History 

 

 

At St Charles, we encourage children to develop an interest and appreciation about the past. Through our high-quality curriculum, we excite children to learn about the events that took place in the past that shaped our world today.

“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.”
— Marcus Garvey


What History Looks Like at St Charles

At St Charles Catholic Primary School, history is engaging, enquiry-based and rooted in curiosity about the past. Our pupils:

  • Develop a strong sense of chronology and understand how periods of history connect
  • Investigate historical events, people and civilisations from Britain and the wider world
  • Analyse historical sources and consider different interpretations
  • Explore themes such as power, migration, conflict, innovation and legacy
  • Learn to question evidence and construct reasoned historical arguments
  • Understand how the past shapes the world we live in today

Through meaningful enquiry and discussion, pupils develop the skills to think critically about history and its significance.

Intent

At St Charles Catholic Primary School, our History curriculum inspires curiosity about the past and develops a coherent understanding of Britain’s history and that of the wider world.

From Early Years to Year 6, pupils build secure chronological knowledge and develop the disciplinary skills required to think critically about historical evidence and interpretation.

We want pupils to:

  • Develop secure chronological understanding
  • Understand cause and consequence
  • Recognise continuity and change
  • Analyse evidence and interpretation
  • Evaluate significance
  • Make meaningful connections between past and present

Our curriculum develops both substantive knowledge, including key people, events, civilisations and concepts, and disciplinary knowledge, ensuring pupils learn not only what happened in the past but also how we know about it.

Through carefully chosen units, including local history and studies of diverse civilisations, pupils explore themes such as power, migration, conflict, resistance and legacy. We are committed to ensuring our curriculum reflects inclusion and representation, helping pupils understand how history shapes the world today.

Rooted in our Catholic ethos, pupils are encouraged to reflect on how historical events influence communities, values and society, fostering respect for different cultures and perspectives.

Implementation

Early Foundations (EYFS)

In Nursery and Reception, children begin developing historical thinking by learning about past and present. They talk about their own lives and family history, sequence familiar events and explore stories set in the past.

These experiences lay the foundations for chronological understanding and historical enquiry.

A Coherent, Enquiry-Led Curriculum (KS1 and KS2)

History is taught through carefully structured enquiries. Each unit is framed around an overarching “big question”, and each lesson within the unit is guided by its own enquiry question.

These lesson enquiries build progressively so that pupils accumulate the knowledge and skills required to answer the final question with confidence.

Each unit identifies clearly defined sticky knowledge — the essential facts, concepts and vocabulary pupils must retain to support future learning. This knowledge is explicitly taught and revisited throughout the unit.

Each unit culminates in a final lesson in which pupils respond to the overarching enquiry question. This serves as a formal assessment opportunity and requires pupils to draw upon the sticky knowledge, vocabulary and sources studied throughout the unit to construct an evidence-based response.

At the end of each unit, pupils complete ‘Ten Quick Questions’ to assess retention of sticky knowledge and key vocabulary. This focused retrieval practice strengthens long-term memory, identifies gaps and ensures knowledge is secure before moving forward.

Chronology and Thematic Progression

Our curriculum is sequenced chronologically across Key Stage 2, enabling pupils to study British history from the Stone Age to the present day, alongside significant world civilisations such as Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece and the Kingdom of Benin.

Core themes are revisited across year groups, including:

  • Power and monarchy
  • Migration and settlement
  • Conflict and resistance
  • Innovation and change
  • Legacy and significance

Revisiting these themes allows pupils to deepen their conceptual understanding over time.

Developing Historical Skills

Historical disciplinary skills are explicitly taught and built progressively. Pupils develop understanding of:

  • Chronology
  • Cause and consequence
  • Continuity and change
  • Significance
  • Interpretation and bias
  • Evidence and reliability

From Key Stage 1 onwards, pupils work with historical sources. They learn to question who created a source, why it was created and how perspective shapes interpretation.

By Upper Key Stage 2, pupils confidently compare contrasting accounts, debate reliability and construct reasoned historical arguments supported by evidence.

Disciplinary Literacy

Disciplinary literacy is central to our history curriculum. Pupils are explicitly taught to read, speak and write as historians.

They:

  • Analyse primary and secondary sources
  • Use structured talk to debate interpretations
  • Write explanations and arguments supported by evidence
  • Employ causal and comparative language
  • Use precise historical vocabulary

Writing is used as a tool for thinking. Pupils justify claims, construct arguments and evaluate evidence rather than relying solely on creative tasks.

Even in Key Stage 1, pupils begin to explain their ideas using simple sentence structures such as “I think… because…” and “This shows that…”. This supports clear reasoning and strong historical understanding.

Enrichment and Cultural Capital

History is brought to life through educational visits, local history studies, structured debate and enquiry-based learning. Where appropriate, links are made with geography, English, RE and science to deepen understanding.

These experiences enrich pupils’ learning and help them understand how historical events influence the present.

Inclusion and Adaptive Teaching

At St Charles Catholic Primary School, we are committed to ensuring that all pupils can access and succeed in history.

Teachers use a range of adaptive teaching strategies to ensure that lessons remain accessible while maintaining high expectations.

These include:

  • Explicit teaching and revisiting of key vocabulary
  • Modelling how to analyse sources and structure historical explanations
  • Breaking down complex historical concepts into manageable steps
  • Using visual supports such as timelines, artefacts and diagrams
  • Structured talk to develop reasoning before writing
  • Scaffolded writing frames where appropriate, gradually removed as confidence grows
  • Carefully sequenced questioning to probe and deepen thinking
  • Opportunities for greater depth through extended enquiry and independent argument

Support is responsive and purposeful. Teachers identify misconceptions quickly and adapt teaching to ensure pupils secure both substantive knowledge and disciplinary skills.

Impact

As a result of our History curriculum, pupils develop secure and connected historical knowledge over time. They demonstrate clear chronological understanding and can explain how different historical periods link together.

Pupils retain key substantive knowledge and use historical vocabulary accurately and confidently. They analyse and evaluate sources, recognise bias and interpretation, and explain cause, consequence and change with increasing sophistication as they progress through the school.

By the end of Year 6, pupils can construct reasoned, evidence-based arguments and make meaningful connections between past and present.

They leave St Charles Catholic Primary School as thoughtful, informed and critical historians who understand that history is not simply about what happened, but how we interpret and learn from it.

How You Can Help at Home

You can support your child’s history learning in simple and meaningful ways:

  • Talk about the past, share stories from your own childhood and discuss how things have changed over time.
  • Look at family photographs and create simple timelines to help children understand chronology.
  • Visit museums, historical buildings or local landmarks and discuss what life might have been like in the past.
  • Watch age-appropriate documentaries and discuss what you notice. Ask questions such as “How do we know that?” or “Why do you think that happened?”
  • Encourage your child to explain their ideas using evidence, for example “I think… because…”
  • Discuss important events in the news and help your child see how history influences the present.

Asking thoughtful questions and encouraging curiosity helps children develop confidence, critical thinking and a deeper understanding of the world around them.