Concepts or ‘big ideas’

At Hillstone Primary School, our children learn through a concept-based curriculum allowing them to learn beyond solely the topic facts. Concepts or ‘big ideas’ allow children to make connections between their learning and in turn gain a deeper understanding allowing them to make sense of the facts and the world around them. Our History curriculum will engage and inspire curiosity, while encouraging children to think critically and ask questions.

• The coverage of recent history in KS1 using themes such as We are Toymakers, Best of Britain, We love Shard End and Great Fire of London enables children to acquire an understanding of time, events and people in their memory and their parents’ and grandparents’ memories. For KS1, we have designed a curriculum that can be covered chronologically in reverse to allow a full opportunity for children to really grasp the difficult concept of the passing of time.
• The intent in Years 3 and 4 is that children are given the opportunity to build on key themes introduced to them in KS1. Concepts such as ‘invasion’ and ‘community’ are revisited, allowing children recall and build on previous knowledge. Children move is chronological order through ‘They Came to These Shores,’ all the way to recent history in the local area in ‘Proud to be a Brummie.’
• Years 5 and 6 allow children to repeat and embed the sequence of chronology with a wider selection of history such as ‘The Tudors’ and ‘Across the Americas’ through to more modern history such as ‘World War II’. The repeat in KS2 of chronological order from ancient to modern allows for children to truly develop and embed a sense of time and how civilisations were interconnected. Children start to understand how some historical events occurred concurrently in different locations, e.g. Ancient Egypt and the Stone Age.