Our History Curriculum

At Gorefield Primary Academy, we want our children to develop a love of History and a curiosity about the past. Through our History curriculum, children explore significant people, places, events and civilisations, helping them to understand how the past has shaped the world in which they live today.

We follow the CUSP History curriculum, which provides a carefully sequenced and ambitious curriculum from Key Stage 1 through to Key Stage 2. Learning is designed to build progressively so that children regularly revisit and strengthen important historical knowledge, concepts and vocabulary.

Our aim is for every child to see themselves as a young historian. Children are encouraged not simply to remember facts, but to ask questions, investigate evidence, make connections and explain what they have discovered about the past.

What Does History Look Like at Gorefield?

History lessons at Gorefield are engaging, purposeful and enquiry-led. Children are given opportunities to explore the past through a range of carefully chosen historical sources and experiences.

Across the school, children develop their understanding through:

• exploring artefacts, photographs, maps, written sources and historical evidence
• developing an understanding of chronology and where events fit within the wider story of the past
• asking and answering historical questions
• identifying similarities, differences, change and continuity
• considering cause and consequence
• learning about the importance and impact of significant individuals and civilisations
• using increasingly ambitious historical vocabulary
• making connections between different periods and previously learned knowledge
• explaining ideas through discussion, writing, drawing, timelines and creative activities
• taking part in practical and hands-on experiences wherever possible.

We believe that History should be accessible to every learner. Teachers use clear explanations, carefully selected vocabulary, visual resources, knowledge notes, modelling and supportive scaffolds so that all children can engage successfully with ambitious historical content.

Thinking Like a Historian

An important part of History at Gorefield is developing children's disciplinary knowledge, helping them understand how historians find out about the past.

Children learn that our knowledge of the past comes from evidence. As they progress through school, they become increasingly confident in examining sources, asking questions about them and considering what those sources might tell us.

Rather than simply asking "What happened?", we encourage our children to think more deeply:

How do we know? Why did this happen? What changed? What stayed the same? What evidence do we have?

These questions help children develop curiosity, critical thinking and the ability to form their own historically informed ideas.

What Do Our Children Study?

Year 1 and Year 2

Our youngest historians begin by exploring history that is closely connected to their own experiences before gradually looking further into the past.

Children study:

• Changes within living memory
• The lives of significant people, including Mary Anning and David Attenborough
• More lives of significant people, including Neil Armstrong, Mae Jemison, Bernard Harris Jr and Tim Peake

Through these units, children begin to develop their understanding of past and present, chronology, significance and change. They explore the lives and achievements of individuals who have contributed to our understanding of the world, science and space.

Where appropriate, children are encouraged to make connections between the past and their own lives, families, school and local community, making History meaningful and relevant.

Year 3 and Year 4

As children move into Key Stage 2, they begin to explore periods much further back in time and develop a stronger understanding of chronology.

Children study:

• Stone Age to Iron Age
• Rome and its impact on Britain

Children investigate the remarkable changes that took place in Britain from the earliest human communities through to the Iron Age. They then explore the Roman Empire and consider the impact that Roman invasion and settlement had upon Britain.

Throughout these units, children examine evidence, compare periods and consider important historical concepts such as settlement, invasion, society, change, continuity, cause and consequence.

Year 5 and Year 6

In Upper Key Stage 2, children encounter increasingly complex historical ideas and explore significant civilisations from across the world.

Children study:

• Ancient Greece
• The Ancient Kingdom of Benin
• The Ancient Maya

Children build a broader understanding of world history by exploring the achievements, beliefs, societies and legacies of these fascinating civilisations.

They are encouraged to make connections and comparisons across different periods and places, drawing upon the substantial historical knowledge they have accumulated throughout their time at Gorefield.

Our Geography Curriculum

At Gorefield Primary Academy, we want our children to develop a curiosity and fascination about the world around them. Through our Geography curriculum, children explore places, people, environments and processes, helping them to understand both their local area and the wider world.

We follow the CUSP Geography curriculum, which provides a carefully sequenced and ambitious curriculum from Key Stage 1 through to Key Stage 2. Children build their geographical knowledge and vocabulary over time, regularly revisiting important concepts and making connections between their learning.

Our aim is for every child to see themselves as a young geographer, confidently asking questions, exploring places, using maps and investigating the world around them.

What Does Geography Look Like at Gorefield?

Geography lessons at Gorefield are engaging, practical and purposeful. Children are given opportunities to develop their knowledge through maps, atlases, photographs, fieldwork and geographical enquiry.

Across the school, children develop their understanding through:

• using maps, atlases, globes and digital mapping
• identifying human and physical geographical features
• learning about different countries, environments and regions
• developing their understanding of location and place
• using geographical vocabulary confidently
• comparing and making connections between different places
• developing map-reading and navigation skills
• taking part in fieldwork and observing their local environment
• collecting, recording and presenting geographical information
• asking and answering geographical questions.

We believe that Geography should be accessible to every learner. Children are supported through clear explanations, visual resources, carefully selected vocabulary, practical experiences and opportunities to revisit and build upon previous learning.

Thinking Like a Geographer

An important part of Geography at Gorefield is encouraging children to think and work like geographers.

Children learn to observe the world around them, ask questions, collect information and use evidence to reach conclusions. As they progress through school, they become increasingly confident in using maps and geographical tools to investigate both familiar and unfamiliar places.

We encourage children to ask questions such as:

Where is this place? What is it like? How is it different to where we live? Why is it like this? How is it changing?

These questions help our children develop curiosity and a deeper understanding of the world around them.

What Do Our Children Study?

Year 1 and Year 2

Our youngest geographers begin by developing an understanding of their place within the wider world.

Children study:

• Continents and oceans
• UK countries, capital cities and surrounding seas
• Hot and cold places
• Mapping and fieldwork

Children begin to develop their map skills while exploring different places and environments. Fieldwork gives them opportunities to observe and investigate their immediate surroundings and make connections between their classroom learning and the real world.

Year 3 and Year 4

As children move into Key Stage 2, they develop a deeper understanding of the UK and strengthen their geographical and fieldwork skills.

Children study:

• Fieldwork focussing on human and physical features
• UK study
• Human and physical features
• OS maps and scale

Children develop their ability to identify, describe and compare places while becoming increasingly confident in using maps and geographical vocabulary.

Year 5 and Year 6

In Upper Key Stage 2, children explore increasingly complex geographical concepts and develop more sophisticated mapping and fieldwork skills.

Children study:

• World countries, biomes and environmental regions
• Four and six-figure grid references
• OS maps and fieldwork

Children develop a broader understanding of the world, exploring how environments differ and how physical and human processes shape the places around us.

Please find some useful links below to enhance pupils history and geography at home:

History Primary Resources | National Geographic Kids

Primary resources, homework help and online games - BBC Bitesize