At Elmstead Wood Primary School we provide our children with a range of life experiences and expand their understanding of the world they live in. This begins in EYFS where we develop pupils’ understanding of ‘past’ and ‘present’ through a range of stories and discussions about objects. Building on this, our curriculum takes the children on a chronological journey through the ages from year 1 to year 6. Starting at the dawn of time, we teach right through the eras to the present day to develop a deep understanding of the rich history of the British Isles and some of the significant empires and time periods from around the world.

We teach our pupils to ‘think like a historian’ by examining artefacts and sources from the time and encouraging them to think critically about what we might be able to learn from the evidence. Each unit provides experiential learning which engages the children and helps to secure the knowledge whilst building on their understanding of key historical concepts across the school. Woven through our planning is a recognition of diversity - we teach the pupils that people from all backgrounds, ethnicities and religions have had an impact on the world, and we hope that every child sees themselves in our curriculum. In addition to this, we ensure our topics lend themselves well to our promotion and learning of British Values, with talks of democracy throughout the ages and discussions about the rule of law, tolerance and the rights of people.

In the summer term, each year group takes part in an ‘Immersion Day’ based on a previously studied period. On this day, pupils experience a range of activities linking to the topic and spend the day immersed in a different time in history.

For more information please visit the Knowledge Organiser page for each year group:

Year 1 Knowledge Organisers

Year 2 Knowledge Organisers

Year 3 Knowledge Organisers

Year 4 Knowledge Organisers

Year 5 Knowledge Organisers

Year 6 Knowledge Organisers