At Tyntesfield, we recognise the importance in helping children gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world. We value the importance of children being able to relate their historical knowledge to the world today, appreciating how different events have led us to today’s world. We strive to inspire children’s curiosity to know more about the past. History teaching equips children to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments, and develop perspective and judgement. History helps our children to understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups, as well as their own identity and the challenges of their time.

When we learn about history at Tyntesfield, we learn by handling artefacts, by examining paintings and photos, we read stories about brave people who have changed the world and investigate the impact those changes have had. We develop as historians who ask questions, weigh evidence, investigate cause and effect, and amongst other skills, understand the significance of people, places and events.

We start with our local history and the recent history of our families – what their homes were like and what toys they played with. We learn about what school used to be like and significant people who went on great adventures round the world and into space. As the children grow, so does the scope of their learning. Learning extends to national and global history as children go on a chronological journey from the very first civilisations, through the Ancient Greeks and Romans, the impact of Ancient Islamic Civilisations on the world up to the twenty first century where we examine the impact of Peterloo, global conflict and the importance of fighting for your freedom and equality for all.

History helps us learn about who we are and ultimately consider the question: What will our role in history be?

History at Tyntesfield

Aims (desired outcomes)

• Know and understand the history of these islands as a coherent, chronological narrative, from the earliest times to the present day.
• Know how people’s lives have shaped this nation and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world.
• Know and understand a local perspective to the history of Britain.
• Know and understand significant aspects of the history of the wider world.
• Know and understand key historical vocabulary and abstract terms such as ‘empire’, ‘civilisation’, ‘parliament’, ‘monarchy’.
• Understand key historical concepts and use them to make connections, draw contrasts, analyse trends, frame historically valid questions and create their own structured accounts, including written narratives and analyses

CHRONOLOGY (arrangement of events or dates in the order of their occurrence; a coherent narrative of history)

CAUSE AND EFFECT (Every significant event, development or change is triggered by at least one cause)

CONTINUITY AND CHANGE (Exploring, explaining and evaluating what has changed and what has stayed the same. Change over time and continuity in times of change. Continuity is the opposite of change: it is where things stay more or less the same. Historians are interested in change but are mindful that not everything changes. Even during a period of great upheaval, some institutions, traditions and values will remain constant.)

SIGNIFICANCE (The importance of events and the impact of changes. Using the past to provide contemporary lessons impact of these change.)

PERSPECTIVE (All events are known and told from the biases of a person, there is no such thing as objective history)

• Develop methods of historical enquiry, including how evidence is used rigorously to make historical claims, and discern how and why contrasting arguments and interpretations of the past have been constructed.
• Gain historical perspective by placing their growing knowledge into different contexts: understanding the connections between local, regional, national and international history; between cultural, economic, military, political, religious and social history; and between short- and long-term timescales.