History

History

At Brierley, we want history to bring the past to life and spark children's curiosity about the people, places and events that have shaped the world around them. Through stories, artefacts, photographs, historical sources, discussion, visits and first-hand experiences, children build their knowledge of the past and learn how historians use evidence to find out what happened.

We want children to understand history in context, from the history of themselves, their families and their local community to the history of Britain and the wider world. As their knowledge grows, children learn to make connections, ask thoughtful questions and understand how the past has influenced the world in which they live today.

Strong Foundations from the Beginning

Historical learning begins as soon as children join Brierley. In Little Bears Nursery and Reception, children begin to develop an understanding of past and present through their own lives, families, memories, familiar places, toys and stories. They talk about things that have changed, compare old and new and begin to use language associated with time. These familiar experiences help young children begin to understand that life was not always the same as it is today. Adults use stories, photographs, objects, conversations and first-hand experiences to encourage children to notice similarities and differences, ask questions and talk about what they think might have happened. These early experiences provide important foundations for the chronological understanding, historical knowledge and enquiry skills children continue to develop as they move through school.

How We Teach History

We want history lessons to be interesting, thought-provoking and full of opportunities for children to think and talk about the past. Teachers introduce new knowledge in manageable steps and make clear links to what children have learned before. Important historical vocabulary is explicitly taught and timelines, maps, photographs, artefacts, written sources and other evidence help children place their learning in context.

Our teaching follows the principle of I do, we do, you do. Teachers model how to examine evidence, think through a historical question and construct an explanation before children practise with support and gradually become more independent. Children are encouraged to ask questions, explain their ideas, consider evidence and recognise that historians do not simply collect facts. They use evidence and knowledge to build and sometimes debate interpretations of the past.

Building Historical Knowledge

Our history curriculum helps children build an increasingly rich knowledge of people, places, events and periods from the past. We want children to know important historical information, but we do not want history to become a collection of disconnected facts. Teachers help pupils understand the wider story surrounding the people and events they study. Children consider what life was like at the time, what had happened before, what changed afterwards and how events in one place may connect with developments elsewhere. As pupils encounter ideas such as power, settlement, invasion, society, technology, trade, conflict and belief in different periods, they begin to make connections across their historical learning.

Chronology and Historical Context

Developing a secure sense of chronology is an important part of learning history. Children begin with experiences close to their own lives before gradually encountering periods further into the past. Timelines help pupils see where the people and events they study fit within history. As children move through school, they increasingly consider what was happening before, during and after a period and make connections between local, British and world history.

Our curriculum does not expect children simply to memorise dates. Dates and periods help pupils build a framework that allows them to understand sequence, duration, change and connections across time. Children return to this chronological framework regularly so that each new period they encounter has somewhere meaningful to fit.

Historical Enquiry, Evidence and Interpretation

Children learn that our knowledge of the past comes from evidence. They encounter a growing range of sources, including photographs, artefacts, buildings, maps, written accounts, newspapers, paintings, objects and archaeological evidence.

Younger children begin by looking carefully at evidence and asking simple questions such as what an object or photograph can tell us. As they become older, children increasingly consider who created a source, when it was created, what it can tell us and what it might not tell us. Pupils also learn that accounts of the past can sometimes differ. They consider different experiences and viewpoints and begin to understand why people, including historians, may interpret evidence in different ways. We want children to become thoughtful users of evidence rather than assuming that everything written or pictured about the past tells the whole story.

Thinking Like a Historian

As children's knowledge grows, they learn to ask increasingly sophisticated questions about the past. They consider why events happened and what consequences followed. They identify what changed and what stayed the same, compare life in different periods and consider why particular people, events or developments were significant. Children are encouraged to use what they know and the evidence available to support their answers. This means that historical enquiry develops alongside historical knowledge. The more children know about a period, the better equipped they become to ask questions, recognise connections and form thoughtful historical explanations.

Local, British and World History

Our local area provides a rich starting point for understanding the past. Children learn that history happened in the streets, buildings and communities around them, not simply in distant places or long ago.

In Year 1, pupils explore changes in the home, Brierley then and now and the development of Crewe through the railways. In Year 2, learning develops through Crewe heritage and the Great Fire of Nantwich before widening to significant explorers.

As children move into Key Stage 2, the geographical and chronological picture becomes much broader. Year 3 includes Roman Britain, the Stone Age and Ancient Egypt. Year 4 explores the Anglo-Saxons, Vikings and Ancient Greeks. Year 5 studies Tudor and Victorian life alongside the Ancient Maya, while Year 6 explores the First and Second World Wars.

Through this combination of local, British and world history, children begin to understand that the story of their own community forms part of a much bigger historical picture.

Revisiting and Remembering

We know that important historical knowledge needs to be revisited if children are to remember it and use it confidently. History lessons regularly begin with a short Flashback activity, giving pupils opportunities to retrieve previous learning, revisit key vocabulary and make connections with what they are learning now.

Termly revisit opportunities allow children to return to important concepts, strengthen their chronological understanding and address any gaps or misconceptions. Important ideas such as change, settlement, conflict, society, power and significance are encountered in different historical contexts as pupils move through school.

Our teaching follows the principle of I do, we do, you do. Teachers initially model new historical knowledge and thinking clearly, children then practise with support before increasingly applying what they know independently. Questioning, discussion, retrieval and the use of historical evidence help teachers check what children remember and identify where understanding needs further strengthening.

