History

Intent - What we want for our developing historians?

At Horn’s Mill, our history curriculum has been carefully designed by staff, with clear essential learning mapped out for each year group. It aims to inspire curiosity and a love of the past, while ensuring full coverage of the National Curriculum. This work has been supported by investment in subject leadership and collaboration with other schools, history experts and universities, making our curriculum research-informed, rigorous, and tailored to our pupils. It provides a coherent knowledge of British, local and world history, enabling children to understand how the past has shaped the society we live in today and preparing them for the expectations of secondary school.

We want pupils to:

• Develop chronological understanding through a clear sequence of historical periods.
• Investigate and interpret the past, asking and answering enquiry questions.
• Understand key historical concepts such as cause and consequence, change and continuity, significance, and similarity and difference.
• Learn about diverse people, cultures and perspectives, enabling them to be respectful, tolerant, and empathetic.
• Communicate historically with confidence, using subject-specific vocabulary.

Our goal is for children to leave Horn’s Mill with an appreciation of how history is constructed, how interpretations may differ, and how their own lives connect to the wider historical narrative.

Implementation - How is the curriculum delivered?

At Horn’s Mill, we have carefully designed the history curriculum for every year group, with clear essential learning mapped out to ensure that the National Curriculum is fully covered, skills build progressively, and progression is clear. Units are sequenced chronologically so that children revisit and deepen their understanding of key historical knowledge and skills over time.

At the heart of our curriculum are the key historical concepts (shown in the diagram), including change and continuity, cause and consequence, interpretations, sources and evidence, similarity and difference, and chronology. These disciplinary ideas are revisited in different contexts across the school, enabling pupils to think like historians - questioning, interpreting, and constructing their own understanding of the past.

We also ensure that opportunities are created for the application of learning across year groups. For example, in Year 3 children explore how Britain changed during the Iron Age. In Year 4, they then take part in a local history study of the Iron Age hill fort on Helsby Hill. This allows them to apply the knowledge and vocabulary learned previously, strengthening their understanding through revisiting and extending prior learning.

Teaching follows an enquiry-based approach, encouraging children to investigate evidence, ask questions and develop interpretations. Key vocabulary is explicitly taught, revisited and applied in a variety of contexts. Regular retrieval tasks and questioning help children to recall and secure prior knowledge, ensuring it is retained long-term.

 

 

Reading across the curriculum

Reading is woven throughout our history curriculum, with high-quality texts chosen to enrich historical knowledge and widen vocabulary. For example, Stone Age Boy in Year 3 supports learning about prehistory, while Beowulf enhances studies of the Anglo-Saxons in Year 5. These texts are not only used within history lessons, but also integrated into English units, whole-class reading, independent reading and class book corners. In this way, children encounter historical ideas, language and perspectives in many different contexts, which helps to secure their understanding and make learning memorable.

Alongside this, there are carefully crafted opportunities for children to independently read age-appropriate texts that link to the history knowledge being studied, or to prior learning. We have invested heavily in supporting our history curriculum once children have learned to read, with Collins Big Cat titles that enrich the wider curriculum, as well as a subscription with an education library service. Whole-class reading lessons from Year 2 onwards are intentionally sequenced to build background knowledge and widen subject-specific vocabulary. For example, when studying World Wars in Year 6, children read a range of texts and genres that deepen their understanding of this significant period.

The diagram below highlights examples of the high-quality texts mapped across year groups. These show how reading is used to support, extend and deepen historical learning throughout the school, while also reflecting the much wider range of books that children encounter in lessons, reading areas and independent reading.

Geography links

Our history curriculum has been written to complement our geography curriculum, with clear points of connection across year groups. Where relevant, children use map work to explore the locations of historical events and civilisations, and to discuss how geography has influenced history. This allows pupils to place people, events and cultures in their geographical context, deepening their understanding of both subjects and making learning more meaningful. For example, in Year 6, during their study of the British Empire, children use maps to trace trade routes, identify countries across the world that were part of the Empire, and explore how Liverpool’s geographical position as a port city shaped its economic and social history.

Curriculum Enrichment

Curriculum enrichment is central to our implementation. Trips, visitors and workshops provide children with opportunities to handle artefacts, visit historical sites, and engage in high-quality first-hand learning. These experiences deepen enquiry skills and ensure that history is memorable, meaningful, and exciting. For example, Year 6 visit Chester Military Museum to take part in a local history study.  High quality workshops are also an integral part of our curriculum offer, with opportunities to handle artefacts and explore how historians use evidence to piece together accounts of the past. For example, in Year 3, children have an Ancient Egyptian workshop where they develop their historical enquiry skills through archaeological investigation and artefact handling.

Impact - How do we know our history curriculum is effective?

The impact of our history curriculum is evident in the knowledge, skills, and enthusiasm shown by our pupils. Essential learning statements enable teachers to assess progress effectively and ensure coverage is secure.

Pupil Voice shows that children can confidently articulate their historical understanding, using subject vocabulary and making connections across time periods. They demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways: through written outcomes, art, drama, debates, and presentations.

Progress is visible in children’s history learning journeys and in displays across the school, which celebrate knowledge and provide opportunities for recall. Assessment opportunities, including retrieval tasks, questioning, and discussions, track progression without creating unnecessary workload.

By the end of their time at Horn’s Mill, our children are skilful and knowledgeable historians who can think critically about the past, appreciate its influence on the present, and are well-prepared for the next stage of their education.

If you have any further enquiries relating to the history curriculum, please email Mrs Jobber on deputy@hornsmill.cheshire.sch.uk.