The Grammarsaurus History Curriculum aligns with the English National Curriculum. The themes, concepts, substantive knowledge and historical skills have been mapped to ensure that pupils following our sequence of learning have ample opportunity to make progress in history by knowing and remembering more history content.
Themes
Disciplinary Concepts
Curriculum Aims
- Know and understand the history of these islands as a coherent, chronological narrative from the earliest times to the present day: how people’s lives have shaped this nation and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world.
- Know and understand significant aspects of the history of the wider world: the nature of ancient civilisations; the expansion and dissolution of empires; characteristic features of past non-European societies; achievements and follies of mankind.
- Gain and deploy a historically grounded understanding of abstract terms such as ‘empire’, ‘civilisation’, ‘parliament’ and ‘peasantry’.
- Understand historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance, and use them to make connections, draw contrasts, analyse trends, frame historically valid questions and create their own structured accounts, including written narratives and analyses.
- Understand the methods of historical enquiry, including how evidence is used rigorously to make historical claims, and discern how and why contrasting arguments and interpretations of the past have been constructed.
- Gain historical perspective by placing their growing knowledge into different contexts, understanding the connections between local, regional, national and international history; between cultural, economic, military, political, religious and social history; and between short- and long-term timescales.
Recommended Reads
Letters from the Lighthouse
Author: Emma Carroll
Reading age: Year 5+
Summary:
Set during WWII, this story is well plotted with lots of mystery and intrigue along the way! Olive and her
younger brother lose their older sister Sukie when they flee the cinema one night when an air raid begins! The
children are evacuated off to Cornwall. Olive is sure something is going on that she isn't being told about and
she's convinced her sister Sukie is somehow involved. Underlying themes of prejudice are woven throughout the
story and lots of differing opinions on situations taking place in the War are offered. It gives you a real
sense of what it was like to be an evacuee fleeing London to the countryside.
Likes:
- Fantastic language and emotions conveyed.
- A great WW2 story for upper KS2 to link history and English together.
- A great storyline that's gripping and full of intrigue.
- Gives an amazing and lifelike insight into the lives of evacuees.
Star rating: 5/5
When the Sky Falls
Author: Phil Earle
Reading age: Year 5+
Summary:
Inspired by a true story, this captivating and moving story is set during World War II and centres around a
young boy who has been sent away from his grandmother to the city. War is raging and so is Joseph as he
struggles to settle into his new life. Joseph is staying with Mrs F whose only love is her rundown zoo and its
mighty silverback gorilla, Adonis. Bombs are falling left, right and centre, and if they fall on Adonis' cage,
he will be set free rampaging round the city. Joseph and Mrs F need to end his life to avoid this from
happening, and along the way, they learn a lot about themselves and each other. But will they be able to end the
life of the one thing they truly love?
Likes:
- An emotional and raw story.
- Joseph is dyslexic, so it is interesting seeing how this was dealt with during this time.
- Shows the reality of war in cities when bombing was incredibly close to home.
- A powerful and meaningful story of love and fear.
Star rating: 5/5
The Valley of Lost Secrets
Author: Lesley Parr
Reading age: Year 5+
Summary:
A brilliantly told story of two young brothers being evacuated from London to a small village in Wales. The
eldest of the brothers, Jimmy, dislikes everything about Wales - it's green, quiet and full of strangers and he
instantly feels out of place and like he doesn't belong there. Jimmy then finds a skull hidden in a tree and
begins to find the valley that little bit more interesting, intriguing and more frightening... But Jimmy is
struggling to trust anyone and doesn't know who to let in on his secret discovery. He finds an unexpected ally
and they uncover secrets that will change them and the valley forever.
Likes:
- A beautiful story where Jimmy learns a lot about himself and who his real friends are.
- Brilliant humour throughout.
- The element of mystery adds another dimension to the story.
- Shows the feelings of children moving from the city to the countryside as evacuees and how some will have found it to be a shocking and uncomfortable change.
Star rating: 4/5
My Secret War Diary
Author: Marcia Williams (helped by Flossie Albright)
Reading age: Year 4+
Summary:
Marcia Williams, the author of this book, presents the reader with the fictional war diary of Flossie Albright.
Flossie is only nine years old when war breaks out and she waves her father off to fight. This truly stunning
depiction of Flossie's diary shows the realities and rawness of WWII from the perspective of a young girl.
Filled with pictures, handwritten notes and flaps revealing ‘secret’ information, this book reveals Flossie's
daily life and emotions through rationing, air raids, bombings and the constant threat of enemy invasion.
Likes:
- An absolutely beautifully decorated collection of diary entries, photographs, doodles and drawings in a scrap-book style.
- A very special book.
- It is captivating and moving.
- A must-have for all classrooms learning about WWII.
Star rating: 5/5
See Inside the Second World War
Author: Rob Lloyd Jones
Reading age: Year 4+
Summary:
A non-fiction text which breaks down the different types of warfare and events that took place in WWII. Small
summaries of text in bite-size chunks for children to understand each event in broken down, easy to understand
language. Great illustrations accompany the text and flaps on each page open to reveal more pictures and
information.
Likes:
- It covers a variety of events, both political and warfare.
- There isn't just a focus on the War in Britain, it includes events from all over the world.
- Great illustrations bringing the action alive.
- Well labelled images.
Star rating: 5/5
Recommended Writing Units
How to survive an air raid
Write a set of instructions from the British Government to citizens letting them know what to do during an air raid.
How to survive an air raid
Write a dialogue between family members as they wake to sirens and head to the shelter.
Evacuee's letter
Write a letter from a recently evacuated child to their parent, detailing their journey and what life has been like since leaving.
The Evacuee's Journey
Write a diary entry of a recently evacuated child detailing their evacuation journey so far.
