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Happy and Glorious: exploring and celebrating the Platinum Jubilee
Primary History article
History is full of significant royals, yet few seem quite so remarkable as Her Majesty the Queen. Since her birth in 1926, she has witnessed the tragedy of a world war, the decline of the British Empire and the birth of the Commonwealth of Nations. Not only is she the...
Happy and Glorious: exploring and celebrating the Platinum Jubilee
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Planning for history - the coordinator's perspective
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Editorial note: Cathie's paper can be used as a checklist of action points for the planning of Programmes of Study incorporating history.
Starting points
If you are responsible for leading teaching and learning in history, there...
Planning for history - the coordinator's perspective
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Effective Primary History Teaching, Challenges & Opportunities
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated
The last edition of Primary History published the first part of the report on the KS2 to KS3 transitions project. Part 1 illuminated the first four of produced eight key ideas or guiding principles for...
Effective Primary History Teaching, Challenges & Opportunities
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Subject leaders: The importance of subject knowledge
Primary History feature
By now, we should be used to hearing the term ‘knowledge-rich curriculum’ as this has been a focus of the government for some time now. The new Ofsted inspection framework mentions the expectation to ‘develop detailed knowledge and skills across the curriculum’ several times within intent, implementation and impact sections....
Subject leaders: The importance of subject knowledge
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School war memorials as the subject for enquiry-based learning
Primary History article
A visit to a local war memorial to coincide with Remembrance Day leaves a lasting legacy. Every year, groups of primary school children visit a war memorial in their town and village or local church, and increasingly benefit from educational visits to sites of remembrance such as the National Memorial...
School war memorials as the subject for enquiry-based learning
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One of my favourite history places: Meldon Viaduct
Primary History feature
'One of my favourite history places' is a regular feature in Primary History – see all favourite history places here. In this edition, Tim Lomas explores Meldon Viaduct and its surroundings:
Visiting places you have read about or seen pictures of can sometimes prove an anticlimax. Others far exceed expectations. One such is...
One of my favourite history places: Meldon Viaduct
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Teaching about ‘these islands’ since 1066
Primary History article
This article builds on an earlier publication in Primary History Issue 89 which considered the history of ‘these islands’ before 1066 in the primary history curriculum. Both articles address the first aim of the National Curriculum which indicates that children should:
know and understand the history of these islands as...
Teaching about ‘these islands’ since 1066
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Using feature films as a means of enhancing history teaching in the primary school
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Although I have always been fascinated by history and almost took it as my major subject at university, I have to admit that the bulk of my ‘knowledge' about historical people and events was shaped...
Using feature films as a means of enhancing history teaching in the primary school
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Musings and misconceptions about Remembrance Day
Primary History article
Very few primary schools do not address Remembrance Day in some form or another. We assume a broad awareness of what it stands for but Susie Townsend suggests that this may not always have been the case. We may be making assumptions about children’s awareness that are not justified. This...
Musings and misconceptions about Remembrance Day
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Local history and a sense of identity
Article
The history co-ordinator often finds some real challenges as well as opportunities in addressing local history in primary schools. The advantages are well rehearsed – making history relevant to the lives of the children and giving them an improved sense of identity and place through engagement with the ‘real thing’....
Local history and a sense of identity
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Time travel to the Early Modern period...
Primary History article
This article describes how children in a German primary school explored some documents from the early modern period (seventeenth and eighteenth centuries) relating to the capture of merchant vessels. It makes use of a digital resource ‘The Prize Papers’ linked to the National Archives and found here: www.prizepapers.de The article also explains how...
Time travel to the Early Modern period...
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Teaching Ancient Egypt: developing subject knowledge
Primary History article
Ancient Egypt is one of the most popular societies taught in primary schools. In this article Karin Doull argues the importance of having a coherent approach to the content. Much of the article focuses on the key areas that teachers may wish to consider if they are to achieve a...
Teaching Ancient Egypt: developing subject knowledge
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A classic case for history?
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum.
History is now an extremely popular subject with children, parents and teachers says a new research study - especially when children find out about the Ancient Greeks and Romans.
A classic case for history?
