Welcome to our History and Geography page

History

Intent

At Halfway Houses Primary School, we aim to inspire pupils' curiosity about the past and develop a lifelong interest in history. Through the Kapow Primary History curriculum, children gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain's past and that of the wider world, helping them understand how historical events have shaped the society in which we live today.

Our history curriculum has been carefully designed as a progressive, knowledge-rich curriculum that develops both substantive knowledge and disciplinary knowledge. We want children to understand not only the events, people and civilisations they study, but also how historians investigate the past, evaluate evidence and construct historical arguments.

The curriculum has been sequenced to enable pupils to build knowledge and skills over time, revisiting key concepts and applying them in new contexts. Through this approach, children develop an increasingly sophisticated understanding of chronology, historical significance, cause and consequence, change and continuity, and historical interpretation.

We aim for all pupils to:

• Develop a secure understanding of British, local and world history.
• Build substantive knowledge through the study of significant events, people, societies and civilisations.
• Develop disciplinary knowledge by learning how historians investigate and interpret the past.
• Understand key historical concepts such as monarchy, empire, invasion, settlement, power and achievement.
• Develop curiosity, critical thinking and a love of learning about the past.
• Use historical vocabulary accurately and confidently.
• Understand how the past has shaped the modern world.
• Develop empathy, respect and an appreciation of diverse cultures, perspectives and experiences.

Our curriculum supports pupils' wider personal development by helping them understand diversity, democracy, equality, social change and cultural heritage. Through studying a wide range of historical periods, societies and perspectives, children develop a stronger sense of identity, belonging and citizenship.

The curriculum broadens horizons by beginning with children's own experiences and local history before expanding to British history, ancient civilisations and global developments. This helps pupils understand how their own stories connect to the wider story of humanity.

Implementation

History is taught through the Kapow Primary History scheme of work, which provides a carefully sequenced, knowledge-rich curriculum from Year 1 to Year 6. The curriculum is designed as a spiral curriculum, allowing pupils to revisit key knowledge, concepts and skills throughout their primary education.

This approach is underpinned by three key principles:

Cyclical Learning

Pupils revisit key knowledge and skills throughout their learning journey.

Increasing Depth

Concepts and skills are developed with greater complexity each time they are revisited.

Building on Prior Knowledge

New learning is connected to previous learning to strengthen understanding and retention.

This approach supports long-term retention and enables pupils to know more, remember more and apply their learning confidently to new contexts.

Learning is organised through five key strands that run throughout every unit of history.

Chronological Awareness

Pupils develop a secure understanding of chronology by placing events, people and civilisations within an increasingly coherent timeline. They learn to identify change and continuity across periods and understand how different societies existed and developed across time.

Historical Knowledge and Understanding

Children build secure substantive knowledge through studying significant people, events, societies and civilisations from local, British and world history. Key substantive concepts, including monarchy, empire, invasion and settlement, power and achievement, are revisited throughout the curriculum in a range of contexts, enabling pupils to develop deeper understanding over time.

Historical Enquiry

Pupils learn to work as historians by asking questions, investigating evidence and drawing conclusions. Through enquiry-led learning, they explore the past, develop curiosity and learn how historical knowledge is constructed.

Interpretations of History

Children learn that historical accounts can differ and that interpretations of the past may change over time. They evaluate differing viewpoints and consider how evidence, perspective and context influence historical interpretations.

Communicating Historically

Pupils develop the ability to communicate historical understanding through discussion, debate, presentations and written work. They learn to justify opinions using evidence and appropriate historical vocabulary.

Curriculum Sequencing

The history curriculum has been carefully sequenced to support pupils' understanding of chronology and to ensure that knowledge and skills build progressively over time. Learning begins with the familiar and gradually broadens to encompass local, national and global history, enabling children to make connections between their own lives and the wider historical narrative.

Early Years Foundation Stage

In the Early Years, children begin developing an understanding of the past through their own experiences, memories and family histories. Learning focuses on familiar contexts, helping pupils understand the difference between past and present and begin to develop an awareness of chronology.

Key Stage 1

In Key Stage 1, the curriculum has been sequenced to develop pupils' understanding of the concept of the past. Learning begins with children's own lives and experiences before moving to familiar historical contexts and then less familiar historical events and individuals.

