History

History plays an important part in our curriculum here at The Beacon and we value the rich local history that surrounds our school.

We take children on a journey through the history of Liverpool and our famous faces, before stopping off on a timeline that includes learning about significant individuals and key periods in the past from all around the world. 

Children at The Beacon start their journey in Early Years by learning about events in their very recent past. They begin to explore historical themes, such as key figures and cultural change by looking at who is important to them, what makes these people so special and how life has changed since these people were young.

Moving into Key Stage 1, Year 1 cover some of the most significant events to happen to our local area in the last 100 years or more, from the Titanic to The Beatles. The learning continues with a focus on Great Changemakers who have impacted the world and looking other famous leaders before Key Stage 2 take a journey through thousands of years! Learning what historians do and how they work, children develop their ability to analyse sources, compare the impact of new technologies and generally foster a love for historical enquiry.

The INSPIRE curriculum at The Beacon provides a foundation for children to develop their curiosity about life in the past. Children are taught to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments and present their thoughts logically. Our Opening Worlds scheme aims to go above and beyond the requirements of the national curriculum to ensure our children are able to foster a deeper understanding of what was happening across the world at different periods of history, drawing on their geographical knowledge to understand reasons why this may be the case.

Throughout the curriculum, knowledge is built on and developed from the history of Britain and the wider world, Ancient civilisations and how the lives of significant figures have shaped the world we live in.

History has a strong presence throughout the school, with many children choosing to join our Humanities Pupil Leadership Team, allowing the children to help us drive our curriculum forwards still further. 

We also ensure that pupils leave The Beacon having had a wide range of first hand experiences relating to history and demonstrating the skills needed to be a historian. Children across the school will visit one of Liverpool's many museums; explore focus weeks about significant historical periods; enjoy history days where we can see how history is fundamental to understanding across the curriculum; travel to Chester to experience how Romans lived or explore British history even further afield on residentials to London and Cardiff; attend weekly INSPIRE worships focusing on inspirational people throughout history; and enjoy visits from historians in a range of disciplines such as archaeologists. Below you can see some examples of these from our school Twitter account!

Here are some helpful websites you can access at home for free!

BBC History - a wealth of information, pictures and videos with links to a host of interesting time periods.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/forkids/

History for kids - a website packed with a huge amount of information for what we learn and more

https://www.historyforkids.net/

National Geographic Kids - really exciting and engaging activities that cover so many important individuals

https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/world-museum

World Museum Liverpool – explore the range of activities and artefacts right on our doorstep at one of the many museums in Liverpool

https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/teacher-category/history/

National History Museum - find out what's going on at the brilliant museum in London

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/

Historical Association - If you have a really keen interest in History why not find out more here.

https://www.history.org.uk/