Giffard Park Primary School

History

The subject leader for History is Mrs Morgan.

At Giffard Park Primary School, our children explore a wide range of topics covering a broad range of historic events and significant people. Within these topics, our children learn key skills which they will build upon each year, in order to grow into confident and independent historians.   

Trips

At Giffard Park, we offer wider opportunities to further our history and learning, through hook days and educational visits both inside and outside the classroom. See below for some of our recent expeditions!

Foundation 

The foundation curriculum at Giffard Park Primary School provides the fundamentals of history through Knowledge and Understanding of the World.

Foundation and Year 1

In the Foundation and Year One curriculum we start the year by looking at the topic All About Me. We look at ourselves and how we change and we also embrace the local area we live in. We find out what canals were used for and compare them to how they are used today. We go for a walk along the canal so the children have see for themselves what a canal looks like and how it is used today.  During this topic we also look at Mary Ward a lady that lived on the canal and what impact she had on the local area.

In the spring term our topic is The Lighthouse Keepers Lunch and we look at the history of Lighthouses. We look at their purpose and if that has changed over time.  We also find out about Grace Darling as a significant person and what impact she has on today.

In the summer term our topic is Snail at the bottom of the garden and here we look at cooking and how cooking has evolved over time. 

Year 2

In Year Two our autumn term topic is Past and Present. Here we find out about the opening of our school in 1985. We explore how life is different now and at different times. The children will sequence and compare photographs from different periods and place these on a timeline to develop the idea of chronology.  The children also compare houses from the different time periods and communication has changed over time.

In the spring term our topic is India and we look at the history of Milton Keynes and create a timeline.  We also look at significant people – Gandhi, Mother Teresa and Captain Tom Moore. 

In the summer term our we find out about Travel and Transport. Here we look events beyond living memory and changes over time. We compare travel now and in the past.

KS2 Highlights 

Year 3 

Stone Age – Iron Age – Bronze Age

In Year 3 the children explore different eras in history. They learn about survival in the stone age, flints and theories around Stonehenge. They also learn about Skara Brae and write a newspaper report on the discovery of it. In their history lessons the children compare the changes in Britain over time.  

Roman Empire

The children learn all about Romans during their topic 'The Romans’. Throughout this topic, they explore who the Romans were, where they came from and the changes across Britain influenced by the Romans that are still seen today. We look at intriguing inventions, glorious gladiators and incredible invasions of the Roman Empire. Alongside this dive into history, they learn about mosaic patterns and their importance, daily life as a Roman (from slave to Emperor) and how the Roman Empire came to an end. Our learning is supported by a Roman topic day and a trip to Bradwell Abbey in Milton Keynes.

Year 4 

Raiders and Settlers 

In Year 4, the children look at two periods of history in detail. First, they explore the Anglo-Saxons; who they were, where they came from and their way of life. They then discover the life of Vikings, who came shortly after the anglo-saxons and draw comparisons from the two time periods. They look closely at the lives of these two groups of people and learn a lot about how they lived and what drew them to Great Britain.  They look at a range of sources from artefacts, photographs, drawings and videos and use these to make judgments about the past and how they impacted and influenced the way we live now. 

The Mayans

Following their learning about the rainforest, Year 4 explores the Mayan Civilization. They find out who they were, when and how they lived and why they are considered to be an advanced civilization for their time. They particularly enjoy finding out how chocolate has evolved from this time as well as the gruesome punishments the Mayans endured. 

Year 5  

The Egyptians

During the Autumn term,  Year 5 explores the Ancient Egyptians. We spend the first half term working from a historian point of view, where we explore their daily life, study artefacts from the era as well as Egyptian gods, goddesses and pharaohs. We particularly enjoy finding out about their gruesome mummification process,  the pyramids and Tutankhamun. 

Remembrance

In our ‘Remembrance’ topic, we learn about the causes and key events of World War I and World War II. We explore life in the trenches, the role of women and the Blitz.  We round off our topic with a trip to Bletchley park, where we discover more about the vital role it played in the Second World War and take part in a code breaking workshop and see an enigma machine.

The Victorians 

In our Victorian topic, we learn all about what life was like in the Victorian times. We compare Victorian schools with the modern day schooling system and what childhood is like today compared to children living in the Victorian era, where the children went to work from as young as five years old! We look at the life of Queen Victoria, the industrial revolution, Victorian inventions and the British Empire.  

Space

Our Space topic links closely with our science learning. From a historical perspective we explore the events of the Space Race, the man on the moon and the lives of different well known astronauts. We have joined video calls to watch interviews and witness a space launch! We finish our topic with a trip to the National Space Centre.

Year 6  

Titanic

Year 6 begin the year with an exciting focus on an event in British History: The Titanic. The children focus on their understanding of the importance of the ship itself as well as working with a range of primary and secondary sources to identify who is to blame for the sinking. We also begin to look at the reliability of different sources of information in order to reach our own conclusions.

The Ancient Greeks

Leading on from this, we look at an influential ancient civilisation - the Ancient Greeks. Building on our knowledge of primary and secondary sources, the children work towards comparing the information available to create a holistic view of the Ancient Greeks and their influence on Western Society. Our aim is to provide the children with a chronological understanding of both British and world history and its influence and importance on how the world looks today.

Tudors

Our final topic is on the Tudors. The children explore the chronology of the time period and where it fits on a timeline in relation to their history learning throughout the children’s whole time at Giffard Park. We look into tudor punishment, the monarchy and include a focused study on King Henry VII and his life. 

How we promote History at Giffard Park 

Throughout the year we have displays around school to help children see how much we value their work and also to see how important we see history as a subject. It can be as work displayed or replica artefacts in the teaching areas.

Progression in History

At a staff meeting in January 2024 we looked at the progression of time lines through the school.

As a staff we could see how timelines progress clearly through the school. In Year One it a simple timeline about themselves and uses pictures to show this.

In Year Two they start to use make their own simple timeline looking at events that are prior to their birth.

In Year Three they are using statements that the children needed to put in order. There are more events and the children had to sequence them.

In Year Four they are focussing on the Viking topic they are learning about. The class teacher also told me that they put the Vikings on a timeline of other periods of time and their own birth. This was done on the white board and not recorded. 

In Year Five the children look at the timeline between 1918 and 1939 and the events between the start of WW1 and WW2.

In Year Six the children looked at the history of The White Star company and what happened up to the sinking of the Titanic. This time line focuses on the events of the Titanic and the company that made it.

Timelines are evolving over each year groups and we can see how they progress. Timelines are being used for children to see what happens and why.  The teachers in KS2 explained that they generate lots of conversations about how they can help to see why things happen.