At Holy Trinity and St Silas, our ambitious and knowledge-rich history curriculum is rooted in the development of our 3Cs: Care (for the past and others), Courage (to question and articulate views), and Co-operation (as collaborative learners).

Care:                                                                                                 

  • The historical learning journey is set within a diverse world understanding and context. By making connections between local and global history, the children understand the way individual and collective actions of care can contribute to positive change.
  • Feeding throughout the units of learning from EYFS to Upper KS2 are themes of civilisation, continuity and change. This consistent exploration of how societies evolve nurtures children’s sense of care and respect for the past, helping them understand their place within this continuous story of history.
  • The theme of significance is found throughout, encouraging children to approach historical events and figures with careful consideration and respect, developing the empathy required to understand different perspectives.
  • The curriculum allows children to develop skills of critical analysis and debate, through opportunities to question established knowledge and sources of history, developing children’s sense of agency as historians who care about the world around them.
  • Early units examine the creation of nation states and empires, which are later evaluated in Upper KS2 with care and sensitivity for their profound impact on diverse communities, helping children develop a balanced understanding of achievement and significance.
  • Year 1 to Year 3 units emphasise significant citizens of the world and invite children to explore how their caring and courageous actions can have both local and global impact.
  • Our curriculum is intentional in promoting diversity and equality. By ensuring children see themselves reflected in the curriculum and learn with care and respect about the lives and cultures of others, we build mutual understanding and global empathy.

Courage:                                                                                                     

  • Our history curriculum fosters courage in children to articulate and defend informed views, empowering them to use precise, subject-specific vocabulary as a confident tool for communication, discussion, and respectful debate.
  • By examining diverse peoples and communities, from their personal histories in the EYFS to global studies in Year 6, children gain the courage to explore complex and sometimes controversial topics, fostering empathy and moral conviction.
  • Children acquire key knowledge across a range of chronological historical periods, with progressive local case studies embedded each year. This broad study develops children’s courage to confidently discuss and compare different units, enabling them to build an understanding of how societies and lives have changed over time.
  • The history curriculum develops pupils’ capacity to enquire by asking and answering questions, to communicate and debate facts and opinion, and to relay knowledge in a clear, concise and confident manner. It supports children to develop their critical thinking skills, and to have the courage to explain why they have formed a certain opinion. 
  • We nurture the courage to speak in front of peers, ensuring children develop strong presentational oracy skills so they can confidently share their historical knowledge and findings.

Cooperation:                                                                                                              

  • The history curriculum develops cooperation by providing children with opportunities to share their learning, thoughts, and ideas with peers, requiring active listening and teamwork to combine different viewpoints and create a richer, collective understanding.
  • By using key vocabulary, children develop cooperation and oracy skills, enabling them to respectfully debate and discuss historical knowledge, and work together to articulate understanding.
  • The curriculum supports cooperation by requiring children to collaborate on presenting facts and opinions. They develop communication skills through various mediums (written and verbal), working in pairs or groups to present their collective ideas for a range of purposes and audiences.
  • Key historical skills are developed by fostering cooperation in the enquiry process; children work collaboratively to ask questions, explore sources and share findings.
  • The curriculum is enhanced with class trips and workshops. These enrichment opportunities often require children to work together towards a shared goal.

Black History Month

At HTSS, we believe that Black History should be celebrated all year around, and not only in October. This means that our curriculum is regularly reviewed and updated to ensure we are representing a variety of diverse stories and history. Black History Month at HTSS (Autumn 1), means celebrating a range of stories, experiences and individuals who we can learn from and be inspired by.

In Key Stage 1, this provides a lens to the national curriculum’s ‘significant individuals’ theme, where we look at inspirational leaders in the fields of medicine, politics and exploration (Y3). Whilst covering the national curriculum’s required individuals, we further add to this by exploring people who have not had the coverage or visibility that we believe they deserve. Year 1 learns about Mary Seacole, Year 2 about Rosa Parks, and Year 3 about Mae Jemison.

In Key Stage 2, children continue their understanding of diversity and strength by looking at individuals present in key junctures of Black History (Courage during Adversity). Year 4 learn about Sam King MBE and Windrush; Year 5 learn about Harriet Tubman and Benin; and Year 6 learn about Nelson Mandela and Apartheid. Through these themes, the children are introduced to key individuals who exemplify our 3Cs – care, courage and cooperation.

Beyond our in-class curriculum, the children are also introduced to a range of incredible and inspirational figures from the categories of: education, performers, community heroes, politics and the creative arts. The aim of this coverage is to ensure that children understand the breadth of success within black history in Britain.

For further information about our history curriculum, including its implementation and impact, or to see an overview of topics taught, please see the related documents section of this page for our whole school history curriculum map.