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Developing chronological understanding and language in the EYFS
Primary History article
Developing secure chronological understanding is an essential aspect of effective history learning. Chronological understanding develops over time and children’s progress in this can be most effectively secured if schools plan for development in this area and provide opportunities for children to build upon their understanding throughout their time in school....
Developing chronological understanding and language in the EYFS
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Exploring the past through active enquiry
Primary History article
Story and enquiry – that’s what I think of when considering history. The stories of events and people pull you into the past and stories generate a curiosity that encourages exploration. ‘Finding out’ is central to what we do in history. Our early-years classrooms must provide vibrant and challenging environments...
Exploring the past through active enquiry
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Using indigenous and traditional stories to teach for climate and ecological action
Primary History article
Caitríona Ní Cassaithe and Anne Marie Kavanagh explore how herbs and wild plants were and are used to create natural remedies. They use archive material and oral history to promote and explore indigenous voices. They suggest how this could be applied and developed within your own communities. They also make...
Using indigenous and traditional stories to teach for climate and ecological action
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Writing: demonstration and modelling
Primary History article
Pupils' historical writing can take thousands of different forms, for example, an advert, comic, magazine article, love letter, short story, exam essay, poster or account of a castle visit. For pupils to compose in any genre they must understand and assimilate the genre's skeletal framework, its mode, tenor, field - pp....
Writing: demonstration and modelling
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The Interactive Whiteboard or Smart Board
Primary History article
The interactive whiteboard [smartboard] has opened a pathway to explore sources and develop historical interest for children of all ages. It can be used in varied ways that allow a teacher to customise activities to match their intended outcomes. Support for this comes from the growth of easily accessible online databases...
The Interactive Whiteboard or Smart Board
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How can we teach about medieval Britain in primary schools?
Primary History article
There is no question that the medieval period (no matter what timespan it claims) offers plenty of fascination for the primary pupil. It also allows some continuity with the period up to 1066 which forms the bedrock of the Key Stage 2 history curriculum. With opportunities to cover the medieval...
How can we teach about medieval Britain in primary schools?
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How museum collections make ancient Egypt, and the people who lived there, real
Primary History article
It’s a safe bet that ancient Egypt is one of the most exciting topics on the primary history curriculum. But that can come with misunderstandings of a complex 3,000-year-long history and an accomplished group of people, embedded by the sensationalised, gory, and othering approach often shown when ancient Egypt features...
How museum collections make ancient Egypt, and the people who lived there, real
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Pupils as apprentice historians (3)
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
The Spring 2008 issue of this magazine, Visual Literacy, highlighted the excellent practice in using visual historical sources that exists in many primary schoolsWe should strive to preserve and extend this critical use of visuals, whatever...
Pupils as apprentice historians (3)
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Making the children work for the information!
Primary History article
Your local museum is often a rich but sometimes overlooked resource. Images, documents and maps show a broad range of history but one that also relates to the children’s own local area. This allows children to see the connection with their own past, providing them with examples that they can...
Making the children work for the information!
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Arthur Wharton: the world’s first professional black footballer
Primary History article
Schools are now looking to extend their study of significant individuals away from many of the conventional ones. This article looks at a lesser known individual, Arthur Wharton, which could make a good choice for teachers wanting to tap into pupils’ interest. Arthur Wharton was the world’s first black professional...
Arthur Wharton: the world’s first professional black footballer
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Oral history, a powerful tool or a double edged sword?
Primary History article
We all agree that oral history is a particularly powerful and attractive method for children to gather evidence and appreciate the real life relevance of history. From the Early Years to Year 6, many of us look deliberately for the opportunities to bring a visitor into the classroom, who will...
Oral history, a powerful tool or a double edged sword?
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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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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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Life in lockdown
Primary History article
In this article on the impact of the Coronavirus, Matthew Flynn from Ryders Hayes in Walsall, a History Quality Mark school, has considered how history subject leaders can maintain the status of the subject when faced with remote learning.
Education has undergone many changes and uncertainty over the decades, but...
Life in lockdown
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The Great Fire of London and the National Curriculum
Primary History article including Scheme of Work for Key Stage 1 (unresourced)
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...
The Great Fire of London and the National Curriculum
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Chronology - an Olympic timeline
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Pat Hoodless illuminates how chronology can provide a spine, a backbone and an ‘essential framework' to support and shape pupil learning of NC History.
The Olympic movement provides the perfect opportunity to consider the broad sweep...
Chronology - an Olympic timeline
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Using the back cover image: Reconstructing the Romans
Primary History feature
Reconstruction drawings, diagrams and models are vital examples of interpretation that we can use to help pupils understand the past. On one level they help to fire imagination, while on another they offer a way of presenting important historical facts.
The image overleaf is a reconstruction drawing of Chester's Roman...
Using the back cover image: Reconstructing the Romans
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What your local Archive Service can offer to schools
Primary History article
Imagine a place where your pupils become detectives working on mysteries from the past such as the tale of Thomas Sargeant, a 15-year-old factory worker who died in a chemical works in 1898. Your local archive is bursting with stories about real people like this which can give children an...
What your local Archive Service can offer to schools
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Bringing an archaeologist into the classroom
Primary History article
The past as represented in school history textbooks and websites is adapted to meet the needs of primary-aged children, but the knowledge on which this depends derives from detailed academic research. Engaging children with historians and archaeologists can show them how we learn about and construct our understanding of history...
Bringing an archaeologist into the classroom
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Using Local Buildings
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Whilst there are many obvious historical buildings - castles, Roman Villas and Abbeys these often involve transport costs which may be beyond a school budget. Turner-Bisset suggests:
There is also history in ordinary, everyday sites,...
Using Local Buildings
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‘Not again!’ - an additional viewpoint on using railways
Primary History article
‘Not again!’ I can remember my son muttering as his football thudded against the kitchen wall, ‘I went there in Year 2 and then in Year 4 and now I have to go there again in Year 6.’ He was referring to his school trips to the remains of the gunpowder factories in our village,...
‘Not again!’ - an additional viewpoint on using railways
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Making the most of the post-1066 unit
Primary History article
Making the most of the post-1066 unit: looking at continuity and change over 10,000 years
The ‘aspect or theme of British history that extends pupils’ chronological knowledge beyond 1066’ unit is designed to extend the period of study beyond 1066 to help pupils develop a coherent picture of British history....
Making the most of the post-1066 unit
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How do you enable creativity and empathy without loosing 'rigour'?
Primary History article
How do you enable creativity and empathy without loosing 'rigour'?
The Integrated Planning Process
Introduction - Rigour ‘v' enrichment. Despite loathing the term rigour, an empty word that has numerous definitions depending on who you speak to, many teachers, Head teachers and curriculum leaders are seeking ways of integrating and...
How do you enable creativity and empathy without loosing 'rigour'?
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Enhancing temporal cognition: Practical activities for the primary classroom
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Research during the last ninety years has suggested that ‘time' concepts, such as chronology, duration and the usage of dating systems are difficult for children to assimilate. However, my research suggests that temporal concepts can be...
Enhancing temporal cognition: Practical activities for the primary classroom
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Teaching ‘these islands’ from prehistoric times to 1066
Primary History article
The first aim in the National Curriculum indicates that children should:
Know and understand the history of these islands as a coherent, chronological narrative, from the earliest times to the present day: how people’s lives have shaped this nation and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider...
Teaching ‘these islands’ from prehistoric times to 1066
