History
Our Statement of Intent
Our history curriculum aims to ignite pupils’ curiosity about the past and develop a strong sense of chronology, helping them understand the key events and individuals that have shaped the world they live in today. By exploring local, national, and global history, we encourage students to make connections across time and cultures, fostering a deeper appreciation of historical change, continuity, and diversity.
We intend to:
- Inspire curiosity about the past and a passion for historical inquiry, encouraging children to ask questions and seek answers.
- Provide a coherent, chronological understanding of British and world history, enabling pupils to place their learning in a meaningful timeline.
- Equip students with the ability to critically evaluate sources of evidence, distinguish between fact and opinion, and understand historical interpretation.
- Help children understand the cause and consequence of key historical events and the significance of important figures in shaping societies.
- Promote historical vocabulary and concepts such as ‘empire,’ ‘civilization,’ ‘democracy,’ ‘invasion,’ and ‘exploration’ to enhance understanding and communication.
- Make history relevant and meaningful by connecting learning to contemporary issues, students’ own lives, and their communities.
- Develop children’s understanding of key themes such as Settlements, conflict, travel, artefacts etc.
- Develop empathy, perspective, and an appreciation for the lives of people in different historical contexts, broadening children’s worldview.
- Foster cross-curricular links, particularly with geography, literacy, and citizenship, to provide a well-rounded understanding of the past’s influence on the present.
Our local history as a school, and as a community, is celebrated regularly with links to local notable people and historical events including: the history of local education at Trent College and our own school’s recent 50th anniversary; historical crime and justice in Nottingham; and the history of trade and manufacture in Long Eaton.
In line with the National Curriculum (2014), English Martyrs’ ensures our history curriculum will help pupils gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world. It inspires our pupils’ curiosity to know more about the past. Our teaching equips pupils to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments, and develop perspective and judgment. Through our curriculum, 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.
