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Studying history at Newfield Park fosters children’s appreciation for diverse lives, evolving times, and their own identity – especially in local history.
The curriculum spans ancient to modern history, encompassing global civilizations and emphasizing both British history and local studies. The goal is to inspire curiosity, encourage questioning and empower children to form opinions by considering arguments and evidence.
Our methodology aims to actively facilitate connections between topics and across year groups. It follows a consistent format to enhance the retrieval and retention of knowledge, vocabulary, and chronological links. The primary purpose is to serve as a reflective tool during each topic, allowing students to record key knowledge and vocabulary. This information is then reinforced when subsequent topics are taught, aiding children in establishing meaningful connections.
We are proud to have worked in partnership with Historic England to ensure our history curriculum is of the highest quality. In recognition of this, we were awarded the Historic England Heritage Schools Award in 2024. Our curriculum spans ancient to modern history, exploring global civilisations while placing a strong emphasis on British history and local heritage. Through enquiry-led learning, chronological connections, and carefully designed knowledge organisers, we aim to inspire curiosity, encourage critical questioning, and empower pupils to form well-reasoned opinions based on evidence. Local Area Planning and progression are adapted from Historic England’s guidance, ensuring pupils develop a deep understanding of their immediate heritage and its place in the wider historical narrative. Our European and Global history content is adapted from The Key, providing breadth and balance across world civilisations and significant events.
Knowledge Organisers play a vital role in every lesson, providing support and scaffolding for learning. Uniformly structured across the school, they enable efficient information retrieval. The front page includes key vocabulary with definitions, a chronological timeline, the inquiry question and a map – enhancing the learning experience. The reverse side categorises the substantive knowledge, organising it into sections corresponding to each lesson.
The incorporation of an enquiry question serves as a foundational driving force for each topic. Rooted in authentic and substantial historical questions, these enquiries require pupils to provide ultimate answers. They often form the central thread within schemes of work, extending across multiple lessons. The overarching goal is for children to progressively build on their disciplinary knowledge throughout the unit, culminating in diverse ways of answering the question based on their individually formulated opinions.
