History and Monkfield Park:

History at Monkfield Park Primary School is central to developing curious, knowledgeable and thoughtful children who understand how the past has shaped the world they live in today. Rooted in The Monkfield Way, our history curriculum reflects our values by helping pupils become tolerant and respectful of others, confident and responsible, and children who try their best in everything they do. Through history, pupils develop a love of learning together through shared enquiry, discussion and discovery, while learning to think critically about the world around them.

Our history curriculum is carefully designed to make the past meaningful and memorable through the study of significant people, events and places. Pupils learn about Romans, the Great Fire of London, castles, Stone Age life, Ancient Egypt, the Tudors, Anglo-Saxons and Vikings, the railway revolution, Victorian children, World War One, World War Two, crime and punishment, Ancient Greece, exploration, Shackleton and the Maya, and local history. Through these studies, children build a secure understanding of chronology, change over time, historical significance and the ways in which the past continue to influence modern life.

Through studying people, places and events from the past, pupils learn to respect different cultures, beliefs and experiences, understand how communities change over time, and appreciate the impact people can have on the world around them.

Key Aims

• To develop historical curiosity and enjoyment by teaching engaging enquiries that encourage pupils to love learning together.
• To ensure pupils gain a secure sense of chronology, so they can sequence events, place periods in order and understand historical time.
• To develop pupils’ understanding of local, national and global history, with strong links to Cambridge, Cambridgeshire and the wider British story.
• To teach pupils to use evidence and sources carefully, making observations, inferences and reasoned conclusions.
• To help pupils understand cause and consequence, similarity and difference, continuity and change, and historical significance.
• To develop pupils’ understanding that the past can be interpreted in different ways, and that people experienced events differently depending on their viewpoint and circumstances.
• To provide pupils with a rich and precise historical vocabulary so they can speak and write like historians.
• To ensure consistent, progressive learning from Reception through to Year 6, so gaps in foundational knowledge are identified and addressed early, particularly for pupils with SEND, EAL or other vulnerabilities.
• To encourage pupils to be confident and responsible when sharing ideas, asking questions and working collaboratively during historical enquiry.
• To support pupils to try their best in everything they do by developing resilience, independence and a positive attitude to challenge.

Content and Skills

Pupils will build secure, sequenced knowledge and practical skills across the following areas:

Chronological Understanding

Sequencing events, people and periods; using timelines and historical language accurately; understanding how different periods fit together.

Historical Enquiry

Asking questions about the past; investigating artefacts, buildings, maps, photographs, written records and oral evidence; identifying what sources can tell us and what they cannot.

Cause and Consequence

Understanding why events happened and what changed as a result, including major turning points such as the Stone Age Revolution, Ancient Egypt, the Roman invasion, the Great Fire of London, the Tudors, the railway revolution, Victorian childhood, World War One, World War Two, crime and punishment reform, and the Anglo-Saxon and Viking period.

Similarity and Difference

Comparing life in different periods; identifying what has stayed the same and what has changed; exploring contrasts between rich and poor, urban and rural, and past and present.

Historical Significance

Understanding why people and events are remembered; studying the impact of significant leaders, rulers, reformers, explorers, inventors, scientists and ordinary people whose actions shaped local, national and global history.

Local History

Making purposeful links to Cambridge and Cambourne, including Roman roads, Cambridge Castle Mound, Tudor and Victorian buildings, railway development, wartime Cambridge, prehistoric sites, archaeological discoveries and local museum collections.

Teaching will use carefully sequenced lessons, explicit vocabulary instruction, modelling and scaffolded discussion. Lessons will interleave concrete experiences, such as artefact handling, role play and map work, with increasingly abstract historical thinking. Systematic retrieval and deliberate practice will be used to consolidate key concepts, including chronology, evidence, significance, cause, consequence and interpretation.

Progression

Learning objectives are mapped progressively across Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 so that:

Key Stage 1

Focuses on foundational skills: recognising the past and present, understanding change over time, beginning to use evidence, and learning about familiar topics such as toys, homes, castles and the Great Fire of London.

Lower Key Stage 2

Builds on that foundation with deeper enquiry into the Stone Age, Ancient Egypt, the Romans, the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings, and the railway revolution, strengthening pupils’ understanding of migration, settlement, continuity and legacy.

Upper Key Stage 2

Develops more complex understanding through the study of the Ancient Greeks, Tudors, Victorian children, World War One, crime and punishment, Shackleton and the Maya, and World War Two, enabling pupils to make judgements using a wider range of evidence and perspectives.

Progression ensures mastery of essential concepts before advancing, revisiting the subject’s big ideas regularly and addressing common misconceptions. Differentiation and targeted support ensure pupils with SEND, EAL or disadvantaged backgrounds make secure progress; leaders will use assessment and tracking systems consistently to identify next steps and adapt provision.

Wider Impact

History underpins The Monkfield Way by nurturing children who are tolerant and respectful of others, confident and responsible, and committed to trying their best in everything they do. It supports pupils’ personal development by helping them value their local area, understand different beliefs and experiences, and recognise the importance of making careful, evidence-based judgements.

The curriculum also strengthens literacy, oracy and critical thinking. Through debates, explanations, diaries, reports, documentaries, leaflets and presentations, pupils learn to communicate clearly, justify their ideas and write with increasing precision. Historical enquiry helps children become confident learners who can analyse evidence, listen to others and develop their own informed views.

History also helps pupils understand how people’s decisions have shaped communities, environments and societies over time. Through learning about settlement, transport, industry, conflict and social change, pupils develop a deeper understanding of their responsibilities as active citizens in the modern world.

Aspirational Outcomes for Pupils

Children will leave Year 6 with:

• a secure understanding of British and world chronology;
• an appreciation of how the past has shaped the present;
• confidence in using historical evidence;
• pride in their local heritage in Cambridge and Cambourne;
• the ability to question, interpret and evaluate evidence thoughtfully;
• the confidence to explain their ideas clearly and respectfully;
• the curiosity to continue exploring history beyond primary school.

Subject leaders and staff will monitor impact, refine sequencing and pedagogy collaboratively, and ensure history contributes strongly to pupils’ achievement, personal development and long-term cultural capital.

In History, we want every child to know more, remember more and think more deeply about the people, events and ideas that have shaped our world.