At Holy Family, our History curriculum enables pupils to develop a secure knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world, enriching their cultural literacy and helping them understand how the past has shaped the world in which they live today.

Our curriculum is carefully sequenced, with History taught in focused blocks to enable pupils to explore periods and themes in depth. Key knowledge, vocabulary and historical skills are mapped progressively across the school, enabling pupils to build upon prior learning and develop an increasingly secure chronological understanding.

Pupils explore significant people, events, societies and civilisations from British and world history. They learn to make connections and comparisons across different periods, recognising continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity and difference and historical significance.

Alongside developing historical knowledge, pupils learn to think and work as historians. They encounter a range of historical sources and are taught to ask questions, examine evidence, consider different interpretations and use evidence to support their ideas. This helps pupils understand that our knowledge of the past is constructed from the evidence that remains.

Learning is enriched through meaningful links with literature and writing, alongside opportunities to explore local history and make connections between national events and the history of our own communities. Educational visits and other experiences provide further opportunities to bring historical learning to life.

As pupils progress through Holy Family, they develop an increasingly coherent understanding of chronology, historical concepts and methods of enquiry. We aim for pupils to leave us as curious and knowledgeable young historians who can make connections between past and present, consider different perspectives and understand the complexity and diversity of human experience.