Local History Study

---

Enquiry questions

How has our local area changed over time, and why?

What can local primary sources tell us that national history books cannot?

Who are the most significant people in the history of our area?

---

Concepts

This study delivers 1 primary concept and 3 secondary concepts.

Primary concept: Historical Evidence and Interpretation (HI-KS2-C003)

Type: Skill | Teaching weight: 2/6

Historians construct interpretations of the past from the evidence that survives. Evidence includes primary sources (created at the time) and secondary sources (created after the fact), each with distinctive strengths and limitations. Historians also interpret the same evidence differently based on their questions, frameworks and perspectives, which is why different historical accounts of the same events can reach different conclusions. At KS2, pupils develop the ability to work with and evaluate a range of historical sources, and to understand that historical knowledge is constructed through the interpretation of evidence rather than simply discovered.

Teaching guidance: Develop a systematic approach to source analysis: provenance (who, when, why), content (what does it say/show), utility (what can we learn from it) and reliability (how trustworthy is it and why). Compare sources that offer different perspectives on the same event. Discuss why sources can be biased or incomplete without being worthless. Help pupils understand that all historical accounts, including their textbooks, are interpretations. Use 'big question' enquiries that require pupils to evaluate evidence and construct argued responses. Key vocabulary: source, evidence, primary, secondary, provenance, reliable, biased, perspective, interpretation, evaluate, corroborate, account, historian, partial, incomplete Common misconceptions: Pupils may believe that written sources are more reliable than other types. Discussing how photographs can be staged, letters can be biased and accounts can be selective challenges this. The concept that a biased source is not necessarily useless requires explicit teaching: a source biased in a particular direction still tells us something about its author's perspective. Pupils may not understand why different historians reach different conclusions; discussing different perspectives and frameworks helps.

Differentiation

Model response (Entry): It is a primary source because it was made by the Romans. It tells us the Romans used coins with pictures of their emperors on them.

Model response (Developing): We should ask: who wrote it and were they there? Why did they write it? It might not tell us what the losing side experienced. The writer probably wanted to make their side look good, so it might exaggerate their bravery.

Model response (Expected): The Saxon monk describes the Vikings as terrible savages sent by God as punishment. The modern historian explains the attack as part of Viking expansion driven by trade and settlement. They differ because the monk was there and was terrified, while the historian has more evidence and is looking at the bigger picture. Neither is completely right or wrong — they have different perspectives.

Model response (Greater Depth): It tells us that historical interpretations change when new evidence is found. The 1950 historian only had limited evidence, so their interpretation was based on what they knew. Archaeology has revealed things written sources didn't mention. This means we should treat all historical accounts as 'the best interpretation so far' rather than final truth.

Secondary concept: Cause and Consequence (HI-KS2-C001)

Type: Knowledge | Teaching weight: 2/6

Historical causation involves understanding why events happened - identifying the factors that made an event or change more or less likely, and explaining how those factors combined to produce historical outcomes. Consequence refers to the effects of events or changes - what happened as a result, both immediately and over longer periods. At KS2, pupils develop the ability to identify multiple causes and consequences for historical events, understanding that history is driven by the complex interaction of political, economic, social, religious and individual factors rather than single causes.

Differentiation

Secondary concept: Significance (HI-KS2-C002)

Type: Knowledge | Teaching weight: 2/6

Historical significance refers to the importance of a person, event or development in history, assessed by criteria such as the scale and duration of its impact, how many people were affected, whether it changed the course of events, whether people at the time thought it important, and how it is remembered and commemorated. Significance is not fixed: what seems significant from one perspective or in one time period may appear less so from another. At KS2, pupils begin to develop explicit criteria for judging historical significance and apply them to the people and events they study.

Differentiation

Secondary concept: British Historical Periods: Prehistoric to Medieval (HI-KS2-C005)

Type: Knowledge | Teaching weight: 2/6

Britain's history from the Stone Age to the Norman Conquest encompasses several distinct periods, each marked by major social, technological and political changes: Prehistoric Britain (Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages); Roman Britain (43-410 AD); Anglo-Saxon Britain (410-1066 AD); and Viking Age Britain (793-1066 AD). Each period represents a distinct phase in the long history of human habitation and society on the British Isles, with different peoples, technologies, political systems, religious beliefs and cultural practices. Understanding these periods gives pupils a foundation in British heritage and the capacity to recognise the long-range development of the society they live in.

Differentiation

---

Thinking lens: Perspective and Interpretation (primary)

Key question: Whose perspective is this, what shapes it, and what might be missing? Why this lens fits: Evaluating the range and limitations of surviving evidence requires pupils to ask who created each source, from what standpoint, and for what purpose — making interpretation of perspective the central cognitive challenge rather than mere information retrieval. Question stems for KS2:

Who wrote or made this, and why?

What might they have left out?

How does this account compare to another version of the same event?

What experience or belief might have shaped this person's view?

Secondary lens: Cause and Effect — This cluster introduces the second-order concept of causation directly — pupils learn to identify multiple causes, organise them into categories, and trace short and long-term consequences, which is the defining cognitive demand of causal-chain historical reasoning.

