KS1 & KS2 history curriculum

This unit uses and builds on various year 3 units on Bronze Age civilisations where pupils routinely encountered the ideas of trade, cities, law, religion and warfare. The forms of government outlined in lessons on Sparta and Athens provide contrast and comparison with the forms of government pupils have encountered in these earlier units. This unit prepares pupils for the next unit, where their knowledge of ancient Greece is enriched by thinking about the sorts of legacies left by the ancient Greeks.

1. Ancient Greece's location and history
2. The city-state of Athens
3. Sparta's rivalry with Athens
4. What Greek myths can tell us about Ancient Greece
5. The city-states of Ancient Greece
6. What we know about Ancient Greece

• Pupils need to know that civilisations often leave behind artefacts and written sources.
• Pupils need to understand some of the main features of Bronze Age civilisations.
• Pupils need to have a basic grasp of European and Mediterranean geography.
• Pupils should understand how historians and archaeologists interact with sources and artefacts to make claims about the past.