A Sequenced Curriculum

Our history curriculum is planned from the Early Years through to Year 6 so that knowledge and historical thinking build over time. Children's early exploration of families, memories, toys, stories and familiar places provides the foundations for Key Stage 1 history. In Key Stage 1, children develop an awareness of the past through familiar local contexts, changes within living memory, significant events and people and the history of places around them. In Key Stage 2, pupils encounter increasingly distant periods and complex societies. Their understanding of chronology widens and they become increasingly confident in using evidence, exploring cause and consequence, identifying change and continuity and considering historical significance and interpretation.

Supporting Every Child

We have high expectations for every child in history. Teachers consider pupils' starting points and make appropriate adaptations so that all children can access ambitious historical learning. Support may include visual timelines, maps, photographs, artefacts, carefully selected sources, explicit vocabulary teaching, oral rehearsal, additional modelling, structured questions and different ways for children to record what they know.

Scaffolds are used where they are helpful and gradually reduced as children become more secure and independent.

Our aim is not to give some children a less ambitious version of history. It is to remove barriers so that every pupil can engage with the important knowledge and historical thinking within our curriculum.

Assessment and Feedback

Assessment happens throughout history lessons. Teachers use questioning, discussion, Flashbacks, children's work and their responses to historical evidence to understand what pupils know, remember and can explain.

We look at whether children can place their learning within an increasingly secure chronological framework, recall important knowledge, make connections, use evidence and explain ideas such as cause, consequence, change and significance.

Teachers respond to misconceptions and gaps by revisiting knowledge, adjusting explanations or providing further opportunities to practise and apply learning. The purpose of assessment is to understand how securely children have learned the intended history curriculum and what they need next.

History Beyond the Classroom

We want children to experience history in the places where it happened. Our local area and the wider North West provide wonderful opportunities for children to encounter historic buildings, artefacts, landscapes and stories first-hand.

Our programme of visits and experiences develops over time, but examples have included travelling to Chester to experience Roman history through Deva Roman Experience, exploring Tudor life at Speke Hall and visiting Nantwich Museum as part of Year 2's study of the Great Fire of Nantwich.

Closer to school, visits to Lyceum Theatre help children explore the history of a familiar Crewe landmark. The theatre is a Grade II listed historic building, giving pupils another opportunity to see how the history of their own community can be discovered through surviving places and buildings.

Our wider curriculum plans also include experiences such as The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, an Ancient Greek experience day, the National Trust's Quarry Bank and a Maya experience day. Older pupils also have opportunities connected with their study of war, including visits to the Imperial War Museum. These visits are not simply enjoyable days out. They allow children to stand in historic places, examine objects and buildings, hear expert stories and connect classroom learning with tangible evidence of the past. They also broaden children's experiences and help them understand that history surrounds them, from Brierley and Crewe to Cheshire, Britain and the wider world.

How You Can Help Your Child at Home

Parents and carers can play an important part in developing children's curiosity about history. You can help by talking about your own family memories, looking through old photographs, noticing how familiar places have changed and discussing the stories behind old objects. When visiting a historic place, encourage your child to look closely at buildings and objects and ask what they might tell us about the people who lived there.

Reading historical stories and non-fiction together, watching age appropriate documentaries, using timelines and talking about important events in the news or on anniversaries can all help children develop their sense of the past. One of the most useful questions you can ask is, "How do we know?" It encourages children to think about evidence rather than simply accepting a historical claim.

History Learning Links

BBC Teach provides primary history films and resources for both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. BBC Bitesize also has games and activities that allow children to explore topics including explorers, Ancient Greece, Ancient Egypt, the Romans, the Maya and the First World War.

BBC Teach Key Stage 1 History https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/ks1-history

BBC Teach Key Stage 2 History https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/ks2-history

BBC Bitesize Key Stage 2 History https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects

Families who would like to explore local and regional history together might also enjoy Crewe Heritage Centre, where children can discover how the railway transformed Crewe from a small settlement into a major railway town.

Most importantly, we want children to enjoy discovering the past. A walk around the local area, an old family photograph or a visit to a historic building can all provide a starting point for a fascinating historical conversation.

Knowing Our Curriculum Is Working

We work closely with staff to make sure that the history curriculum remains ambitious, coherent and progressive. Pupils' work, assessment information, discussions with children, lesson visits and curriculum monitoring help us understand how securely children are learning and remembering the history that has been taught.

We consider both children's knowledge of the past and their growing ability to think historically. This includes their understanding of chronology, their ability to make connections and their use of evidence to explain change, cause, consequence, significance and different interpretations. This helps us celebrate strengths, identify gaps or misconceptions and make informed decisions about future teaching and curriculum development.

We want to know that children have really understood their learning, can remember important knowledge and can draw on what they know when they encounter new historical periods and questions.

Curious and Thoughtful Historians

By the time children leave Brierley, we want them to have a secure and connected understanding of the history they have studied and a genuine curiosity to discover more. We want pupils to understand their own place within history, appreciate the rich heritage of Brierley, Crewe and the surrounding area and recognise how local stories connect with the history of Britain and the wider world. We want them to ask thoughtful questions, use historical vocabulary confidently, examine evidence carefully and recognise that our understanding of the past is built from the traces people have left behind. We aim to develop knowledgeable, curious and thoughtful young historians who understand where they have come from, are interested in the experiences of others and are ready to continue exploring the past as they move on to the next stage of their education.