Our History Curriculum
Article 17: Every child has the right to reliable information.
Our goal is for our children to become historians. Historians must have:
- An excellent knowledge and understanding of people, events, and contexts from a range of historical periods and of historical concepts and processes.
- The ability to think critically about history and communicate ideas very confidently in styles appropriate to a range of audiences.
- The ability to consistently support, evaluate and challenge their own and others’ views using detailed, appropriate and accurate historical evidence derived from a range of sources.
- The ability to think, reflect, debate, discuss and evaluate the past, formulating and refining questions and lines of enquiry.
- A passion for history and an enthusiastic engagement in learning, which develops their sense of curiosity about the past and their understanding of how and why people interpret the past in different ways.
- A respect for historical evidence and the ability to make robust and critical use of it to support their explanations and judgments.
- A desire to embrace challenging activities, including opportunities to undertake high-quality research across a range of history topics.
Fundamental Foundations
We believe that for children to secure greater depth, it is important that they first have solid fundamental foundations. Fundamental foundations should not be rushed and so the notion of ‘rapid progress’ must be dismissed. Instead the goal of repetition should be seen as both useful and necessary. This is why you will see us returning regularly to science knowledge and concepts.
Cognitive Domains – Degrees of Understanding
We refer to three degrees of understanding and thinking ‘Basic’, ‘Advancing’ and ‘Deep’.
BASIC – Low level cognitive demand. Involves acquisition of fundamental foundations.
ADVANCING – Higher level cognitive demands beyond recall. Requires application involving some degree of decision making in how to apply fundamental foundations.
DEEP – Cognitive demand involves non-standard, non-routine, inter-connected, multi-step thinking in problems with more than one possible solution. Requires reasoning and justification for the inventive application of fundamental foundations.
Time scales for progression through the cognitive domains
Time Scales for Progression Through the Cognitive Domains
Milestone 1 – Y1 & Y2
Milestone 2 – Y3 & Y4
Milestone 3 – Y5 & Y6
Each milestone should be seen as containing two phases. In the first phase, pupils should repeat the content a sufficient number of times to secure fundamental foundations; in the second phase, they should apply the foundations in order to reach the ‘expected’ standard. If they reach this before the end of the second phase, they should move on to tasks that will secure greater depth. Thus, progress through the cognitive domains take two years.
It is expected that by the end of Year 1, pupils should be able to complete the BASIC tasks to secure fundamental foundations and by the end of Year 2, the ADVANCING tasks. It is also reasonable that a number of children may move on to the DEEP activities if they secure an early understanding of advancing.
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Milestone 1 Y1 & Y2 |
Milestone 2 Y3 & Y4 |
Milestone 3 Y5 & Y6 |
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Beginning Y1 |
Advancing Y2 |
Deep Y2 |
Beginning Y3 |
Advancing Y4 |
Deep Y4 |
Beginning Y5 |
Advancing Y6 |
Deep Y6 |
Page 144 of the Primary National Curriculum 2014 states:
‘While it is important that pupils make progress, it is also vitally important that they develop secure understanding of each key block of knowledge and concepts in order to progress to the next stage. Insecure, superficial understanding will not allow genuine progress: pupils may struggle at key points of transition (such as between primary and secondary school), build up serious misconceptions, and/or have significant difficulties in understanding higher-order content.’
We believe that it is therefore extremely important to secure the fundamental foundations before trying to secure greater depth.
Curriculum Breadth, Depth & Progression Principles
We have carefully planned our curriculum to ensure progression as well as breadth and depth. These are the principles we have adhered to:
- We revisit the same micro-topics in both years of a milestone so that pupils have a chance to connect topics together (intra-curriculum links)
- Threshold concepts are returned to regularly within and through all the milestones
- Planning ensures that we move from basic to advancing, with some children achieving deeper learning over the two years within a milestone
Curriculum Content 
Breadth of study
Key Stage 1 |
Key Stage 2 |
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Building a History Schema at Globe
Our pupils will form a history schema* by using concepts as the basis for schema. We call these threshold concepts; these are the big ideas which form the basis for the subject schema. We will continually revisit these concepts throughout the entire curriculum, in every year group, in every history topic. In history the threshold concepts are:
- Investigate and interpret the past
- Build an overview of world history
- Understand chronology
- Communicate historically
We strengthen the schema with knowledge. The knowledge comes from our topics. Within each topic are knowledge categories, the facets of each threshold concept that helps to strengthen the schema. The history knowledge categories are artefacts, location, beliefs, settlements, culture & pastimes, food & farming, travel & exploration, society, conflict and main events. We further deep connections through tasks. This is what is developed through our planning.
