Progression & Assessment

Monitoring children’s progression in history and planning for assessment in this subject is vital. These processes ensure that children’s attainment in history is examined by teachers which enable them to help children make progress in history. Read more

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  • Assessment and Progression without levels

    Article

    The new (2014) Primary History National Curriculum is finally upon us. The first thing you might notice is that the level descriptions have gone. These were first introduced in 1995 and became the mainstay for assessing pupil progression and attainment in Key Stages 1, 2 and 3 across schools in...

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  • Assessment and feedback in history

    Article

    Every year schools need to produce a statutory annual report for parents and carers, setting out ‘brief particulars of achievements in all subjects and activities forming part of the school curriculum’. This should include the strengths and developmental needs of each child. In a subject such as history, how do...

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  • Assessment in Primary History - Guidance

    Multipage Article

    Whilst a number of schools have had well-considered assessment procedures for primary history, these represented a minority.  With the new national curriculum, the old level descriptions have been replaced by a single sentence attainment target which states that "by the end of each key stage, pupils are expected to know,...

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  • Chronology: Developing a coherent knowledge

    Article

    Chronology: Developing a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain's past and of the wider world First, this article considers the reasons why it is essential for children to develop a chronological framework. Next it considers ways in which this framework is necessary for the development of the time concepts set...

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  • From Home to the Front: World War I

    Article

    Events which encapsulate family, community, national and global history provide rich opportunities for engaging children. Some of these draw on positive memories associated with past events: the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, how people responded to the first flight to the moon, the Millennium celebrations. Yet it is perhaps gruelling...

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  • Helping students make sense of historical time

    Article

    This article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated. Once upon a time, educators believed that there was a property of children’s minds known as ‘understanding of time’. According to this belief, young children had little ability to understand when things happened, even within their own...

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  • History in the Foundation Stage

    Article

    In September 2000, the introduction of a foundation stage for children aged three to the end of the reception year was widely welcomed for the way in which it confirmed a distinct identity for the early years in education. The recent guidance by QCA1 provides detailed support for all practitioners...

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  • Implementing the 2014 curriculum in Year 2

    Article

    The chance to pilot the new National Curriculum presented me with the opportunity I was looking for to revamp a tired Year 2 curriculum. I began teaching in Year 2 two years ago, having previously spent five years working in Key Stage 2. As in many other schools across the...

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  • It worked for me: investing in dialogue as a tool for assessment

    Article

    The school in which I work serves a community of locals and expats and follows the English National Curriculum. Situated in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, we are one of a growing number of international schools in the area. It is five form entry and only opened in 2009....

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  • KS1: Teaching about significant individuals

    Article

    Teaching about significant individuals at Key Stage 1. Workshop by Professor Penelope Hartnett, University of the West of England The history programme of study for Key Stage 1 requires pupils to be taught about: The lives of significant individuals in the past who have contributed to national and international achievements, some...

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  • Literacy Time Plus+ My Writing Progress Record

    Article

    Synopsis: Self-assessment sheets for Early Years literacy, which the child completes in discussion with the teacher. Review: This would be useful if Early Years staff have not got any other assessment strategy in place. It contains colour sheets for the child to complete, stating what level they are on and...

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  • Monitoring, assessment, recording and reporting

    Article

    Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated. Much of the recent guidance related to assessment, monitoring and recording in primary history has focused more on what does NOT have to be done rather than on practical advice on what might be done. Given...

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  • Progression & Assessment without Levels - Guide

    Multipage Article

    In the 2014 national curriculum for primary and secondary history one of the key differences is that, for the first time since 1991, there are no level descriptions against which you can assess pupils' progress.  The new attainment target says simply that: ‘By the end of each key stage, pupils...

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  • Progression and coherence in history

    Article

    Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated. "The focus for much of the planning and the teaching is on pockets of knowledge at basic levels. Thus, the notion that pupils can progress and do better over time in history is not well established...

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  • Progression from EYFS to Key Stage 3

    Article

    The removal of National Curriculum levels has left many schools and teachers scratching their heads and wondering how to proceed. National Curriculum levels have been used and misused in the past to both define progress in the subject and as a basis for assessment. In this pamphlet, Jamie Byrom takes us...

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  • Subject leader’s site: assessment and feedback

    Article

    Very few teachers prefer assessment to teaching yet the latter has little point if there is no way of knowing that what we teach is beneficial to our pupils.  The problem is that there is no such thing as perfect assessment and feedback. For example, you cannot assess everything –...

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  • The Great Fire of London and the National Curriculum

    Article

    The Great Fire of London is a favourite National Curriculum teaching topic. This paper draws on the latest resources and teaching ideas to suggest how you can meet both the NC history requirements and the wider ones of the National Curriculum, particularly in integrated programmes that include teaching about the Great...

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  • The importance of history vocabulary

    Article

    Teachers and schools should surely be forgiven for quickly turning to the pages containing the ‘subject content' - within the new 2014 history curriculum - and finding out ‘what' they should be teaching. This is especially true for Key Stage 2 where children must now learn British history from the...

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  • Tracking pupil progress

    Article

    Assessment issues crop up with regularity in the pages of this journal. They have also been mentioned frequently in inspections and in the schools assessed for the Quality Mark. The problem with some of the recommendations is that they anticipate massive amounts of time and energy being devoted to it...

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  • Using 'Development Matters' in the Foundation stage

    Article

    Using ‘Development Matters' to plan learning for history in the Foundation stage You won't find the term history in the Early Years curriculum framework at all. That being so, it can be difficult to know how best to support our Nursery and Reception colleagues when developing historical understanding within the...

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