This approach supports children in developing a secure understanding of chronology whilst beginning to recognise how people and events have shaped the world around them. Pupils develop early understanding of important substantive concepts such as power, monarchy and achievement through the study of explorers, inventors and significant historical figures.

Key Stage 2

In Key Stage 2, British history is taught chronologically, enabling pupils to develop a coherent understanding of the history of Britain from the earliest settlements through to modern times.

World history studies are carefully positioned to allow pupils to make meaningful comparisons between different civilisations, cultures and time periods. As their knowledge develops, pupils revisit key substantive concepts, including monarchy, empire, invasion, settlement and power, in increasingly complex contexts.

This sequencing enables children to:

• Build a coherent chronological framework.
• Make links between different historical periods.
• Compare societies and civilisations.
• Deepen understanding of key historical concepts.
• Apply disciplinary knowledge with increasing sophistication.
• Understand how local, national and global histories connect.

Broadening Horizons

As pupils move through the curriculum, their historical understanding expands from the personal and familiar to increasingly complex national and international narratives.

By revisiting key concepts in different contexts over time, children develop a greater understanding of identity, heritage and diversity. They begin to recognise how events, decisions and achievements from the past continue to influence society today.

This carefully planned progression allows pupils to appreciate the interconnectedness of human experiences and to understand their place within the wider story of human history.

Knowledge, Vocabulary and Retrieval

History lessons develop both substantive knowledge (what we know about the past) and disciplinary knowledge (how historians investigate and understand the past).

Knowledge organisers identify the key facts, concepts and vocabulary pupils need to learn and remember within each unit. Regular retrieval practice enables pupils to revisit previous learning, strengthen long-term memory and make connections between different periods and themes.

Vocabulary is explicitly taught and carefully sequenced throughout the curriculum. Historical vocabulary is developed through four key areas:

• Chronological Awareness
• Substantive Concepts
• Historical Enquiry
• Disciplinary Concepts

This progression allows children to move from understanding historical vocabulary receptively to using it confidently and accurately in discussion and writing.

Progression of Skills and Knowledge

The Kapow Primary History Progression of Skills and Knowledge document ensures that knowledge and disciplinary concepts develop progressively across the primary phase and align with National Curriculum expectations.

Children revisit substantive concepts in different historical contexts, enabling them to deepen their understanding over time. Historical skills are carefully sequenced so that pupils become increasingly confident in analysing sources, evaluating evidence, identifying significance and forming historical interpretations.

Whilst individual topics introduce specific contextual knowledge, the curriculum prioritises the progression of transferable historical concepts, knowledge and skills that can be applied across different historical periods and contexts.

Oracy and Communication

Oracy is an important feature of the history curriculum. Pupils are taught to discuss, explain, question, justify and debate historical ideas. Through activities such as enquiry discussions, role play, presentations, hot seating and source analysis, children develop the confidence to articulate their thinking and communicate as historians.

Personal Development

History makes a significant contribution to pupils' personal development. Through studying diverse peoples, cultures, civilisations and historical experiences, children develop empathy, respect and appreciation for different perspectives.

The curriculum promotes:

• Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural (SMSC) development.
• British Values, including democracy, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance.
• An understanding of diversity, equality and social change.
• Awareness of local, national and global communities.
• Cultural capital through exposure to significant people, events and achievements from across history.
• An understanding of how past decisions continue to influence contemporary society.

Impact

By the time pupils leave Halfway Houses Primary School, they will have developed a rich body of historical knowledge and a secure understanding of the disciplinary skills used by historians. They will be able to make meaningful connections across periods of history, evaluate evidence critically and understand how the past has influenced the present.

Pupils will:

• Know more and remember more over time.
• Demonstrate secure chronological understanding.
• Develop a strong understanding of substantive historical concepts.
• Use historical vocabulary accurately and confidently.
• Ask perceptive questions and think critically.
• Analyse and evaluate historical evidence.
• Recognise and evaluate differing interpretations of history.
• Explain change and continuity, cause and consequence, similarity and difference, and historical significance.
• Communicate historical understanding effectively using evidence and reasoning.
• Develop curiosity, confidence and enthusiasm for learning about the past.