---

Session structure: Source Enquiry + Topic Study

This study uses 2 vehicle templates:

Source Enquiry (main structure)

A disciplinary history enquiry centred on working with primary and secondary sources. Pupils select relevant sources, contextualise them within their historical period, interrogate them for reliability, utility, and bias, cross-reference between sources, interpret what they reveal, and construct an argument based on the evidence.

source_selection → contextualisation → interrogation → cross_referencing → interpretation → argument Assessment: Source-based extended writing that demonstrates ability to analyse provenance, cross-reference sources, reach substantiated interpretations, and construct a historical argument. Teacher note: Use the SOURCE ENQUIRY template: present 2-3 carefully selected historical sources with clear context about when and why each was made. Guide pupils to describe what each source shows, consider who created it and why, and begin to cross-reference sources. Support them in forming an interpretation based on the evidence. KS2 question stems:

What does this source tell us?

Who made this source, and why might that affect what it says?

Do these sources agree with each other?

What is your interpretation, and which source supports it best?

Topic Study

A structured enquiry into a defined topic, period, or place. Begins with an engaging hook to capture interest, builds contextual knowledge, moves through source analysis and interpretation, and culminates in a substantiated argument or conclusion. The core humanities template.

hook → context → source_analysis → interpretation → argument Assessment: Extended writing task presenting a reasoned argument supported by evidence from the topic. Can take the form of an essay, structured explanation, or debate position. Teacher note: Use the TOPIC STUDY template: open with an engaging hook that raises a question or challenge. Build context using a timeline or key facts. Introduce 2-3 sources for pupils to analyse, prompting them to consider who made each source and why. Guide pupils toward forming their own interpretation, supported by evidence from the sources. KS2 question stems:

What does this source tell us, and what does it leave out?

Who created this source, and why might that matter?

Do these two sources agree or disagree? How can you tell?

What is your interpretation, and what evidence supports it?

---

Disciplinary concepts foregrounded

---

Why this study matters

Local history makes the abstract concrete by connecting historical concepts to places pupils know. It provides the most accessible route to primary sources (census records, old maps, local museum artefacts) and develops skills of historical enquiry in a personally meaningful context.

---

Pitfalls to avoid

Choosing a topic too broad (entire history of the town) rather than a specific aspect or period

Relying solely on secondary sources when local primary sources are often readily available

Failing to connect the local study to the broader national narrative

Sensitive content

Local history may uncover difficult aspects including poverty, industrial exploitation or displacement

Oral history from community elders may raise sensitive personal or family memories

---

Cross-curricular opportunities

---

Historical thinking skills (KS2)

These disciplinary skills should be woven through teaching, not taught in isolation:

Historical interpretation — Understand that historical accounts are constructed interpretations rather than neutral records; explain how and why different historians produce different accounts of the same events by reference to their questions, evidence, perspectives and contexts; evaluate the relative strengths and weaknesses of competing interpretations; construct and communicate argued historical interpretations of one's own.

Similarity and difference — Identify and explain similarities and differences within and across historical periods, societies and cultures; avoid anachronism by understanding people's lives and choices within their own contexts; make valid comparisons that illuminate both the distinctiveness of periods and the common threads of human experience.

Change and continuity — Identify what changed and what remained constant across historical periods; assess the pace, nature and extent of change; distinguish between long-term trends and short-term fluctuations; understand that change can be experienced differently by different groups within the same society.

Historical significance — Assess the significance of historical events, people and developments using explicit criteria such as scale of impact, duration, number of people affected, degree of change caused, and how an event is remembered and commemorated; understand that significance is not fixed but is constructed and contested by historians and societies over time.

Historical enquiry — Formulate historically valid questions about the past; plan and conduct a structured enquiry using appropriate sources and methods; construct an argued, evidenced response to a historical question in written or oral form; understand that enquiry in history is an iterative process in which questions, evidence and interpretations inform each other.

Periodisation — Understand that the division of history into named periods is a scholarly construct that serves interpretive purposes rather than a natural feature of the past; critically evaluate the criteria by which periods are defined and the assumptions those definitions encode; understand that periodisation can differ across national and cultural traditions.

---

Vocabulary word mat

Prior knowledge (retrieval plan)

Pupils should already know the following from earlier units:

---

Scaffolding and inclusion (Y3)

---

Knowledge organiser

Period: Varies by locality Key terms:

primary source

secondary source

census

Ordnance Survey

archive

oral history

heritage

Core facts (expected standard):

Historical Evidence and Interpretation: Comparing two or more sources about the same event, identifying where they agree and disagree, and explaining why different interpretations exist.

---

Graph context

Node type: HistoryStudy | Study ID: HS-KS2-005 Concept IDs:

HI-KS2-C003: Historical Evidence and Interpretation (primary)

HI-KS2-C001: Cause and Consequence

HI-KS2-C002: Significance

HI-KS2-C005: British Historical Periods: Prehistoric to Medieval

Cypher query:

``cypher

MATCH (ts:HistoryStudy {study_id: 'HS-KS2-005'})

-[:DELIVERS_VIA]->(c:Concept)

-[:HAS_DIFFICULTY_LEVEL]->(dl)

RETURN c.name, dl.label, dl.description

``

---

Generated from the UK Curriculum Knowledge Graph — zero LLM generation.