History

“We are not makers of history. We are made by history.” Martin Luther King, Jr.

What is History?

History is an understanding of the past at personal, local, national and international levels.

History at Cockton Hill Junior School:

Our aim at Cockton Hill Junior School is to encourage pupils to develop an appreciation and understanding of the past, evaluating a range of primary and secondary sources. Our children will also develop the skills to clearly explain how these sources give us an insight about how people around the world used to live and how these interpretations may differ. Children will gain valuable insights into the history of their local area. Pupils will be taught to make links between these areas of learning, with the aim of developing engaged, motivated and curious learners that can reflect on the past and make meaningful links to the present day. Our History curriculum has been designed to cover all of the skills, knowledge and understanding as set out in the National Curriculum. To ensure that pupils develop a secure knowledge that they can build on, our History curriculum is organised into a progression model that outlines the skills, knowledge and vocabulary to be taught in a sequentially coherent way. Chronological Understanding; Historical Understanding; Historical Enquiry; Interpretations of History; Organisation and Communication are all mapped out to ensure that pupils build on secure prior knowledge.

Here you will find our History curriculum overview as well as unit overviews. These show the key knowledge and skills for each unit as well as some questions you can ask your child at home. Enrichment opportunities show how our curriculum is further enhanced.

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Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Year 6

Our curriculum in action

Year 3 - Prehistoric World

In this unit of work, Year 3 pupils took a step into the Prehistoric World. They learnt the terms history and prehistory and that this is when the first insects, reptiles and mammals appear. They found out about the job of a palaeontologist and how they use fossils to find out about the past. Lastly, they greatly enjoyed learning about the significance of Mary Anning and sequencing key events in her life.

Year 3 - Ancient Egypt

In this unit of work, Year 3 pupils investigated the Ancient Egyptians learning interesting facts such as how they built pyramids to bury Pharaohs' bodies and how the River Nile was important for trade. The children loved learning about how the Egyptians believed in many gods and how Ra was the most important. Chronological understanding was developed through sequencing of dates and events on a timeline.

When using debens as a source, the children also compared life then with today to improve their enquiry skills.

Year 4 - The Stone Age

In this unit of work, Year 4 pupils spent time learning about the three periods of the Stone Age (Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and were able to place these on a time line showing understanding of BC. The children enjoyed identifying key features and changes across the three periods with regards to settlements, hunting, food and craft. When studying Skara Brae, the children were interested in asking historical questions and using evidence to think about what might have happened in Skara Brae and how a range of primary sources may have been used.

Year 4 - Ancient Greece

In this unit of work, Year 4 pupils were interested to find out that other civilisations in other places in the world were existing at the same time. They created a timeline showing this and reinforcing their chronological understanding. The children also thoroughly enjoyed learning about Greek Gods, their importance to the Ancient Greeks and how these Gods have influenced the modern world. Finally, the children used research skills to compare and contrast Athens and Sparta.

Year 5 - The Bronze Age

In this unit of work, Year 5 pupils learnt where to place the Bronze Age within history linking back to year 4. They greatly enjoyed learning about the Amesbury Archer using artefacts found with him to tell us about both him and the Bronze Age. Stonehenge was another favourite for year 5 as they learnt the key features and used sources to work out how it may have been built. The children also compared what Stonehenge was used for compared to now.

Year 5 - Early Islamic Civilisation

In this unit of work, Year 5 pupils found out about the Islamic civilisation and how it originated in Baghdad before spreading to North Africa, Spain and India. A particularly interesting part of their learning centred around the House of Wisdom and all that was studied there. This learning paved the way for discoveries such as astronomy, medicine and the number system. The children also loved learning about the Silk Road and how it supported the trading of goods even impacting trade today. They used their growing understanding of primary and secondary sources to build a picture of this period of history thinking carefully about their reliability.

Year 6 - The Iron Age

In this unit of work, Year 6 pupils studied the Iron Age which ended their learning of Early Britain. Within this unit they learnt how trade increased and how coins were introduced to aid this and keep track of wealth. Comparison skills were used to think about how trade had changed since the Bronze Age. The children also used secondary sources to support them when thinking about change and continuity from Stone Age to Iron Age with regards to settlements.

Year 6 - Mayan Civilisation

In this unit of work, year 6 pupils increased their knowledge around the Mayan civilisation from Central America. The children successfully sequenced the Mayan periods alongside other key events. They greatly enjoyed learning about the creation story and the characteristics of an important god or goddess and why they were important to the Mayans. Important Mayan buildings such as a temple, palace and plaza are now familiar to the children as well as the kingdom of Tikal. The children used archaeological evidence successfully to make deductions about the Mayans and their cities.