History

History at St Robert Bellarmine Primary School

The aim of history teaching here at St Robert Bellarmine School is to stimulate the children's interest and understanding about the life of people who lived in the past.  We teach children a sense of chronology, and through this they develop a sense of identity, and a cultural understanding based on their historical heritage.  Thus they learn to value their own and other people's cultures in modern multicultural Britain and, by considering how people lived in the past, they are better able to make their own life choices today.  We teach children to understand how events in the past have influenced our lives today, we also teach them to investigate these past events and, by so doing, to develop the skills of enquiry, analysis, interpretation and problem-solving.

The objectives of teaching history in our school are:

• to foster in children an interest in the past, and to develop an understanding that enables them to enjoy all that history has to offer;
• to enable children to know about significant events in British history, and to appreciate how things have changed over time;
• to develop a sense of chronology;
• to understand how Britain is part of a wider European culture, and to study some aspects of European history;
• to have some knowledge and understanding of historical development in the wider world;
• to help children understand society and their place within it, so that they develop a sense of their cultural heritage; 
• to develop in children the skills of enquiry, investigation, analysis, evaluation and presentation.

History Topics by Year

History is taught through a variety of topics, designed to develop children's understanding of chronology and to help them gain empathy with people who lived in the past.

Year 1 Topics

Significant Individuals - Who was famous when nan and granddad were little?

Changes within living memory - What was life like when our grandparents were little?

Changes within living memory- How has food changed over time?

Year 2 Topics

Local Study - What was life like for people who lived in Liverpool like 100 years ago?

Significant individuals - How has the world changed because of Florence Nightingale?

Significant events beyond living memory - Why did the Titanic sink?

Year 3 Topics

British History Stone Age to Iron Age -Who first lived in Britain?

The Romans - Why were the Romans so powerful and what did we learn from them?

Local History - What importance did the docks play in the growth of Liverpool?

Year 4 Topics

British History - Were the Anglo-Saxons really smashing?

Ancient Greece - What have the Ancient Greeks done for us?

Year 5 Topics

Ancient Egypt - How much did the ancient Egyptians achieve?

Vikings - Were the Vikings always victorious and vicious?

Slavery - Why should the world be ashamed of slavery?

Year 6 Topics

Significant Theme in British History - How did WWII start and what part did Hitler play?

Local Study The Blitz and Evacuation - What was life like in Bootle during the Blitz?

Non-European Society The Shang Dynasty-  Why is China so special?

The Year 6 children visited Tatton Park to experience what life would have been like as an evacuee during WWII. They began the day by helping Farmer George with his work on the farm - even learning how to milk a cow! They also visited Aunt Mary in the cottage who let them play games such as Bagatelle and Tiddlywinks. Towards the end of the day they had to race to the Anderson Shelter when they heard the piercing sound of the air raid siren. The children finished the day by singing the songs Farmer George and Aunt Mary had taught them.