Your guide to the history knowledge-rich projects (KRPs) on Maestro

This guide offers you more information about our exciting new history KRPs, part of the Cornerstones Curriculum projects available on Maestro. These 12 history projects, along with the six geography KRPs, provide you with a ready to teach, fully–sequenced humanities curriculum.  

What are the KRPs? 

The new KRPs are part of the Cornerstones Curriculum, which also includes the thematic Imaginative Learning Projects (ILPs). The KRPs are perfect if you are looking for a more subject-driven, knowledge-rich approach for the foundation subjects. They offer full coverage for history, geography, art and design and design and technology, with science KRPs currently in development. English is also supported through a book or novel study and English pack, included with each project. Unlike the ILPs, the KRPs are designed to be taught in sequence. However, you can integrate both ILPs and KRPs in your long-term plans. On Maestro, you can either map this out yourself or use our single and mixed aged curriculum models below, designed to help you to achieve the best curriculum coverage.

Please read our article Knowledge-rich curriculum projects for primary schools if you’d like to find out more about the knowledge–rich approach. But for now, let’s take a closer look at the history projects. 

What history KRPs are available now? 

Y1 Childhood and School Days

Y2 Movers and Shakers and Magnificent Monarchs

Y3 Through the Ages and Emperors and Empires

Y4 Invasion and Ancient Civilisations

Y5 Dynamic Dynasties and Groundbreaking Greeks

Y6 Maafa and Britain at War

How are the KRPs structured? 

As with all Cornerstones projects, the KRPs follow the familiar four stage learning pedagogy of Engage, Develop, Innovate and Express.

The KRPs are slightly shorter than the ILPs. Another difference is that they include an alternative, school-based memorable experience and an introductory knowledge lesson to equip the children with the information they need before studying a new topic in depth. The Innovate stage is also more directed and sequenced than in the ILPs.

The lessons in the projects follow Maestro’s integral skills and knowledge progression framework, which details the key aspects of the history National Curriculum and the granular knowledge and skills that children need to learn.

How is history covered? 

Curriculum connectivity is a crucial aspect of good curriculum design, so we’ve ensured that history subject aspects are linked and developed throughout the projects, and build in complexity over time. The overview below shows you how this is done.

The projects also make links across themes and topics, building children’s contextual knowledge across year groups. For example, children first explore the concepts of hierarchy and power in Magnificent Monarchs in Year 2. Then, in KS2, children study how hierarchy and power develop and change from the earliest times in Britain and the wider world, through to the world wars of the 20th century.

What about learning sequence and knowledge retrieval? 

The lessons in the KRPs are ambitious and offer a level of challenge. Because of this, they are carefully planned in sequence to allow children to develop, use, retrieve and build on prior knowledge. To further support this, each project includes planned opportunities for children to apply learned skills and knowledge, through resources, such as low stakes quizzes, end of project tests and a challenging Innovate stage task.

Do lesson resources come with the projects? 

Each KRP is fully supported by high-quality, well-researched lesson resources including reading texts, knowledge organisers, videos, quizzes, presentations, podcasts and much more. Resources present instructions and information clearly, preventing too many sources of information from being given at the same time. Every resource is integrated within each lesson plan on Maestro.

We’ve added a brand new resource to the KRPs, the Innovate journal, which provides children with a scaffold on which to record their thinking and learning.

How is vocabulary supported? 

The projects expose children to a wide range of ambitious, subject-specific vocabulary. Vocabulary is introduced, revisited and reinforced over time, so that children become confident and articulate as they progress throughout the curriculum. A set of display words and a knowledge organiser glossary are included with each KRP to make it easy for children to use new words independently.

What reading opportunities are included?

Like the ILPs, every KRP comes with a book list. We have also provided a book (KS1) or novel (KS2) study to help you to develop children’s reading. Each study focuses on a carefully selected book that is closely linked to the KRP. It includes a book or novel organiser, which gives an overview of the author, context, characters and settings of the book. The pack also includes a comprehension question booklet to guide the children through the text, which is accompanied by a handy mark scheme.

How can I link English to the projects? 

Each knowledge-rich project has a set of English packs that include activity suggestions and resources. The packs give children the opportunity to read and explore rich texts while writing for different purposes across a range of genres. The thematic approach enables children to expand their subject and contextual knowledge further and use their subject knowledge and vocabulary in their writing. Each pack includes a model text, checklist, planning template and other useful resources.

What are the companion projects? 

Each KRP has a linked art and design or design and technology project to broaden the context of children’s historical understanding. These mini projects contain a series of four to seven lessons, which can be taught either at the end of the module or alongside a KRP. Although the companion projects are linked to the KRPs, you can teach them separately if you wish.

Companion projects for the history KRPs include: 

• Funny Faces and Fabulous Features – an art and design project accompanying Childhood
• Street View – an art and design project accompanying School Days
• Still Life – an art and design project accompanying Movers and Shakers
• Poses and Portraits – an art and design project accompanying Magnificent Monarchs
• Prehistoric Pots – an art and design project accompanying Through the Ages
• Mosaic Masters – an art and design project accompanying Emperors and Empires
• Warp and Weft – an art and design project accompanying Invasion
• Tomb Builders – a design and technology project accompanying Ancient Civilisations
• Taotie – an art and design project accompanying Dynamic Dynasties
• Architecture – a design and technology project accompanying Groundbreaking Greeks
• Trailblazers, Barrier Breakers – an art and design project accompanying Maafa
• Make Do and Mend – a design and technology project accompanying Britain at War

What KRPs are coming next? 

We’re currently developing an exciting suite of science KRPs to add to your curriculum, and will announce these as soon as they are ready. In the meantime, you can cover science through our popular Love to Investigate projects and lessons in the Cornerstones projects.

For any further questions about the history knowledge-rich projects, please contact us via Live Chat, phone us on 03333 20 8000 or email support@cornerstoneseducation.co.uk.

In the meantime, we hope that you and your classes enjoy the projects.