At our school, the intent of the history curriculum is to inspire pupils’ curiosity about the past and to help them develop a secure understanding of how the past has shaped the world they live in today. By the end of primary school, children will know more about key periods of British history, including changes within living memory, significant events beyond living memory, and the lives of influential individuals. They will also gain knowledge of ancient civilisations and non-European societies, enabling them to make comparisons across time and place in line with the National Curriculum for England.

Throughout their learning, pupils will build on ‘big ideas’ that are revisited and deepened each year. These include chronology, change and continuity, cause and consequence, similarity and difference (which encompasses empathy and understanding), and historical significance. Children will develop a secure sense of time, learning to place events, people and periods on timelines and to understand how and why societies change.

Our curriculum balances substantive knowledge—the factual content of history such as events, periods, people and concepts—with disciplinary knowledge, which focuses on how history is studied and understood. Pupils will learn to ask historically valid questions, analyse a range of sources, understand that interpretations of the past can differ, and use evidence to support their ideas. By the end of primary school, children will be able to talk confidently about the past using appropriate historical vocabulary, make connections across different periods, and think critically like young historians, preparing them well for further study in history and beyond.