“We are not makers of history. We are made by history.” Martin Luther King. Jr

At Florence Melly we are historians! We want our children to love history. We want them to have no limits to what their ambitions are and grow up wanting to be archivists, museum curators, archaeologists or research analysts.

A high-quality history education will help pupils gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world. It should inspire pupils’ curiosity to know more about the past. Teaching should equip pupils to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments, and develop perspective and judgement. History helps pupils to understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups, as well as their own identity and the challenges of their time. National Curriculum (2013)

Bringing History Alive at Florence Melly!

We often use the vibrancy of Liverpool as a vehicle to enrich pupils’ time in our school with memorable and unforgettable experiences, trips, lessons and clubs. Here are just a few examples of how we have brought our history curriculum alive this year:

Our Year 3 pupils visited the Dewa Roman experience in Chester as part of their latest History topic. It was a real hands on experience, from pounding the cobbled streets of Dewa A.K.A. Chester, while chanting in Latin, to cheering on a duel in the ruins of a Colosseum the children were immersed in what life was like in Roman times. They became archaeologists, discovering buried objects, touched a 2,000 year old wall and got to experience smells from Roman times, as well as games and past times. The dressing up went down a storm too.
Year 3 have recently had the opportunity to travel back to Neolithic Stone age times at Calderstones Park. They spent a glorious morning as hunter-gatherers foraging for leaves, seeds and berries that were safe enough to eat. They explored, experimented and crafted in a stone age way. The highlight of the day was getting close enough to touch the 5,000 year old Calder Stones. Our children journeyed back to school with their heads buzzing with new information. If you are in the area, this beautiful park is well worth a visit!

Our History Policy

Please take a few minutes to read through our History policy, created by our Humanities Lead, Mr Derbyshire. If you have any questions or concerns about any aspect of this policy or our approach to history, please get in touch: s.derbyshire@fmp.liverpool.sch.uk.

Our History Curriculum Rationale

History Subject Characteristics

History subject specific characteristics, which we expect the children to demonstrate, have been developed and shared with all stakeholders. These characteristics underpin all work in history and form a focal point for display areas and provide a common subject specific vocabulary for staff and pupils.

At Florence Melly, we are Historians. We have…

An excellent knowledge and understanding of people, events, and contexts from a range of historical periods and of historical concepts and processes.
The ability to think critically about history and communicate ideas very confidently in styles appropriate to a range of audiences.
The ability to consistently support, evaluate and challenge their own and others’ views using detailed, appropriate and accurate historical evidence derived from a range of sources.
The ability to think, reflect, debate, discuss and evaluate the past, formulating and refining questions and lines of enquiry.
A passion for history and an enthusiastic engagement in learning, which develops their sense of curiosity about the past and their understanding of how and why people interpret the
past in different ways.
A respect for historical evidence and the ability to make robust and critical use of it to support their explanations and judgments.
A desire to embrace challenging activities, including opportunities to undertake high-quality research across a range of history topics.