History is important because it teaches us about past.

And by learning about the past, you come to understand the present,

so that you may make educated decisions about the future.

Richelle Mead

Intent:

At Minster Primary School, our vision is for every child to be the best they can be – the best learner, best friend and best citizen. Our History curriculum reflects these values by fostering curiosity about the past, respect for diversity and an understanding of how the past has shaped the world we live in today.

We aim to develop pupils into confident and reflective historians who have a secure understanding of local, British and global history. Through thoughtfully chosen topics and enquiries, pupils build substantive historical knowledge of significant people, events and periods, alongside disciplinary knowledge of how, we as historians, can investigate, interpret and construct accounts of the past.

Historical learning at Minster is carefully sequenced and progressive, enabling our children to build a chronologically secure understanding of History. Key historical concepts are reinforced and extended over time, allowing learners to make connections across periods and develop a coherent understanding of how continuity and change shape history.

Our curriculum explicitly develops pupils’ understanding of key disciplinary concepts, including:

• Cause and consequence
• Continuity and change
• Similarity and difference
• Historical significance
• Sources and evidence
• Historical interpretations

These are explored alongside key substantive concepts including conflict, culture, power, invasion, settlement and migration, empire, civilisation, religion, society, technology and achievements of humankind, ensuring pupils gain a rich and connected understanding of the past.

Our History curriculum is enquiry-led and evidence-based, encouraging pupils to ask historically valid questions and examine a range of sources, while developing their own viewpoints, which they learn to justify using historical knowledge. Through this process, pupils learn how and why interpretations of the past may differ.

Reflection and self-evaluation—key aspects of our Minster Muscles—are embedded throughout the curriculum. Pupils are encouraged to develop empathy, resilience and critical thinking as they explore the complexity of people’s lives and societies, learning from both achievements and mistakes of the past.

History is taught through our six whole-school curriculum themes:

• Home and Away
• Time Tunnel
• One World
• Through the Ages
• Environment Explorers
• Going Global

This thematic approach ensures historical learning is meaningful, connected and embedded within wider curriculum experiences, while maintaining clear progression in historical knowledge and skills.

In the Foundation Stage, historical learning is linked to the Understanding the World area of the EYFS framework, developing early concepts of past and present, similarity and difference and personal history. These foundations prepare pupils for more formal historical learning in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, where teaching ensures pupils meet the end of Key Stage attainment targets set out in the National Curriculum.

By the time pupils leave our school, they have developed a secure chronological framework, a strong understanding of key historical concepts and the skills to think critically about the past and present. Our History curriculum equips pupils with the knowledge and understanding they need to succeed in the next stage of their education as curious learners and to become informed, empathetic and responsible citizens.

Implementation:

At Minster Primary School, we ensure that History is a fundamental component of our curriculum by planning it in a purposeful yet engaging and enquiry-led manner. Adequate time is allocated to the teaching of key historical knowledge and skills, following the guidance set out in the National Curriculum. Our planning is progressive and innovative, allowing pupils to build confidently on prior learning as they progress through the school.

Each History unit is structured around a key enquiry question. All lessons within the unit work towards enabling pupils to answer this question by the end of the topic. This enquiry-led approach supports pupils to think critically, ask historically valid questions and use evidence to form and justify their own conclusions.

A strong emphasis is placed on chronology across all year groups. Pupils are regularly supported to place events, people and periods within a clear timeline, helping them develop a secure sense of chronology and period connections. Chronological understanding is reinforced at the start of each new unit, building on prior learning and supporting pupils to make meaningful connections across periods and places.

This approach enables pupils to build a ‘mental timeline’, which they can refer to and extend as they progress through Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.

Through the study of History, pupils develop both substantive knowledge (key people, events, periods and concepts) and disciplinary knowledge (how historians study and interpret the past). These concepts are revisited across local, British and world contexts, allowing pupils to deepen and refine their understanding. As pupils progress, they are increasingly encouraged to design and carry out their own historical enquiries using a range of sources, drawing on local history and everyday experiences to make learning meaningful.

Key substantive concepts such as conflict, culture, power, invasion, settlement and migration, empire, civilisation, religion, society and technology are introduced early, revisited regularly and explored in increasing depth as pupils move through the school.

In EYFS, children begin to develop historical understanding by reflecting on their own experiences and those of others. By exploring past and present, similarity and difference and change over time through stories, discussion and play, children gain a strong foundation for the spiral curriculum in Key Stages 1 and 2, where learning is progressively extended.

We use a variety of teaching and learning styles in History lessons. The principal aim is to develop pupils’ historical knowledge, skills and understanding through:

• Whole-class teaching, paired work and group discussion
• Enquiry-based learning linked to key questions
• Exploration of a range of sources, including written texts, images, artefacts and digital media
• Opportunities for independent research and collaborative learning
• Explicit teaching and use of historical vocabulary
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Lessons are designed to be engaging and practical, allowing pupils to experience different aspects of historical enquiry and to apply both substantive and disciplinary concepts in every unit.

Our History curriculum follows a spiral model, where key knowledge, concepts and skills are revisited and built upon over time, enabling pupils to make increasingly complex connections across periods and places.

By implementing History in this way, our children develop a secure understanding of chronology, a growing body of historical knowledge and the skills to investigate, analyse and interpret the past. This approach ensures our pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education and confident in thinking and working as historians.

Impact:

The impact of our History curriculum is monitored through regular formative and summative assessment. Pupils review prior knowledge at the start of each unit and consolidate it at the end to highlight new learning, demonstrate progress and inform future teaching.

As a result of our enquiry-led and evidence-based approach, pupils leave Minster Primary School as curious, confident and analytical learners. They can ask historically valid questions and select appropriate sources to justify their conclusions using evidence. Pupils develop the knowledge, skills and understanding to think critically about the past and its connections to the present.

By the end of their time at Minster, pupils will:

• Know and understand local, British and world history, including how people’s lives have shaped Britain and how Britain has influenced the wider world.
• Understand key historical concepts, including conflict, culture, power, invasion, settlement and migration, empire, civilisation, religion, trade, technology, society and achievements of humankind.
• Build a secure chronological understanding of history and make connections across periods, places and timescales.
• Apply disciplinary concepts, including cause and consequence, continuity and change, similarity and difference, historical significance, sources and evidence and historical interpretation.
• Form historical arguments, evaluate evidence and understand how interpretations of the past may differ.
• Apply historical knowledge and skills across the wider curriculum and enrichment opportunities, including Black History Month and other events.
• Meet Early Learning Goals at the end of EYFS and Key Stage expectations outlined in the National Curriculum for History.

Assessment is integrated throughout teaching, including questioning, discussion, written outcomes and retrieval activities, allowing teachers to monitor and adapt learning where necessary, while subject leaders use learning walks, book looks and discussions with pupils and staff to ensure continuity across year groups. This ensures learners leave Minster with strong historical knowledge, well-developed disciplinary thinking skills and the confidence to analyse the past and its connections to the present.

Click on the image below to view SEND Adaptations in History