Local History, Place, Identity and Belonging: Help Shape a New Charter for Schools
What does it mean for a child to know the place where they live?
Local history can help children understand the streets, buildings, landscapes and communities around them. It can connect national and global stories with somewhere familiar and help children explore bigger questions about place, identity and belonging.
Local History Hub is now exploring a new idea: a voluntary Local History Charter for schools.
Why a Local History Charter?
Local history already has a place within the curriculum. But we think there is an opportunity for schools to go further.
A Charter could give schools a way to make a visible commitment to local history and locally rooted learning, recognising its value not simply because the curriculum requires it, but because of what it can offer pupils and communities.
Our starting point is:
LOCAL HISTORY
↓
KNOWLEDGE & CONNECTION TO PLACE
↓
IDENTITY & BELONGING
↓
ENGAGEMENT
We want to explore what that could mean in practice.
Practical, voluntary and shaped by schools
We don't want another accreditation scheme or lengthy framework.
Instead, we're exploring a short set of voluntary principles supported by practical resources, including staff meeting materials, curriculum ideas, free online CPD and support for connecting schools with local heritage and community organisations.
But the Charter hasn't been written yet.
We want teachers, school leaders and heritage organisations to help us decide what it should become.
Help shape what comes next
We've launched a short survey to understand the current place of local history in schools, whether educators want to do more and the barriers that can prevent this.
We're also forming a Focus Group to help develop the Charter and its supporting resources.
The findings will help shape our work and contribute evidence to wider conversations about local history, curriculum, place, identity and belonging in schools.
Local history belongs in every classroom. Help us explore what going further could look like.