*Schema – A subject schema is a way of organising knowledge in a meaningful way; it is an appreciation of how facts are connected and the ways in which they are connected. A schema is distinct from information, which is just isolated facts that have no organisational basis or links.
Threshold Concepts broken into Milestones - Progression through Key Stages
At Globe we teach these four threshold concepts throughout KS1 and KS2. These are the big ideas that underpin the subject. The four threshold concepts are:
- Investigate and interpret the past
This concept involves understanding that our understanding of the past comes from an interpretation of the available evidence.
- Build an overview of world history
This concept involves an appreciation of the characteristic features of the past and an understanding that life is different for different sections of society.
- Understand chronology
This concept involves an understanding of how to chart the passing of time and how some aspects of history studied were happening at similar times in different places.
- Communicate historically
This concept involves using historical vocabulary and techniques to convey information about the past.
Threshold Concept |
Milestone 1 |
Milestone 2 |
Milestone 3 |
Investigate and interpret the pastThis concept involves understanding that our understanding of the past comes from an interpretation of the available evidence. |
• Observe or handle evidence to ask questions and find answers to questions about the past.• Ask questions such as: What was it like for people? What happened? How long ago?• Use artefacts, pictures, stories, online sources and databases to find out about the past.• Identify some of the different ways the past has been represented. |
• Use evidence to ask questions and find answers to questions about the past.• Suggest suitable sources of evidence for historical enquiries.• Use more than one source of evidence for historical enquiry in order to gain a more accurate understanding of history.• Describe different accounts of a historical event, explaining some of the reasons why the accounts may differ.• Suggest causes and consequences of some of the main events and changes in history. |
• Use sources of evidence to deduce information about the past.• Select suitable sources of evidence, giving reasons for choices.• Use sources of information to form testable hypotheses about the past.• Seek out and analyse a wide range of evidence in order to justify claims about the past.• Show an awareness of the concept of propaganda and how historians must understand the social context of evidence studied.• Understand that no single source of evidence gives the full answer to questions about the past.• Refine lines of enquiry as appropriate. |
Build an overview of world historyThis concept involves an appreciation of the characteristic features of the past and an understanding that life is different for different section. |
• Describe historical events.• Describe significant people from the past.• Recognise that there are reasons why people in the past acted as they did. |
• Describe changes that have happened in the locality of the school throughout history.• Give a broad overview of life in Britain from ancient until medieval times.• Compare some of the times studied with those of other areas of interest around the world.• Describe the social, ethnic, cultural or religious diversity of past society.• Describe the characteristic features of the past, including ideas, beliefs, attitudes and experiences of men, women and children. |
• Identify continuity and change in the history of the locality of the school.• Give a broad overview of life in Britain from medieval until the Tudor and Stuarts times.• Compare some of the times studied with those of other areas of interest around the world.• Describe the social, ethnic, cultural or religious diversity of past society.• Describe the characteristic features of the past, including ideas, beliefs, attitudes and experiences of men, women and children. |
Understand chronologyThis concept involves an understanding of how to chart the passing of time and how some aspects of history studied were happening at similar times in different. |
• Place events and artefacts in order on a time line.• Label time lines with words or phrases such as: past, present, older and newer.• Recount changes that have occurred in their own lives.• Use dates where appropriate. |
• Place events, artefacts and historical figures on a time line using dates.• Understand the concept of change over time, representing this, along with evidence, on a time line.• Use dates and terms to describe events. |
• Describe the main changes in a period of history (using terms such as: social, religious, political, technological and cultural).• Identify periods of rapid change in history and contrast them with times of relatively little change.• Understand the concepts of continuity and change over time, representing them, along with evidence, on a time line.• Use dates and terms accurately in describing events. |
Communicate historicallyThis concept involves using historical vocabulary and techniques to convey information about the past. |
• Use words and phrases such as: a long time ago, recently, when my parents/carers were children, years, decades and centuries to describe the passing of time.• Show an understanding of the concept of nation and a nation’s history.• Show an understanding of concepts such as civilisation, monarchy, parliament, democracy, and war and peace. |
• Use appropriate historical vocabulary to communicate, including:• dates• time period• era• change• chronology.• Use literacy, numeracy and computing skills to a good standard in order to communicate information about the past. |
• Use appropriate historical vocabulary to communicate, including:• dates• time period• era• chronology• continuity• change• century• decade• legacy.• Use literacy, numeracy and computing skills to a exceptional standard in order to communicate information about the past.• Use original ways to present information and ideas. |
Curriculum Breadth Maps (topics) - Intent
How we Implement our Curriculum
Example history lesson - Milestone 1
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