Historic Environment

Schools that are already teaching SHP will be familiar with the concept of a local History study, unlike their Modern World counterparts. However, the new GCSE is significantly different from what has gone before, as the unit will be assessed by terminal assessment and for most assessment bodies the site will be selected for schools. So, how can we embrace the opportunities offered by this study of the historic environment? Firstly, it is worth comparing how the examining bodies have designed this module. Each exam body has different assessment focuses and freedom of choice. It may also call for a re-evaluation of how your school teaches at Key Stage 3. What skills do you want to embed?

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  • ‘Man, people in the past were indeed stupid’

    Article

    In this article, which is based on Huijgen’s PhD dissertation Balancing between the past and the present, Tim Huijgen and Paul Holthuis present the results of an experimental method of teaching 14–16-year-old students to contextualise their historical studies in a different way. In the four lessons described, students’ initial reactions...

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  • Triumphs Show 170: making a place for fieldwork in history lessons

    Article

    Why ‘do’ local history? The new (grades 9–1) GCSE specifications place a lot of importance on the local environment. The rationale for this is to get students to situate a site in its historical context, and to examine the relationship between local and national developments. Initially this change was the...

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  • Triumphs Show 169: Using 360 VR Technology with the GCSE Historic Environment study

    Article

    One of the biggest changes in the new GCSE specifications is the requirement for all students to undertake a study of the historic environment. Unsurprisingly the approach taken by the exam boards to this requirement varies widely. While some boards allow schools a free choice of site, others have decided...

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  • Using sites for insights

    Article

    Working alongside local history teachers to prepare for the new GCSE specifications Steve Illingworth and Emma Manners were struck that many teachers were concerned about two issues in particular: the breadth and depth of knowledge demanded and new forms of assessment, especially the historic environment paper. In this article they...

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  • Active remembrance

    Article

    A year after the end of the First World War, George V stated: "I believe that my people in every part of the Empire fervently wish to perpetuate the memory of the Great Deliverance and those who laid down their lives to achieve it." From that moment, the idea of large-scale remembrance...

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  • Teaching the Historic Environment

    Article

    The GCSE History criteria specify that the courses should cover three geographical contexts: local, British and European/wider world. The requirement to include some local history has been developed into the study of a locality in its Historic Environment. This has been developed in four different ways by the Awarding bodies...

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  • Helping Year 9s explore multiple narratives through the history of a house

    Article

    A host of histories: helping Year 9s explore multiple narratives through the history of a house Described by the author Monica Ali as a building that ‘sparks the imagination and sparks conversations', 19 Princelet Street, now a Museum of Diversity and Immigration, captivated the imagination of teacher David Waters. He...

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  • Remembering the First World War: Using a battlefield tour of the Western Front

    Article

    Remembering the First World War: Using a battlefield tour of the Western Front to help pupils take a more critical approach to what they encounter The first year of the government's First World War Centenary Battlefield Tours Programme is now under way, allowing increasing numbers of students from across Britain...

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  • My Favourite History Place - Sackville College, East Grinstead

    Article

    Sackville College almshouse in East Grinstead, Sussex, was founded in 1609, by Robert Sackville, 2nd Earl of Dorset, when he wrote his will. He died 17 days later without seeing one stone laid, yet the College still stands, providing affordable accommodation for local elderly people of limited means. It is...

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  • Eltham Palace and Orpington

    Article

    Eltham Palace: The House of Secret Messages: Eltham Palace is a house full of secret messages, and is a building unlike any other. A completely original interpretation of the symbolism of Eltham Palace, which reveals its charm and humour for the first time. Discover what this strange building is really...

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  • Thinking about local history - Step by step local study

    Article

    The short walk from our school to St Mary's Parish Church, Leyton, takes us past late Victorian terraces, post-Second World War apartment blocks and early twentyfirst century social housing in one of the most densely populated and ethnically diverse parts of East London, sandwiched as it is between Stratford and...

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  • Ufton Court

    Article

    Ufton Court, an Elizabethan Grade 1 Manor House between Reading and Newbury, is an inspirational centre for schools. The Ufton team lead residential and day visits for KS2 that aim to give children a passion for history.  Residential VisitsEnjoy sole overnight occupancy of the inspiring Tudor Manor over 1 to...

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  • English Heritage and Historical Association Local Heritage Project

    Article

    One year ago (2011), the south eastern branch of English Heritage and the Historical Association came together to see what we could do better in partnership. The outcome was the Local Heritage Partnership Project. The vision was to work together to provide access to and inspiration to carry out local...

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  • Moving People, Changing Places

    Article

    Professor Kim Knott has created a website entitled Moving People, Changing Places which concerns issues of migration, identity and diversity facing contemporary societies.  The website and an accompanying book aimed at Key Stage 4 students has been the product of an Arts and Humanities Research Council grant.Moving People, Changing Places...

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  • The Irish in Britain 1815-1914

    Article

    Irish migration to Britain has a long and chequered history, yet only in recent years have historians examined this subject in depth, through a growing body of local, regional and national studies which have supplemented the earlier pioneering research of J. E. Handley and J. A. Jackson. These studies have...

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  • Exploring diversity at GCSE

    Article

    Having already reflected on ways of improving their students' understanding of historical diversity at Key Stage 3, Joanne Philpott and Daniel Guiney set themselves the challenge of extending this to post-14 students by means of fieldwork activities at First World War battlefields sites. In addition, they wanted to link the study...

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  • The National Heritage List

    Article

    This is a momentous occasion in the history of designation in England and we hope you find the List and the online application form a useful resource. The National Heritage List for England is an online database which brings together information on all nationally designated heritage assets in one place for...

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  • 'How our area used to be back then': An oral history project in an east London school

    Article

    Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated. How can oral history enquiries engage students with the study of history and help them connect their learning about the past to their present lives? How can oral history engage and develop students' understanding of...

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  • Riots, railways and a Hampshire hill fort: Exploiting local history for rigorous evidential enquiry

    Article

    Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated. Rigorous historical enquiry is integral to effective history teaching. The 2008 National Curriculum has recognised its importance by giving it a broader definition as a key process to include not only the use of historical...

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  • Cunning Plan 134: local history at KS3

    Article

    Question: How can we plan to integrate local history into Key Stage 3 schemes of work so that pupils are engaged by the relevance of the subject across different periods of time? Local history can come in all shapes and sizes, from a large-scale oral history project to the perusal...

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