History
“The past explains the present.” — Mary Beard
At WHPS we use the Chris Quigley Essentials and Curriculum Companion to support our teaching and learning of History.
We believe history should do far more than help children remember dates and famous names. We want pupils to develop a deep, connected understanding of the past so that they can make sense of the world today.
Our history curriculum is designed to help children build a strong history schema—a structured network of knowledge that allows them to understand how people, places and events are linked across time. Rather than learning isolated facts, pupils revisit key ideas and concepts regularly, helping knowledge to move into long-term memory and become meaningful.
A curriculum built on strong foundations
Our history curriculum is organised around four threshold concepts—the “big ideas” that run through every unit of learning:
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Investigate and interpret the past
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Build an overview of world history
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Understand chronology
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Communicate historically
These concepts are revisited throughout school, so pupils gain increasing confidence in historical thinking and enquiry as they move through each stage.
Knowledge Categories (Strands)
Within each topic, pupils develop knowledge through carefully planned strands, including:
Settlements
Pupils explore where and why people chose to live in certain places, and how towns, cities and communities developed over time.
Beliefs
Children learn how religion, values and belief systems shaped people’s lives, influenced decisions, and affected societies across different periods.
Culture and pastimes
Pupils discover how people lived day to day, including entertainment, traditions, art and leisure, and how culture changed over time.
Location and migration
Children investigate the importance of place in history, including movement of people, invasions, trade routes and how migration shaped societies.
Main events and key individuals
Pupils study significant events and influential individuals who shaped history, considering their impact locally, nationally and globally.
Conflict
Children learn about causes of conflict, key battles and wars, and how conflict changed countries, communities and ordinary lives.
Society and everyday life
Pupils explore social structures, roles and responsibilities, including how different groups lived, worked and were treated in different time periods.
Artefacts and evidence
Children examine historical sources, objects and evidence to understand how we know about the past and to make informed historical interpretations.
Pupils also build a strong bank of historical vocabulary, which enables them to speak and write with accuracy and maturity.
Progress
Progress is measured using clear milestones, which define what pupils should achieve at key stages of their learning.
Ultimately, our aim is for every child to leave our school with a strong understanding of Britain’s past and the wider world—curious about history, confident in enquiry, and able to think critically about how the past shapes the future.
Breadth of Study and Progression
Our History curriculum is designed to help children understand the past and how it has shaped the world today. As pupils move through the school, they learn more about different time periods, develop key historical skills, and learn how historians use evidence to find out what happened in the past.
Key Stage 1 (Years 1–2)
In Key Stage 1, children begin to understand the difference between past and present. They learn about important people and events, and start using simple timelines and historical language.
Year 1
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Rosa Parks
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Martin Luther King Jr
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Queen Elizabeth II
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Tim Berners-Lee
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Neil Armstrong & the Moon Landing
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Queen Victoria
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Florence Nightingale
Year 2
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The Great Fire of London
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The Gunpowder Plot
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The Steam Engine
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The Invention of Radio
Lower Key Stage 2 (Years 3–4)
In Years 3 and 4, children build a stronger sense of chronology by studying ancient history and early Britain. They begin to explore how we know about the past through sources, artefacts and evidence.
Year 3
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Ancient Egypt
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Anglo-Saxons
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Vikings
Year 4
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The Stone Age
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The Bronze Age
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The Iron Age
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Crime and Punishment (through time)
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The Roman Empire / Roman Britain
Upper Key Stage 2 (Years 5–6)
In Years 5 and 6, children develop deeper historical understanding. They learn that different sources can give different viewpoints, and they begin to explain events using ideas such as cause and consequence, change, and historical significance.
Year 5
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The Ancient Greeks
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The Second World War
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The Tudors
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The Maya
Year 6
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The Victorian Era
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The First World War
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Local History Study: B17 bomber crash (1943)
Vocabulary
Year 1
Rosa Parks – Past, Present, Future, Law, Segregation
Martin Luther King – Race, discrimination, influential, recount
Queen Elizabeth II – Monarch, monarchy, coronation, past, present, future
Tim Berners-Lee – Communication, significant, internet
Neil Armstrong & The Moon Landing – Exploration, Observe, Recent, Timeline
Queen Victoria – Decade, Coronation, Monarch, Government
Florence Nightingale – Significant, influential, improved, insanitary
Year 2
The Great Fire of London – Artefact, decade, eyewitness, extract
The Gunpowder Plot – Parliament, Treason, Democracy, Century
The Steam Engine – Significant, centuries, locomotives, transportation
The Invention of Radio – Influential, communication, transmission, broadcasts
Year 3
Ancient Egypt – Ancient, BCE, Historical source, Archaeologists, Excavate, influential
Anglo Saxons – Conquered, allegiance, collapse, legacy, medieval, cause, consequence
Vikings – Locality, Primary sources, Secondary sources, Medieval, evidence
Year 4
The Stone Age – Ancestors, historical sources, consequence, BCE, archaeologists
The Bronze Age – BCE, ancient, archaeologists, historical source
The Iron Age – BCE, significant, consequence, evidence
Crime and Punishment – Primary Sources, Secondary Sources, Crime, Punishment, Evidence
The Roman Empire / Roman Britain – Empire, emperor, archaeologists, primary sources, secondary sources
Year 5
The Ancient Greeks – Democracy, historical sources, citizens, democratic, reliable, hypothesis
The Second World War – Propaganda, bias, primary sources, secondary sources, Significant
The Tudors – Monarch, heir, rebellion, parliament, military, devout
The Maya – Traditions, architects, artefacts, civilisation
Year 6
The Victorian Era – Analyse, Hypothesis, Justify, Empire, Consequence, Parliament
The First World War – Armistice, Treaties, Analyse, Primary Source, Secondary Source
Local History – B17 bomber crash (1943) – Bomber, Eyewitness, Historical Sources
