History Vision Statement
“The more you know about the past, the better prepared you are for the future.” – Theodore Roosevelt
Our vision for History at St Elizabeth’s is to develop the children’s cultural awareness, moral understanding and open-mindedness of the ever-changing world they live in and in doing so, empower our children to be responsible and resilient members of their society. We want our children to be reflective and knowledgeable about the past, both of their own and other people’s; to be able to make informed and liberal choices now and in their future and to acquire a lifelong curiosity and interest for history.
Curriculum Intent
History is all around us. It plays an important part in our curriculum here at St Elizabeth’s and we value the rich local history that surrounds our school. The study of history ignites children’s curiosity about the past in Britain and the wider world. Through finding out about how and why the world, our country, culture and local community have developed over time, children understand how the past influences the present. History enables children to develop a context for their growing sense of identity and provides a chronological framework for their knowledge of significant events and people. What they learn through history can influence their decisions about personal choices, attitudes and values. Here at St Elizabeth’s, our intent, when teaching history, is to stimulate the children’s curiosity in order for them to develop their knowledge, skills and understanding. We want to equip our children with not only the minimum statutory requirements of the history National Curriculum but to prepare them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences in later life.
We want our children to use the vibrancy of our great city to learn from other cultures, respect diversity and co-operate with one another. We achieve this by providing a strong SMSC curriculum, with British Values and our core values placed at the heart of everything we do. This often feeds into the History curriculum as we celebrate themed days in order to enrich the children’s understanding of the wider world and raise awareness of injustices still present today. For example, Year 6 have a Victorian themed day whereby children and staff come to school dressed as Victorian men, women and children and are in role for the duration of the day. This is to give them a real feel as to what school life was like during the Victorian era. To supplement this learning experience, Year 6 visit Quarry Bank Mill to look at both the Victorians and Slavery. They visit the Mill, the Apprentice House and the Georgian family home. This shows us how the Victorians lived but there is also an exhibition on the slave trade and the Transatlantic trade.
Each year, Black History Month is acknowledged and recognised throughout the whole school, providing pupils with opportunities to learn about and celebrate Black history, culture and achievements. Similarly, Holocaust Memorial Day is observed across the school to raise awareness and encourage pupils to reflect on the Holocaust and its impact. In previous years, some children have also visited the Plaza Cinema to watch films based on the Holocaust, helping to develop their understanding, raise awareness and promote remembrance.
We are committed to enriching pupils’ experiences beyond the classroom by providing purposeful, memorable opportunities that broaden their horizons, develop their cultural capital and deepen their understanding of the world around them. Our curriculum is designed to ensure that pupils have access to experiences that may otherwise be beyond their reach, enabling them to develop new interests, discover passions and build the confidence, knowledge and skills they need to thrive. A key feature of our curriculum is the deliberate use of first-hand experiences to bring learning to life and enable pupils to make meaningful connections between the classroom and the wider world. For example, in Year 2, pupils visit the Albert Dock as part of their learning about the history of Liverpool. They explore how the Dock has changed over time, developing their understanding of its significance to the city and the role it played in the transportation of goods. Pupils examine features such as the iconic red cranes, considering how they were used to load and unload goods from ships and how these goods were subsequently transported throughout the city.
This learning is intentionally revisited and developed in Year 4 through a visit to the Old Dock beneath Liverpool ONE. This experience builds upon pupils’ prior knowledge and forms part of a carefully sequenced curriculum, enabling them to deepen and extend their historical understanding. By seeing the remains of the Old Dock first-hand, pupils are able to develop a much stronger visual and spatial understanding of its scale, construction and purpose. They consider the materials used to build the Dock, the types of vessels that would have visited, the goods that were transported and the importance of the Dock to the development of Liverpool.
Such experiences ensure that learning is not confined to the classroom or dependent solely on written and digital sources. Instead, pupils are given opportunities to encounter their local history directly, ask questions, make observations and develop a sense of connection and pride in their local heritage. This contributes significantly to pupils’ cultural capital by exposing them to places, experiences and aspects of their city’s history that they may not otherwise encounter.
Our approach also supports pupils’ wider personal development. Through carefully planned enrichment opportunities, pupils develop curiosity, confidence, independence and a willingness to engage with new experiences. They learn to appreciate their local community and heritage, while developing the knowledge, vocabulary and experiences that enable them to participate confidently in wider society. In this way, enrichment is not an additional aspect of our curriculum; it is integral to our curriculum intent and our ambition for every pupil to develop as a knowledgeable, curious and culturally aware young person.
Our connected, topic-based and enquiry-led curriculum is carefully designed to develop meaningful links between subjects, enabling pupils to apply and build upon their knowledge across different areas of the curriculum. Themes are thoughtfully woven through subjects so that learning is coherent, purposeful and memorable. History is taught discretely but staff make meaningful links across subjects.
