Intent

At Holy Family School, our History curriculum is designed to inspire curiosity, deepen understanding of the past, and promote reflection on how history shapes the world we live in today. As a Catholic school, we believe History provides vital opportunities to explore themes of justice, stewardship, human dignity, and moral responsibility.

Through our History teaching, we aim to:

• Develop children’s chronological understanding of British, local, and world history.
• Foster critical thinking and historical enquiry through rich, open-ended questions.
• Help pupils recognise and reflect on the achievements, struggles, and decisions of people across time — linking these to Gospel values such as compassion, courage, and truth.
• Encourage respect for diversity, cultures, and beliefs across history, in line with our mission to love and value every person as made in the image of God.
• Support pupils in understanding how the past informs present-day society and helps shape their role as informed, thoughtful citizens of the world.

We want our children to not only know what happened in the past, but to engage with history in a way that helps them become reflective, morally aware individuals ready to make a positive impact in their communities.

Implementation

We follow the Kapow Primary History scheme, which provides a carefully sequenced and ambitious curriculum aligned with the National Curriculum. It supports strong progression in historical knowledge, vocabulary, and disciplinary skills from EYFS to Year 6.

Key features of our implementation:

• History is taught as a discrete subject in alternating half terms with Geography, allowing for depth and focus.
• Each unit begins with a key enquiry question, encouraging children to act as historians: investigating sources, interpreting evidence, and drawing conclusions.
• Units cover a wide range of periods and cultures, including local history and diverse global perspectives.
• Teaching strategies include storytelling, artefacts, discussion, drama, and technology to make history engaging and accessible.
• Teachers are supported with high-quality planning, subject knowledge videos, and ongoing CPD through Kapow, ensuring consistent delivery and inclusive practice.
• We build in links to RE and PSHE where appropriate, encouraging children to reflect on moral and ethical questions, e.g. leadership, conflict, equality, and justice.

Assessment is ongoing through questioning, discussion, written work, and end-of-unit quizzes or tasks. Knowledge organisers are used to help pupils retain key facts and vocabulary.

Impact

By the end of their primary journey at Holy Family School, pupils will:

• Have a strong understanding of key historical events, people, and concepts across time and place.
• Be able to ask thoughtful questions, evaluate evidence, and articulate their understanding confidently using historical vocabulary.
• Make connections between past and present, recognising the importance of justice, diversity, and moral choices throughout history.
• Show empathy and respect when learning about people from different backgrounds, beliefs, and experiences.
• Be prepared for the next stage of their education with the knowledge, curiosity, and moral awareness to become informed and active global citizens.

Through our History curriculum, children grow in knowledge and in virtue, developing a greater appreciation for the complexity of the human story and their own place within it.