The impact of the curriculum is measured through:

• Regular retrieval practice and recap activities.
• Ongoing formative assessment.
• End-of-unit assessment quizzes.
• Knowledge catchers and skills catchers.
• Pupil discussions and pupil voice.
• Work scrutiny and moderation.
• Assessment against the progression of skills and knowledge.
• Evaluation of pupils' ability to independently apply substantive and disciplinary knowledge.

As a result, pupils leave Halfway Houses Primary School as knowledgeable, reflective and inquisitive young historians who understand their place within the wider story of human history and are well prepared for the next stage of their education.

Geography

Intent

At Halfway Houses Primary School, we aim to inspire pupils to become curious, knowledgeable and reflective geographers with a strong understanding of the world around them. Through the Kapow Primary Geography curriculum, children develop a sense of wonder about the diverse environments, people and places that make up our world whilst gaining the knowledge and skills needed to think like geographers.

Our curriculum develops both geographical knowledge and geographical enquiry skills, enabling pupils to ask questions, investigate places and environments, analyse information and present informed conclusions. We want our children to understand how physical and human processes shape the world and recognise the interconnected nature of local, national and global communities.

The Geography curriculum is built around four key strands:

Locational Knowledge

Developing children's understanding of where places are, how locations relate to one another and how geographical position influences the way people live.

Place Knowledge

Helping pupils develop meaningful connections with places by exploring their unique characteristics and comparing them with other locations around the world.

Human and Physical Geography

Understanding the interaction between people and the environment, including climate, landscapes, settlements, trade, natural resources and environmental change.

Geographical Skills and Fieldwork

Developing the skills required to investigate, interpret, analyse and communicate geographical information through maps, atlases, data collection and fieldwork.

Our curriculum is designed to broaden horizons, beginning with familiar local contexts before expanding to national and global studies. Through this progression, pupils develop a sense of place, identity and global citizenship, helping them understand their role within an increasingly interconnected world.

Implementation

Geography is taught through the Kapow Primary Geography scheme of work, which provides a carefully sequenced and progressive curriculum from EYFS to Year 6. The curriculum follows a spiral model in which key concepts, knowledge and skills are revisited throughout pupils' primary education, enabling understanding to deepen over time.

A Spiral Curriculum

The curriculum is built upon three key principles:

Cyclical Learning
Pupils revisit key geographical knowledge and concepts regularly throughout their learning journey.

Increasing Depth
Each revisit develops understanding with greater complexity, encouraging deeper geographical thinking.

Building on Prior Knowledge
New learning is carefully linked to previous knowledge so that pupils develop secure and connected understanding over time.

This approach enables children to know more, remember more and apply their geographical understanding confidently in new contexts.

Geographical Knowledge and Concepts

The curriculum develops pupils' understanding of key geographical concepts including:

• Place
• Space
• Scale
• Interdependence
• Physical and Human Processes
• Environmental Impact
• Sustainable Development
• Cultural Awareness and Diversity

These concepts are revisited across different units and case studies, helping pupils build increasingly sophisticated geographical understanding.

Geographical Enquiry and Fieldwork

Pupils develop disciplinary knowledge by working as geographers through geographical enquiries and fieldwork investigations.

Children learn to:

• Ask geographical questions.
• Observe environments carefully.
• Measure and collect data.
• Record information accurately.
• Analyse findings.
• Present conclusions.
• Evaluate evidence and suggest actions.

Through fieldwork opportunities, pupils apply classroom learning to real-world situations, helping them understand how geographers investigate and interpret the world around them.

Curriculum Sequencing

The geography curriculum has been deliberately sequenced to develop pupils' understanding of scale, place and geographical relationships.

Early Years Foundation Stage

Learning begins with children's immediate environment. Pupils explore familiar places, maps, weather patterns, seasons and the natural world, developing early geographical language and awareness.

Key Stage 1

In Key Stage 1, learning starts with children's local surroundings before gradually broadening to regional, national and global contexts.

