What does History look like at Holy Family?

At Holy Family, our history curriculum is designed to cultivate knowledgeable learners, confident communicators, and engaged citizens. Its primary aim is to broaden children’s horizons while fostering essential skills and knowledge that are integral to both the study of history and active participation in society and the world at large.

The curriculum places key skills and knowledge at its centre and adheres faithfully to the objectives and content outlined in the National Curriculum for each key stage. This journey begins in the Early Years, where children engage with the ‘Understanding the World’ aspect of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework. Fundamental historical concepts such as civilisation, continuity and change, and significance weave throughout the curriculum, linking individual units of work. Grounded in the Early Years, children explore ideas like ‘then’ and ‘now’, which are progressively built upon as they advance to Key Stage 2 (KS2). They gain a comprehensive understanding of diverse historical periods, equipping them to recall crucial information that demonstrates their grasp of key features pertinent to specific eras, as well as enabling them to draw connections and comparisons across different historical contexts. Over their academic journey, children amass critical skills such as formulating questions, utilising evidence to answer these queries, and deriving conclusions from both primary and secondary sources. They will also gain insight into how historians interpret and debate the past.

Our curriculum establishes a coherent progression model, facilitating the layering of new knowledge and skills upon well-established foundations, with ongoing recaps to reinforce learning.

Every child is afforded access to the curriculum, including those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), through meticulously tailored lessons and appropriate support. In the Early Years, children establish connections between their own family characteristics and those of their peers. They delve into their personal life stories and explore their family histories, forging links between familiar situations from the past, enlivened through storytelling. In Key Stage 1 (KS1), children begin exploring various historical periods, commencing with changes within living memory and employing the language associated with the passage of time. At KS2, the curriculum adopts a broadly chronological approach, encompassing local, British, and global themes.



A blend of direct instruction, collaborative inquiry, and structured opportunities for practice and reinforcement ensures both understanding and progress in learning. The skills required for effective group discussion, formal debate, and presentational speaking are explicitly taught as part of our history curriculum. Additionally, targeted vocabulary instruction is integrated within the curriculum delivery and meticulously planned. Our teachers maintain high expectations for all pupils, requiring them to actively contribute during lessons. To maintain a curriculum that remains current, relevant, and inspiring, we enrich learning through a variety of educational trips.

Please find our History Curriculums by pressing the buttons below.