For many schools this is new topic and one to be taught with particular sensitivity in the 21st century. Try wherever possible to think of the reasons it is on the curriculum i.e. for about half of what is deemed the Christian era, Muslims marched at the forefront of human progress. To me the topic is not about fighting and conquest and the differences between caliphates: it is about learning how much the west has in common with early Islam and how much we owe to each other. Although Baghdad is the named focus in places, it is helpful and rewarding to draw on examples from Europe too, notably Cordoba in southern Spain. To fully appreciate these issues, the topic is taught best in Y5/6 after pupils have looked at what was happening in Britain at this time.
