A high-quality history education will help pupils gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world. It should inspire pupils’ curiosity to know more about the past. Teaching should equip pupils to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments, and develop perspective and judgement. History helps pupils 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.
History is a disciplined process of investigation into the past that develops students’ curiosity and imagination. Awareness of history is an essential characteristic of any society, and historical knowledge is fundamental to understanding ourselves and others. It promotes the understanding of societies, events, movements and developments that have shaped humanity from earliest times. It educates students to appreciate how the world and its people have changed, as well as the significant continuities that exist to the present day. History, as a discipline, has its own methods and procedures which make it different from other ways of understanding human experience. The study of history is based on evidence derived from remains of the past. It is interpretative by nature, promotes debate and inspires thinking about human values, including present and future challenges. The study of history inspires children to develop transferable skills of critical and creative thinking, such as the ability to explore questions, imagine possibilities and construct arguments.
At Dr South’s, we have a focus on learning from history. As well as learning historical facts, the children learn to make links between periods in history and think about what we can learn from them. In Early Years, children first of all gain a good understanding of their own lives, routines and experiences and are able to engage, interact and compare these with those of other children. As they move further up the school, children are introduced to historical events in their own families and community, then extend this to national historical awareness, and eventually link this to events in world history, always trying to learn from the past to improve the future.