Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated. When I was a boy the Greek Olympics was one of the perennials of the primary history curriculum, alongside the Battle of Hastings and the execution of Charles I. I have memories of an old text...

Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated. Possibly a ‘once in a lifetime' experience will be witnessing the British hosting of the 2012 Olympic Games. Despite the inevitable commercialisation of the event, it will certainly be possible for children to be excited and...

Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated. Editorial note: Below is a one-page outline of a wonderful briefing replete with visual and textual sources and teaching ideas from The Cambridge Schools  Classics Project (CSC P). The outline below consists of the full introduction...

This resource is free to everyone. For access to hundreds of other high-quality resources by primary history experts along with free or discounted CPD and membership of a thriving community of teachers and subject leaders, join the Historical Association today Please note: this guide was written before the new National Curriculum...

This was a ten-week Ancient Greece unit, taught to a Year 6 mixed ability class of 34 children. There was a strong citizenship strand running through the whole programme, particularly the strands of political literacy and critical enquiry (see below). Citizenship values and concepts, with teaching/learning activities in italics Appreciation...

Nigel Parker's Year 5 class had just made a start on the Ancient Greeks. In this lesson we began with Athenian democracy, where the free adult male citizens decided everything, even ostracizing generals they didn't like.The story of SocratesI told the children some of the story of Socrates, who taught...

John Fines was working with a class of 28 Year 6 pupils, studying Ancient Greece. John wrote: Challenge is what the Nuffield Primary History project is all about, and I wanted the class to think hard about the Greeks and to question sources. My learning objectives were for the children...

Cross-curricular History and Science in the Literacy Hour Problem-solving in science through story-telling: how did Archimedes work out much gold there was in the king's crown? Archimedes is an excellent subject. Indeed, Archimedes offers an excellent cross-curricular lesson opportunity, as he covers science, mathematics and a range of other subjects,...

Cross-curricular History and Science in the Literacy Hour Archimedes and how his weapons worked Archimedes is an excellent subject. Indeed, Archimedes offers an excellent cross-curricular lesson opportunity, as he covers science, mathematics and a range of other areas, including cunning plans to defeat enemy armies and navies. The previous week...

The aims of this Iliad lesson for year 4/5 children are: to develop an understanding of the weapons and tactics used in ancient Greek warfare to be able to read and understand a challenging text and extract information from it. Literacy objectives are to develop the children's skills in: extracting...

Ancient Olympic Games and other lessons available on this site: Ancient Greek Government is one of the most popular lessons this website - it's good for citizenship too. Olympic GamesTheseus and the MinotaurAncient Greek Government at KS2Archimedes and the Kings CrownArchimedes and the Syracusan WarAncient Greek Ideas: ScienceThe IliadAncient Greek...

A Topic Pack on Ancient Greece, with sections on Ancient Greek Society, Wars in Ancient Greece, and How do we know about the Ancient Greeks?

The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games look set to be an expression of an ultra-modern Britain. Yet they boast a legacy that dates back to Ancient Greece. There is a heritage of rich material for the primary history subject leader to mine and slot in alongside existing or newly...

You don't need a degree in film studies or Classics to enjoy the Hollywood blockbuster: Troy. Or to enjoy Brad Pitt, for that matter! But the question my teacher friend asked me, after two hours and forty minutes of being with Brad in a warm, dark place, was a great...