At Brookfield Park, through our teaching of history we aim:

To foster in children an interest in the past and to develop an understanding that enables them to enjoy all that History has to offer;

To enable children to know about significant events in British history, and to appreciate how things have changed over time;

To develop a sense of chronology;

To know and understand how the British system of democratic government has developed and in doing so to contribute to a child’s citizenship education;

To understand how Britain is part of a wider European culture, and to study some aspects of European history;

To have some knowledge and understanding of historical development in the wider world;

To help children understand society and their place in it so that they develop a sense of their cultural heritage;

To develop in children the skills of enquiry, investigation, analysis, evaluation and presentation and local area.

"In history, a great volume is unrolled for our instruction, drawing the materials of future wisdom from the past errors and infirmities of mankind."
Edmund Burke

"History is for human self-knowledge ... the only clue to what man can do is what man has done. The value of history, then, is that it teaches us what man has done and thus what man is."
R. G. Collingwood

"History cannot give us a program for the future, but it can give us a fuller understanding of ourselves, and of our common humanity, so that we can better face the future."
Robert Penn Warren

How can history help me find a job?

You could be...

a museum curator,

a history teacher or lecturer,

an archaeologist, 

an archivist,

a librarian,

an historical preservation specialist,

a genealogist,

a history writer

or even a TV presenter! 

The national curriculum for history aims to ensure that all pupils:

 know and understand the history of these islands as a coherent, chronological narrative, from the earliest times to the present day: how people’s lives have shaped this nation and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world

 know and understand significant aspects of the history of the wider world: the nature of ancient civilisations; the expansion and dissolution of empires; characteristic features of past non-European societies; achievements and follies of mankind

 gain and deploy a historically grounded understanding of abstract terms such as ‘empire’, ‘civilisation’, ‘parliament’ and ‘peasantry’

 understand historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance, and use them to make connections, draw contrasts, analyse trends, frame historically-valid questions and create their own structured accounts, including written narratives and analyses

 understand the methods of historical enquiry, including how evidence is used rigorously to make historical claims, and discern how and why contrasting arguments and interpretations of the past have been constructed History – key stages 1 and 2 2

 gain historical perspective by placing their growing knowledge into different contexts, understanding the connections between local, regional, national and international history; between cultural, economic, military, political, religious and social history; and between short- and long-term timescales.

Key stage 1

Pupils should be taught about:

 changes within living memory. Where appropriate, these should be used to reveal aspects of change in national life

 events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally [for example, the Great Fire of London, the first aeroplane flight or events commemorated through festivals or anniversaries]

 the lives of significant individuals in the past who have contributed to national and international achievements. Some should be used to compare aspects of life in different periods [for example, Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria, Christopher Columbus and Neil Armstrong, William Caxton and Tim Berners-Lee, Pieter Bruegel the Elder and LS Lowry, Rosa Parks and Emily Davison, Mary Seacole and/or Florence Nightingale and Edith Cavell]

 significant historical events, people and places in their own locality. 

Key stage 2

Pupils should continue to develop a chronologically secure knowledge and understanding of British, local and world history, establishing clear narratives within and across the periods they study.

They should note connections, contrasts and trends over time and develop the appropriate use of historical terms.

They should regularly address and sometimes devise historically valid questions about change, cause, similarity and difference, and significance.

They should construct informed responses that involve thoughtful selection and organisation of relevant historical information.

They should understand how our knowledge of the past is constructed from a range of sources.