In this article, Jacob Olivey describes his department's efforts to both diversify their Key Stage 3 curriculum and secure greater curricular coherence. Building on a large body of research and practice, Olivey sought new forms of curricular coherence through the selection and sequencing of substantive content across the curriculum. He reflects on the challenges such decision-making entails and shows how he drew on historical scholarship to find practical solutions. In setting out his rationale and approach, Olivey also responds to the potential critique that in searching for substantive coherence pupils will inevitably be presented with a teleological grand narrative.