As part of our History learning, we went outside and worked together to create a large timeline showing events from when the children were born up to the present day. This helped the children to develop their understanding of chronology, placing events in the correct order and recognising that time passes.

The children added important events from their own lives, with a particular focus on their school experiences, helping them to talk about the past using words such as before, after, old and new. We also explored the history of Chilmington Green, discussing how the school has changed over time and what has stayed the same, supporting the Year 1 and Year 2 skill of identifying similarities and differences between past and present.

Through these activities, the children showed that they can recognise changes within living memory, talk about why certain events are important to them, and understand that people’s lives develop over time. This learning helped them to begin building key historical concepts such as change over time and the significance of events in their own lives.