Disciplinary Skills and Concepts
Subject disciplinary skills and concepts define how a Historian thinks and works. They are the essential characteristics that define learning and study in History. By developing a knowledge and understanding of the subject disciplinary skills, pupils are enabled to develop their substantive knowledge and concepts.
Disciplinary skills
These are the three of the key things that Historians do to make sense of the information available to them.
Chronology |
| Historians look to make sense of events in the past, and organise them according to the order that they happened in. |
Using and interpreting evidence |
| Historians use evidence to learn about events that happened in the past. |
Significance |
| Developing an understanding of why this piece of history is important |
Disciplinary Concepts – Thinking like a Historian
These are the major concepts that are studied as the pupils progress into Key Stage 2. They are the organising structures for Historical thinking. Each learning unit develops thinking in at least one concept area. As the learning progresses through each key stage the pupils will be able to make connections current and prior learning within and across concepts. This helps to organise the pupils’ developing Historical schema.
Forming Civilisations |
| Developing an understanding of how civilisations have formed and grown across the world and over time. |
Invasion and Settlement |
| Understanding how people have moved around regions and the world, and how the balance of power has changed following invasions |
Advancing Technology |
| Understanding the major advancements in technology that have resulted in changes |
Cause and Consequence |
| Understanding how the actions of people have had an impact on the events that follow |
Similarities and differences |
| Understanding how things have changed or stayed the same over time, and comparing between different periods. |
Substantive Knowledge and Concepts
Substantive knowledge forms the key pieces of information that are required to develop a concept. The core substantive knowledge is specified in Layer 3. The learning process should support that accurate and fluent recall of the defined knowledge. The substantive concepts group together substantive knowledge into distinct bodies of knowledge..
EYFS and Key Stage 1 | Personal History | History of significant events and individuals |
Key Stage 1 only | History within living memory | History beyond living memory |
In the Early Years we teach history within two substantive concepts, which develop the pupils’ awareness that history is relevant to their own lives. In Key Stage 1, we continue to develop the concept that History is personal and relevant to the pupils, and extend this conceptual framework to explore significant events, and History within living memory and also History beyond living memory.
Substantive Concepts in Key Stage 2
History of Britain before 1066 | History of Britain since 1066 including a Local History Study | Development of Ancient Civilisations |
We have organised our substantive concepts into the three areas outlined above. These four concept areas enable us to cover the 9 required areas from the National Curriculum, whilst enabling pupils to develop strong schema by recognising the chronology and connections across each period of history studied.
Curriculum Organisation by Key Stage
In the Early Years, learning is focused on the pupils’ lived experiences. The learning is developing their awareness of the world around them, whilst being anchored in their own experiences. At this stage, chronology and significance are the key Working like a Historian skills that are developed. They are recognising that events can be put in order, and that they remember and talk about important things that have happened in their own lives.
Pupils will learn within the following substantive concepts:
Personal History | History of Significant Individuals |
Pupils will be able to talk about significant events in their own lives such as:
Pupils will be able to put these events in order, and to talk about why they were special and/or important events. Pupils will be able to describe changes that they have noticed. | Pupils will talk about people that are significant about them. Pupils will talk about things that they have done with their significant people. Pupils will talk about why the things that they can remember are special to them. |
using the following disciplinary skills:
Working like a Historian | Chronology | Significance |
Pupils will put events in order Pupils will recognise chronology in stories. Pupils will recognise the passing of time in terms of days (the immediate) and years (the long term). Pupils will use the past tense when talking about things that happened in the past. Pupils will recognise language in stories that shows the story happened in the past. | Why is the event special to me? Why is this person special to me? Why is this character important? |
Curriculum Organisation by Key Stage
Key Stage 1
As the pupils move into Key Stage 1, they are formally introduced to learning in History. They become aware of the term History. They now have a concept (albeit simple) of chronology and significance. Learning will link these skills to the discipline of learning in History, and will begin to use the term Working Like a Historian. They will also learn that Working Like a Historian requires them to use and interpret evidence.
