and show understanding. Children who are ready to go further can explain, compare, apply and question their learning.

How we check learning

Teachers check understanding through questions, discussion, pupil work and practical activity. They revisit essential knowledge, address misconceptions and use what they learn about pupils to plan the next steps.

Feedback focuses on the historical knowledge named in the Learning Challenge. A teacher may highlight a precise explanation that demonstrates it, then ask a focused follow-up question or provide a GAP task if a misconception remains. The marking policy expects a developmental response within each topic.

Beyond the classroom

Local places, family stories and visits or visitors, where arranged, can help children connect history to lived experience. Learning about a range of people and societies broadens children’s understanding.