By Lucy Baker, Head of History
This blog marks the beginning of a new series exploring academic life here at Sherborne House School. Over the coming months, we will be sharing insights from our teachers into different areas of our curriculum, helping parents to understand not only what we teach, but how and, importantly, why we teach it. Through this series, we hope to offer a window into the thinking behind our curriculum and the purposeful choices we make to inspire curiosity, develop confident learners and ensure every child is able to thrive.
Where better to begin than with History? History plays an important role in underpinning so many other areas of learning at Sherborne House School. It provides rich contexts for reading and writing, inspires creativity, encourages children to question and reason, and helps them to make connections across subjects and between the past and the world they experience today. In many ways, History captures what we want learning at Sherborne House to be: purposeful, connected and driven by curiosity.
For some children, history is more than a subject on the timetable. It is a chance to become an investigator: to question, explore and piece together stories of the past. They want to know why things happened, what life was like for the people who came before us, and what we can learn from the people and events that shaped our world.
At Sherborne House School, we believe this natural curiosity should be encouraged, nurtured and celebrated. Our approach to history combines a strong academic foundation with the flexibility to follow children’s interests, helping them to develop both their knowledge and a genuine enthusiasm for finding out more.
Following children’s interests
One of the strengths of teaching at Sherborne House is our ability to adapt lessons according to children’s interests. Because we know our children as individuals, we notice the questions that excite them and the subjects that make them want to delve a little deeper. While we have a clear progression of skills, we can be flexible with the curriculum content, so that teachers can take learning in different directions when something captures a child’s imagination.
A question raised by one child can become the starting point for a whole new line of enquiry. This might mean investigating a particular historical figure, exploring what life was really like during a certain period, or asking questions that take the class beyond the original lesson. It is often in these moments – when a child asks, “But why?” or “What happened next?” – that some of the richest learning takes place.
Our skills-based curriculum supports this approach. Rather than simply covering content, we ensure that important historical and transferable skills are built upon year after year, within a framework of flexible content. This means children can develop as historians while following the subjects and questions that spark their curiosity. They learn that history is not simply a collection of dates and facts, but a story to investigate, question and understand.
History beyond the classroom
We also believe that some of the most memorable learning happens when children can connect their classroom experiences with the wider world and see history brought to life.
History learning at Sherborne House is supported by trips and visits, including trips in the past year to Fort Nelson and the D-Day Museum, as well as immersive activities, such as a Stone Age Day for Year 3, that allow children to engage with the past in a more tangible way. These experiences give children something powerful to connect their classroom learning to, helping the people, places and events that they have studied feel real.
History can also connect naturally with other areas of the curriculum. A historical topic might lead to mathematical problem-solving, inspire creative writing or artwork, or even become the focus of a Forest School session. These cross-curricular links help children to see that learning is interconnected rather than divided into separate subjects. For our children at Sherborne House, one fascinating question can lead to learning that crosses subjects, classrooms and even the school grounds.
The Golden Thread of Our Story
Running through learning at Sherborne House is the Golden Thread of Our Story – a shared approach that encourages children to develop key learning behaviours and attitudes, as well as to cultivate a versatile skillset and the confidence to apply it.
Through history, this skillset affords children countless opportunities to collaborate, question, reflect, take ownership, take risks, connect, articulate their thinking and, importantly, to ask why.
These are the skills that reach far beyond the classroom. These principles encourage children to go beyond simply remembering historical facts. They learn to investigate, discuss ideas, consider different perspectives, weigh up evidence and develop their own understanding. In doing so, they become increasingly confident in expressing not only what they think, but why they think it.
Taking a passion further
For children whose enthusiasm for history extends beyond their lessons, our History Club provides another opportunity to explore the subject, develop their knowledge and share their interests with others. It gives our budding historians the freedom to pursue the questions and periods that particularly fascinate them, alongside others who share their enthusiasm.
From Lower School to Upper School, we want children to experience history as something that is exciting, relevant and full of possibilities. Above all, we want them to leave each lesson wanting to know a little more than when they arrived.
For parents looking for a Primary School or Prep School where a child’s individual interests can be nurtured, this flexibility can make a real difference. Knowing each child – their strengths, their interests and the things that make their eyes light up – is an important part of the Sherborne House approach. We don’t simply want children to learn about the past. We want them to become curious about it – to ask questions, make connections and discover where their own interests might lead them.
Because sometimes, the most important part of learning history isn’t knowing the answer. It’s having the confidence and curiosity to ask, “Why?”
Discover more about learning at Sherborne House School
If you’d like to see how we nurture curiosity, encourage independent thinking and inspire a love of learning, we’d love to welcome you to Sherborne House. Book a visit and discover the Sherborne House approach for yourself.