Pupils will learn within the following substantive concepts, with the units pertinent to the concept included in the green sections:
Personal History | History of Significant Events and Individuals |
Pupils will be able to talk about significant events in their own lives such as:
Pupils will be able to put these events in order, and to talk about why they were special and/or important events. Pupils will be able to describe changes that they have noticed. | Pupils will continue to explore the significant stories and events of people who are important in their own lives. Additionally, pupils will develop specific knowledge in the following units: |
Whose journey was more important – Christopher Columbus or Neil Armstrong? | |
How did Mary Seacole and Florence Nightingale break barriers? | |
History within living memory | History beyond living memory |
Pupils will develop a concept of ‘within living memory’ which includes being able to gather evidence directly from people who are still alive and can talk about the history being studied.
This will be developed through study in the following units: | Pupils will develop a concept of ‘beyond living memory’, which means that there is no one alive that we can gather direct evidence from, and that we therefore have to consider different sources of evidence. This will be developed through study in the following units: |
How has life changed since our grandparents were young? | How have kitchens changed in the last 200 years? |
| What happened when London burned in 1666? |
using the following disciplinary skills:
Working like a Historian | ||
Chronology | Significance | Using and interpreting evidence |
Pupils will put events in order Pupils will recognise the passing of time in terms of days (the immediate) and years, decades and centuries (the long term). | Why is event important? What happened? Who were the most important people? | Pupils will recognise that we can get evidence from:
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Curriculum Organisation by Key Stage
Key Stage 2
As the pupils progress into Key Stage 2, the learning progresses to be specifically focused on periods of history, which have been organised into the substantive concepts. Learning in each unit will further develop the pupils’ use of their Disciplinary Skills (working like a Historian). Each unit will also focus on one or more of the Disciplinary Concepts, so that the pupils develop an understanding of how Historians think and organise knowledge into key historical concepts.
Pupils will learn within the following substantive concepts, with the units pertinent to the concept included in the green sections, and the disciplinary concept indicated by the symbol:
The History of Britain before 1066 | The History of Britain Since 1066 including a Local History Study |
Pupils will understand that there were distinct historical periods that can be identified prior to the Norman Conquest of 1066, and will begin to evaluate how much direct evidence exists in comparison to later periods of history. | Pupils will understand that there are a number of distinct periods of British History from 1066 to the present day. The pupils will look at the evidence that exists, what makes each period studied distinctive, and understand significant events that were major turning points in our History |
Y3/4 – Changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age What changed between the palaeolithic and neolithic ages? | Y3/4 – Local History & British History that extends chronological knowledge beyond 1066 What was it like to live in Kilkhampton during World War II? |
Y5/6 – Changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age How did Iron Age populations extend their horizons? | Y5/6 – Local History & British History that extends chronological knowledge beyond 1066 What was the Spanish Armada and why was Plymouth an important location in these events? |
Y3/4 –Britain’s settlement by the Anglo-Saxons Why did the Saxons come to England? | Y5/6 – British History that extends chronological knowledge beyond 1066 Could Britain have lost World War II? |
Y5/6 – The Roman Empire and it’s impact on Britain How big was the Roman Empire? |
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Development of Ancient Civilisations | |
Pupils will learn that there were major civilisations that existed in different parts of the world, and that these civilisations were sophisticated in nature. They will also learn about the lasting legacies of the civilisations. | |
Y3/4 – A study of Ancient Greek Life What can we learn from the Ancient Greeks? | |
Y3/4 – The achievements of the Earliest Civilisations How did the Ancient Egyptians rule for 30 Centuries? | |
Y5/6 – A non-European Society that provides contrasts with British History What do we really know about the Mayan civilisation? | |
using the following disciplinary skills:
Working like a Historian | ||
Chronology | Significance | Using and interpreting evidence |
Pupils will explore the chronology of within different periods of history. Pupils will understand how the chronology of different civilisations and events relate to one another. Pupils will understand chronology from contemporary events through to pre-history. Pupils will understand that chronology extends into millennia (thousands of years). | Why is event / period important? What changed as a result of these events? Who was affected by the events within this period? What have we learnt from these events / periods that influences modern living? How does this events /periods link to other learning in History? What patterns do I see when studying different events / periods? | Pupils will recognise that we can get evidence from:
Pupils will begin to evaluate the quality of source and non-source evidence. Pupils will begin to understand the connection between strong and reliable evidence and the strength of conclusions that can be drawn by Historians. |