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Creativity, Imagination, and Fun in Primary History
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the current National Curriculum and some content, references and links are outdated.
Tim Lomas describes a variety of learning activities that primary schools children enjoy.
Creativity, Imagination, and Fun in Primary History
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Ideas for Assemblies: Empowering pupils to understand the First World War
Article
Remembering the Battle of the Somme and other events within the First World War will be popular features of primary assemblies as part of the centenary commemorations. Yet primary teachers are often concerned about how to explore a topic as challenging as the First World War with such a young...
Ideas for Assemblies: Empowering pupils to understand the First World War
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Subject leaders: supporting colleagues to develop their subject knowledge
Primary History article
Many teachers are especially concerned about subject knowledge and knowing what to teach. Using the example of the ancient Egyptians, this article focuses on how a subject leader can support colleagues develop and use their subject knowledge to become more adept at teaching.
One of the most frequent concerns of...
Subject leaders: supporting colleagues to develop their subject knowledge
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History in the Urban Environment
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
A study of the local environment can make a vital contribution to children's sense of identity, their sense of place and the community in which they live. More importantly, a local study can enable children...
History in the Urban Environment
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The Stone Age conundrum
Making use of a local site to develop historical knowledge
History – the very word makes the primary teacher in me feel excited. There are simply so many variables, so many dark nooks and crannies of history to explore and so many different angles through which to draw in a class of eager young minds. Thanks to a wellexecuted history...
The Stone Age conundrum
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Blending history and creative writing: imagining a lost Anglo-Saxon poem
Primary History article
Decoding a manuscript, exploring glittering archaeology, imagining the emotions and sensations of a battle, and learning Old English vocabulary. These are all tasks that we, as teachers of medieval literature in the English Department at King’s College London, have assigned to our undergraduate classes.
However, Key Stage 2 children can...
Blending history and creative writing: imagining a lost Anglo-Saxon poem
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Bringing the Civil War to life in Somerset
Primary History article
As a lecturer in education teaching humanities at Plymouth University, I spend my time encouraging student teachers to move away from writing lesson plans with a focus on research and recording, to creating lessons that are dynamic – engaging children in historical activities to develop a passion for history. Student...
Bringing the Civil War to life in Somerset
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Primary History 32: Bristol and the Slave Trade
The primary education journal of the Historical Association
3 Editorial
4 Primary Noticeboard
6 In My View: Whatever happened to……? - Colin Richards (Read article)
9 History co-ordinators’ dilemmas - Jayne Woodhouse and Tim Lomas
11 Exploring the history on your doorstep with 4Learning - Dinah Starkey
14 Reading, recovering and re-visioning Victorian Women - Jane Martin (Read...
Primary History 32: Bristol and the Slave Trade
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Who was King Alfred? And was he really ‘Great’?
Primary History article
Gaining the depth and richness of subject knowledge needed to teach different aspects of history effectively can prove challenging for busy primary school teachers. In this article Francis Leneghan presents key subject knowledge and suggested enquiry questions to inform and structure a depth study of King Alfred. The article focuses...
Who was King Alfred? And was he really ‘Great’?
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Working through drama
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Drama puts the fear of God into some teachers. Some, jolly sensible souls, just don't feel dramatic, fear wearing feathered hats and using funny voices; others know, deep in their hearts, that plays always lead to...
Working through drama
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Britain's settlement by Anglo-Saxons and Scots
Primary History Article
Anglo-Saxons have been a part of the primary national curriculum from the onset so they may not be as unfamiliar to teachers as some themes. Many teachers also report that pupils enjoy studying them so there is clearly much in their favour.
That does not mean, however, that all is...
Britain's settlement by Anglo-Saxons and Scots
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The Shang: What can we tell about an ancient civilisation from one tomb?
Primary History article
The Shang Dynasty of China, based around the Yellow River area, is regarded as the first Chinese dynasty that we have written evidence for. It was established in around 1760 BC when Tang set up his capital in the city of Bo. Over the next 600 or 700 years the Shang Empire grew and shrank,...
The Shang: What can we tell about an ancient civilisation from one tomb?
