History

Our History Vision

At Charlton Primary School, we believe the teaching of history should ignite our children’s curiosity, develop their knowledge of the past and motivate them to develop an enquiring mind. We do this by teaching the skills necessary to become a good historian. These include: researching and gathering information; examining primary and secondary sources and their reliability based on an understanding of how evidence is used to make historical claims and why contrasting arguments and interpretations have been constructed; analysing evidence in order to justify or explain their own reasoning and pose historically valid questions.

Our children will progressively build their history skills and knowledge, beginning with their own experiences and lives of their families, in order to give context and meaning to history and its chronology. They will leave Charlton with a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s history, their locality and the history and influence of the wider world, including the nature of ancient civilisations, the dissolution of empires and characteristics features of past non-European societies. The children will understand historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance. They will use this understanding to draw contrasts, make connections between and have a good understanding of the chronology of key historical periods, local, national and international history, significant individuals and their own lives, encouraging them to question and investigate how life today came about and has been influenced and impacted by the events of the past.             

We use the Rising Stars history programme, resources from the Historical Association, good quality artefacts and educational visits to our local area rich in fascinating history, to deliver a hands on, immersive history curriculum,. We plan lessons that ensure our children work collaboratively, are engaged and proactive in their learning and have a range of opportunities and outcomes to communicate their knowledge and understanding of the subject.