At Holy Trinity, we want every child to be curious about the past and understand how it has shaped the world we live in today. Our History curriculum explores people, places and events locally, nationally and globally, developing historical knowledge alongside the skills needed to question, investigate and draw conclusions.

We organise our curriculum around enquiry questions, giving each topic a clear purpose for investigation. Questions such as “Why is Halifax known as Toffee Town?” and “What impact did the Suffragettes have on Britain today?” encourage pupils to explore evidence, consider different explanations and support their ideas with what they have learnt.

Through our History curriculum, we aim to:

• Inspire curiosity and enthusiasm for learning about the past.
• Develop a secure understanding of chronology, making connections within and across historical periods.
• Build confidence in asking questions, examining sources and using evidence to explain ideas.
• Explore different lives and perspectives, recognising how people and events have shaped communities and society.

Our local area is an important starting point. Topics including Toffee Town and Victorian Halifax explore the people and industries that have shaped our town. Studying the impact of WWII on our locality also helps pupils connect global events with the experiences of their own community, either locally or further afield.

Alongside British history, our curriculum explores ancient civilisations and the wider world, including Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece and the Early Islamic Civilisation. Studies of migration to Britain and the campaign for women’s suffrage provide opportunities to consider belonging, equality and how change happens.

Learning begins in Early Years through familiar experiences, family stories, celebrations and comparisons between past and present. In Key Stage 1, we build on these foundations by exploring changes within living memory, significant individuals and events beyond living memory. In Key Stage 2, pupils develop a deeper understanding of chronology and investigate connections, contrasts, causes and consequences across the periods they study.

Throughout school, we encourage pupils to think like historians: asking how we know about the past, considering what sources can tell us and recognising that accounts may reflect different viewpoints. Museum visits, local history walks and virtual experiences enrich classroom learning and help bring the past to life.

Our curriculum follows a two-year cycle, allowing our mixed-age classes to explore a broad range of topics while building their historical knowledge and skills. The full curriculum overview can be found below.

History in Early Years

The History curriculum in EYFS works towards the Early Learning Goal of Past and Present. Children talk about the lives of people around them (friends, families, trusted adults) and their roles in society. Children begin to create a concept of special times and celebrations they would experience in their family, locality and within the wider world. Children begin to think about similarities and differences between things that have happened in the past and things that are happening now, looking at their own lives and others. History in EYFS is largely discussion based, drawing on what has been read in class: the settings, characters and events encountered.

History in Key Stage One

In History in Key Stage 1, children begin building a knowledge and understanding of British History by looking at changes within living memory and changes in national life. Children have the ability to participate in wider learning opportunities during Key Stage 1, through museum visits and local history walks.

Children begin to build the ability to describe history using words and phrases relating to time and can identify similarities and differences between time periods. Children are able to use stories to show understanding of history, asking and answering questions.

History in Key Stage Two

In History in Key Stage 2, children embark on their chronological journey through history: local, national and international. Our History curriculum has been built so that children develop their substantive knowledge as well as their disciplinary skills, alongside challenging children’s conceptions of the world. In Key Stage 2, children have the opportunity to visit local museums, virtually tour national museums such as the British Museum as well as completing local history walks.

Children continue to develop a chronological secure knowledge of history and begin to establish clear narratives within and across periods of history they study. Children are able to note contrasts and connections over time and regularly address and sometimes devise historically valid questions. Children understand how knowledge of the past is constructed from a range of sources and that it can be biased. From this, children can construct informed responses by selecting and organising relevant historical information.