Graeme Paton | The Telegraph | July 5, 2013
Schoolchildren will be taught a broad chronology of British history starting with the Stone Age and taking in the development of the World Wide Web by Sir Tim Berners-Lee.
A new draft of the curriculum – for five-to 14-year-olds in England – covers the Romans, Vikings, Magna Carta, the Reformation, the Civil War, development of the Empire, the Napoleonic Wars, Industrial Revolution, the world wars and creation of the NHS.
Pupils will be expected to study up to 1066 at primary school and the Norman Conquest onwards during secondary education.
It follows criticism of an earlier version of the document which required primaries to teach up to the Act of Union 1707 – prompting fears that children were being overloaded at an early age.
The document also makes explicit reference to a series of key historical figures, including monarchs such as Henry VIII, Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria and the wartime leadership of Winston Churchill.
“Leave the past to history especially as I propose to write that history myself.”
