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Section 5: Attainment Outcomes, Strands and Targets in Environmental Studies

5.4 Knowledge and understanding: people in the past

Over the years P1-P7 and again during S1/S2 pupils should experience a broad range of historical studies. The planning criteria outlined below should be used in conjunction with the strands and attainment targets on pages 28 and 29.

In using the planning criteria, teachers will wish to consider how far individual topics or units may, where appropriate, cover more than one strand, geographical context or historical period.

An understanding of the past should be developed through studies that:

  • include the strands of:
              - people, events and societies of significance in the past
              - change and continuity, cause and effect
              - time and historical sequence
              - the nature of historical evidence
  • present opportunities for pupils to learn about a range of social, economic, political and cultural          developments
  • include attention to Scottish, British, European and non-European contexts
  • maintain a focus on the history of Scotland by including, where appropriate, comparative reference to          the Scottish context in relation to historical events elsewhere, and by including at least one topic with          a specific Scottish focus
  • ensure that pupils have the opportunity to place their historical studies within an overall chronological          framework so that they progressively develop a mental map of the past
  • ensure effective progression by building on prior learning.

    In addition, studies should be drawn from the following five main historical eras so that by the end of the nine years of study from P1 to S2, all five eras will have been the focus of study.

    1. The Ancient World (Pre-fifth century AD)
    2. The Middle Ages (AD 400-1450)
    3. Renaissance, Reformation and Exploration (1450-1700)
    4. The Age of Revolutions (1700-1900)
    5. The Twentieth Century

    In the early stages the emphasis should be on developing in pupils a sense of the past, mainly through using their own experience and their immediate environment and its past, but also through stories about the past. In the later stages of primary, pupils' own experience and their immediate environment and its past will continue to be important, but studies should also be extended to encompass a wider range of less familiar times and places.

    By S1/S2 pupils' historical experience should clearly extend beyond their immediate environment and its past although these may feature in studies where appropriate.

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    © The 5-14 Curriculum (Scotland) Guidelines were produced by the Scottish Executive and Learning and Teaching Scotland and are reproduced with permission from the Queen's Printer for Scotland.