For example, the experiences pupils encounter through our History curriculum are deliberately enhanced through other subject areas. In Art, Year 2 pupils study Kente cloth as part of their weaving topic, developing their understanding of pattern, colour, symbolism and cultural heritage. In Year 5, pupils explore Ancient Greek pottery, enabling them to apply their historical knowledge while developing their artistic techniques and understanding of how artefacts can provide evidence about the past. Later in the year, pupils create Egyptian-inspired jewelled necklaces, further strengthening connections between history and art. These carefully planned links enable pupils to draw upon knowledge from different subjects and understand how disciplines complement one another.
Our History curriculum is ambitious and aims to develop pupils as thoughtful and increasingly independent historians. Pupils are taught not simply to recall historical facts, but to develop the disciplinary knowledge required to investigate the past. Through carefully sequenced learning, they learn to ask perceptive questions, examine evidence, consider different interpretations, identify change and continuity, and develop increasingly well-informed perspectives and judgements.
For example, in Year 1, pupils explore what has changed since their grandparents were young. They investigate toys and television programmes from the 1960s and compare these with their own experiences, developing an understanding of change and continuity over time. Pupils also investigate how our school has changed by interviewing adults who attended the school when they were children. These first-hand accounts provide pupils with authentic primary evidence and allow them to understand that historians use different sources to build a picture of the past.
This approach encourages pupils to become inquisitive and active learners. They are explicitly taught to ask questions, seek evidence and use what they discover to develop their understanding. As pupils progress through the school, these enquiry skills are revisited and refined, enabling them to become increasingly confident in questioning, interpreting and evaluating evidence.
At St Elizabeth’s, we believe that by providing children with an inspiring and rigorous history curriculum, we can go some way to empower children to be knowledgeable and empathetic citizens. Our intention is to provide insight so that these valuable life skills will help them to prepare for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life. It will encourage them to think creatively to solve problems both as individuals and as members of a team. By researching, exploring and analysing the past within a variety of contexts, they will consider their own and others’ heritage, wants and values in an ever-changing society. Finally, it will provide them with experiences of real-life contexts. We know that they will be inspired by the stories of explorers, historians and inventors that they will study across different year groups and we intend that they will hold on to the knowledge and skills they learn so they can have the opportunity of contributing to the future creativity, wealth and cultural-capital of the nation.
Curriculum Implementation
In 2024, a full audit of the History curriculum was conducted. Following the findings, the curriculum was carefully rebuilt, with learning opportunities and assessment milestones for each year group thoughtfully crafted to ensure clear progression and purposeful repetition of key knowledge and skills.
We believe pupils should be actively involved in making sense of their learning. An enquiry-based approach was therefore introduced to promote higher-order thinking and allow children to explore Historical concepts in ways that are meaningful to them.
We teach the National Curriculum, supported by a clear skills and knowledge progression. This ensures that skills and knowledge are built on year by year and sequenced appropriately to maximise learning for all children. It is important that the children develop progressive skills of a historian throughout their time at St Elizabeth’s, and not just simply recall facts about the past. They will be able to put their learning into context using chronology and tap into prior knowledge which is built upon as they journey through their primary years. In History, children will find evidence, weigh it up and reach their own conclusion. To do this successfully, as historians, they will have the opportunities to research, interpret evidence including primary and secondary sources, and have the necessary skills to argue for their point of view – skills that will help them in their adult life. As part of a topic/enquiry-based curriculum, it allows opportunities for cross curricular links to be made to ensure the children have as many opportunities to apply their knowledge and skills all year round. To ensure this, teachers will plan and/or display the following:
- A timeline that should include add-ones from previous years teaching/ previous lessons and start with learning the basics of chronology so that students can construct an understanding of events over time
- Key vocabulary showcased on their History classroom display and on page topic dividers
- A cycle of lessons for each topic taught, which carefully plans for progression and has opportunities for cross-curricular links
- The use of artefacts, secondary and primary sources to enhance knowledge and skills
- School trips and visiting/interviewing experts who will enhance their learning experience
- Project based homework to further develop independent research skills using sources
We empower our staff to organise their own year group curriculums under the guidance of our subject leaders. Staff develop year group specific long-term curriculum maps which identify when the different subjects and topics will be taught across the academic year.
Curriculum Impact
We use summative assessment information in every history lesson which is based on the sticky knowledge planned by class teachers. Staff use this information to inform their short-term planning which helps provide the best possible support for all our pupils, including challenging our more able children. It is important to note that skills in history are progressive and built on each year. Staff use summative assessments to assess the children’s knowledge and skills in History, which will inform their future planning.
Assessment information is collected frequently and analysed as part of our monitoring cycle. Through the high quality-first teaching of History taking place, we will see the impact of the subject in different ways e.g. through books, lesson observations and/or learning walks, assessments and pupil/ staff voice. Work will show that a range of themes are being covered, concepts are revisited and our connected curriculum is apparent. Assessments and monitoring will show standards in History will be high and will match standards in other subject areas.