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History

CUSP History draws upon prior learning, wherever the content is taught. For example, in the EYFS, pupils may learn about the past and present through daily activities, exploring through change, and understanding more about the lives of others through books and visitors as well as their own experiences. These experiences are drawn upon and used to position new learning in KS1.

The structure is built around the principles of advancing cumulative knowledge, chronology, change through cause and consequence, as well as making connections within and throughout periods of time studied.

CUSP History is planned so that the retention of knowledge is much more than just ‘at the moment knowledge’. The cumulative nature of the curriculum is made memorable by the implementation of Bjork’s desirable difficulties, including retrieval and spaced retrieval practice, word building and deliberate practice tasks. This powerful interrelationship between structure and research-led practice is designed to increase substantive knowledge and accelerate learning within and between study modules. That means the foundational knowledge of the curriculum is positioned to ease the load on the working memory: new content is connected to prior learning. The effect of this cumulative model supports opportunities for children to associate and connect with significant periods of time, people, places and events. CUSP History strategically incorporates a range of modules that revisit, elaborate and sophisticate key concepts, events, people and places.

A guiding principle of CUSP History is that pupils become ‘more expert’ with each study and grow an ever broadening and coherent mental timeline. This guards against superficial, disconnected and fragmented understanding of the past. Specific and associated historical vocabulary is planned sequentially and cumulatively from Y1 to Y6. High frequency, multiple meaning words (Tier 2) are taught alongside and help make sense of subject specific words (Tier 3). Each learning module in history has a vocabulary module with teacher guidance, tasks and resources.

As well as developing the children's historical knowledge and vocabulary, we aim to give children to opportunity to 'think like a Historian'. This covers understanding of chronology, cause and consequence, change and continuity, similarities and differences, evidence and significance.

History Key Concepts

Children use these key concepts to make links across and between modules of learning. 

Long Term Overview

Year Group

Autumn

Spring

Summer

Year 1

Changes within living memory-

Shops

Significant individuals-

Mary Anning

David Attenborough

Significant individuals-

Neil Armstrong

Mae Jemison

Bernard Harris Jr

Time Peake

Year 2

Events beyond living memory-

Great Fire of London

Local History Study-

What impact has the herring industry had on Great Yarmouth?

Events beyond living memory-

Revisit-

Great Fire of London

Year 3

Changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age

Changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age

Revisit

The Roman Empire and its impact on Britain

Year 4

Britain’s settlement of Anglo-Saxons and Scots

The Viking and Anglo-Saxon struggle for the Kingdom of England to the time of Edward the Confessor

The achievements of the earliest civilisations- Egypt study

 

Year 5

Ancient Greece- a study of Greek life and achievements and their influence on the western world

Study the Maya civilisation and compare to Anglo-Saxons c. AD 900

Knowledge of Ancient Maya

Study the Maya civilisation and compare to Anglo-Saxons c. AD 900

Comparison

Year 6

Local History Study- How did conflict change our local area in World War 2?

Study 5 monarchs through time

Windrush generation