History

We follow the National Curriculum and the Early Years Curriculum and the children are taught the subject knowledge and historical enquiry skills they need to behave like a historian. Over the course of an academic year, each class studies three History topics which include a mixture of historical knowledge and enquiry skills. Each topic is broken down into five or six big questions which the children will address over the course of the half term. We have identified some key historical themes which the children will revisit during their time at St. Martin's.
Reception, Year 1 and Year 2
In Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 the children follow a rolling programme. This means that the children have a wide range of experiences and allows them to revisit key historical ideas in different contexts. During their first three years at school, all children study the following at least once:
- a thematic unit to learn about changes over time
- significant events within living memory
- significant historical events in the local area
- events beyond living memory which are significant nationally or globally
- a comparative study of two significant individuals in the same field
Autumn Term | Spring Term | Summer Term | ||||
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Lima Class (Reception/ Year 1) Year A |
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Beside The Sea
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Windrush!
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Lima Class (Reception/ Year 1) Year B |
Toys
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Space Race
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Walter Tull
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Rose Class (Year 1/ 2) Year A |
Explorers
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The Great Fire of London
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Reading Abbey
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Rose Class (Year 1/ 2) Year B |
Biscuits!
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Castles
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Communication
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Year 3
In Year 3, there is a strong emphasis on civilisation.
Autumn | Spring | Summer | ||||
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Prehistoric Britain
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The Shang Dynasty
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Ancient Greece
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Year 4
During Year 4, the children learn about the early History of Britain, building on their understanding of Empire with their Roman topic and with a strong emphasis on invasion and conflict throughout.
Autumn | Spring | Summer | ||||
Romans
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Anglo-Saxons
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Vikings
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Year 5
In Year 5, the children revisit and build on their understanding of the ideas of civilisation, conflict and invastion, and empire in their topics about the Benin Kingdom and the Middle East. They focus on power and legitimacy as they learn about the changing roles of the Church, the monarch and parliament in their topic 'Medieval Monarchs'.
Autumn | Spring | Summer | ||||
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The Benin Kingdom
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Medieval Monarchs
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The Middle East
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In Year 6, the children build on their understanding of all the themes in new and more sophisticated contexts. In their Industrial Revolution topic, they learn about culture and identity, find out more about the British Empire first covered in Key Stage 1 and also build on their understanding of power and legitimacy from their work in Year 5. They learn about the Civil Rights movement, developing their understanding of conflict and also learning still more about power and legitimacy. Finally, in their topic about twentieth century conflict, the children learn more about empire and conflict and invasion.
Autumn | Spring | Summer | ||||
The Industrial Revolution
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Civil Rights
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Twentieth Century Conflict
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