When the past connects: what students say about coherence in a ‘Changing Histories’ history curriculum

How do we know when our history curriculum is working – not just delivering content, but shaping meaningful, connected understanding? One of the most insightful ways is to listen to our students. As part of a project exploring curriculum coherence, I spoke to Year 7-9 students at Avanti Grange School about how they’ve experienced Elizabeth Carr’s history curriculum, built on the Changing Histories series. I spoke to them about how far the curriculum’s ‘golden threads’ – overarching themes, recurring places, and substantive concepts – have helped them make sense of the past.

Their reflections were rich with evidence that coherence matters, and that students notice it.
 

Making meaning through comparison

Several students highlighted how returning to similar concepts across diverse topics helped them compare and contrast ideas in more nuanced ways. One Year 7 student explained:

‘At first, Eleanor of Aquitaine and Chinggis Khan didn’t seem connected. But actually, they were both leaders. Just powerful in different ways.’

This is more than a moment of recognition. It’s a sign of disciplinary maturity. This student wasn’t just learning about historical figures in isolation; they were developing a framework for analysing power across different contexts, geographies, and time periods.
 

Threads that deepen over time

Repeated encounters with key content also allowed students to build depth. A comment on the city of Baghdad stood out:

‘At first, I only knew it traded with Constantinople. But when we looked at it again, I saw how scholars came from India and brought numbers and knowledge.

Here, a student moved from a surface understanding of trade to a richer appreciation of Baghdad as an intellectual and cultural hub – a transformation rooted in curriculum design that allows students to revisit and extend their thinking.
 

World history that feels connected

A particularly striking theme was how students noticed the curriculum’s commitment to global narratives. A Year 8 student noted:

‘Before, we mostly studied Britain. Then we looked at the slave trade, and that included Africa and the Caribbean. It made everything feel more connected — like we were zooming out to understand more of the world.’

This sense of a broadening historical lens is exactly what a connected curriculum seeks to cultivate. It shows that students are seeing beyond isolated events and instead constructing a global narrative that makes space for varied voices and experiences.
 

Concepts that travel

Thematic coherence also came through strongly in how students tracked recurring ideas such as revolution, trade, and religion. One Year 8 student reflected:

‘We kept learning about trade but in each topic it looked different. Some parts stayed the same… Other parts changed, like who controlled the trade.’

This is conceptual understanding in action: students beginning to grasp how a single theme evolves over time and space.
 

Curriculum that sticks and matters

The comments weren’t just academically thoughtful; they also revealed emotional and ethical engagement. On the transatlantic slave trade, one student commented:

‘It was such a horrible time in history. It shouldn’t be forgotten.’

Others noted how their studies helped them think about the present, including how the 20th century shaped the world we live in today. The links students were making seemed not to be limited to cognitive connections, strengthening historical knowledge and understanding. Their responses suggested that curriculum coherence prompted them to see connections in relation to moral and civic issues too.
 

So, what does a coherent curriculum look like from a student’s perspective?

It’s one where knowledge builds, where themes return with deeper meaning, and where the past feels connected and not fragmented. These students are not just remembering lessons; they’re constructing understanding. And in doing so, they’re reminding us that the way we structure a curriculum doesn’t just shape what students learn – it shapes how they think.

Catherine Priggs