Children first explore their local area and the United Kingdom before comparing their experiences with places elsewhere in the world. Through studies such as Shanghai and Kenya, pupils begin to understand similarities and differences between places and develop foundational concepts of location, scale and place.

Lower Key Stage 2

In Lower Key Stage 2, pupils deepen their understanding of physical and human processes through studies of volcanoes, Antarctica, settlements, rainforests, food production and rivers.

The curriculum introduces increasingly complex concepts such as climate, trade, natural resources and biomes. Children begin to understand how physical geography influences where people live and how communities develop.

Upper Key Stage 2

In Upper Key Stage 2, pupils explore more complex geographical themes including climate change, sustainability, global trade, energy, population and resource management.

Studies of the Alps, oceans, deserts and energy production enable children to understand global interdependence and the relationship between human activity and environmental change.

The curriculum culminates in an independent fieldwork enquiry where pupils bring together their knowledge, understanding and geographical skills to investigate a real-world geographical issue.

Knowledge, Vocabulary and Retrieval

Knowledge organisers identify the key facts, vocabulary and concepts that pupils need to learn and retain within each unit.

Regular retrieval practice is embedded throughout lessons, helping pupils revisit prior learning, strengthen long-term memory and build connections between different areas of study.

Geographical vocabulary is carefully planned and developed through the four curriculum strands:

• Locational Knowledge
• Place Knowledge
• Human and Physical Geography
• Geographical Skills and Fieldwork

As pupils progress through the school, they become increasingly confident in using geographical language accurately when speaking and writing.

Sustainability and Global Citizenship

Geography plays a vital role in helping pupils understand environmental responsibility and sustainability. Through studying climate change, conservation, natural resources and environmental challenges, children develop an understanding of how their actions can affect the wider world.

The curriculum encourages pupils to become informed, responsible citizens who are equipped to contribute positively to future environmental and societal challenges.

Personal Development

Geography makes a significant contribution to pupils' personal development by promoting:

• Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development.
• British Values.
• Cultural awareness and diversity.
• Respect for different communities and cultures.
• Environmental responsibility.
• Critical thinking and decision-making.
• Global citizenship.

Through studying diverse locations and communities, children gain a deeper appreciation of the similarities and differences that exist across the world whilst developing empathy, respect and understanding.

Impact

By the time pupils leave Halfway Houses Primary School, they will have developed a secure understanding of geographical knowledge, concepts and skills. They will be able to think critically about the world around them, make connections between places and processes and understand the impact of human activity on the environment.

Pupils will:

• Know more and remember more geographical knowledge over time.
• Have a secure understanding of key geographical concepts.
• Use geographical vocabulary accurately and confidently.
• Read, interpret and create maps effectively.
• Collect, analyse and present geographical data.
• Apply fieldwork skills independently.
• Understand environmental and sustainability issues.
• Appreciate diversity and cultural differences.
• Demonstrate curiosity about the world and their place within it.

The impact of the curriculum is measured through:

• Ongoing formative assessment.
• Retrieval practice and recap activities.
• Knowledge catchers and assessment quizzes.
• Pupil discussions and pupil voice.
• Written outcomes and fieldwork activities.
• Work scrutiny and moderation.
• Assessment against progression of skills and knowledge.
• Evaluation of pupils' ability to independently apply geographical concepts and enquiry skills.

As a result, pupils leave Halfway Houses Primary School as confident, informed and responsible young geographers who understand the interconnected nature of our world and are well prepared for the next stage of their education and life beyond school.

How can I help my child with their History and Geography learning?

Here are some questions that you could ask your child.

History

Can you name a famous historical figure? 

Tell me a favourite fact about the past.

Do you know what BC and AD stand for? 

How can learning from history help us lead better lives today?

If you could be a famous person from history, who would you be and why?

What is a timeline?

What sources have you looked at to find out about historical events?

What is your favourite period of time?

How did a famous figure make a difference? 

Why do we learn about history? 

Geography

What places have you learned about? 

What are the differences between human and physical features?

Can you tell me about any famous landmarks? 

What do you know about the island that you live on?

Why do we use maps?

What can you tell me about migration? 

If you could travel anywhere, where would you go and why? 

How are other places similar or different to the UK? 

Can you name all the continents?

Can you name any seas?