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Bring on the iPad revolution
Primary History case study
The opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic games celebrated change whilst demonstrating the challenges revolutions have on the world. From green pastures to belching chimneystacks, from post-war Britain to the World Wide Internet and text messaging, the way society interacts is changing at an incomprehensible rate.
The same could be...
Bring on the iPad revolution
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The digital revolution
Primary History article
Developments in information technology continue at an extraordinary pace. Many young children will have little or no idea of what it was like to live in a world without mobile phones, computers and the Internet.
Most children will regularly make use of devices such as smart phones, digital cameras and...
The digital revolution
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Becoming a Historical Association Teacher Fellow
Primary History feature
When applying for the Age of Revolutions Teacher Fellowship Course, the first thing my headteacher asked me was, ‘How will this benefit the school?’ I hadn’t really thought about it in that much detail. It was a history course with a residential, it would be an excellent CPD course for me...
Becoming a Historical Association Teacher Fellow
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History in the news: George Floyd protest in Bristol – Colston statue toppled
Primary History feature
The killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota on 25 May 2020 sparked off protests against the way in which black people are treated both in America and many countries across the world. Thousands of people attended an anti-racist demonstration in Bristol. A group of the...
History in the news: George Floyd protest in Bristol – Colston statue toppled
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Primary History 31: The Industrial Revolution
Journal
The Industrial Revolution and the Children's Employment Act of 1842, Teaching for purpose, Revising the English Reformation, Recreating the Bristol blitz using artefacts and roleplay, Teaching and meaning: supporting historical understanding in the primary classroom and much more... Click the link below to read the full article!
Primary History 31: The Industrial Revolution
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Overground, underground and across the sea
Article
Communication is at the heart of what it is to be human, and the British postal service has helped to shape the modern world as we know it today. From cryptic Victorian Valentine cards to a lion encountered on Salisbury Plain, there is nothing ordinary about the story of the post! The British postal service...
Overground, underground and across the sea
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The Bronze Age: what was so special about copper and tin?
Primary History article
On first approaching this period it is possible to feel comfortable with the term ‘Bronze Age’ without ever really interrogating what this means. When did this period happen? What do we mean by the term the Bronze Age and was it different or the same around the world?
Clearly there...
The Bronze Age: what was so special about copper and tin?
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Two women linked across three thousand years of history
Primary History article
16 May 1976 – a warm sunny day as Zheng was to recall – began as a typical day on site and ended with a remarkable discovery. Zheng Zhenxiang was leading an archaeological team at Yinxu, Anyang in China looking for evidence of tombs from the Shang Dynasty period. This...
Two women linked across three thousand years of history
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Case Study: Historical information and the local community
Primary History article
The ICT revolution
A paper register, a pink-lined A4 mark book and a written school log book are surely historical artefacts? The transition from paper to digital technology continues, changing the world of the classroom teacher whose working life like mine, began in the print age when digital-based education was...
Case Study: Historical information and the local community
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Primary History 62: History & ICT
The primary education journal of the Historical Association
Editorial and In My View
04 Editorial
05 Using ICT to develop pupils' historical knowledge, understa nding and thinking the view from Ofsted - Michael Maddison HMI
06 The digital revolution - Jerome Freeman (Read article)
07 History, ICT and the digital age - Ben Walsh (Read article)
Features
08 Diogenes:...
Primary History 62: History & ICT
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Significant people: Mary Wollstonecraft
Primary History article
‘I do not wish women to have power over men; but over themselves’ – Mary Wollstonecraft
The National Curriculum gives the freedom to select any significant individual and many schools have already chosen those outside the commonly-used ones such as Florence Nightingale, Christopher Columbus and Queen Victoria. There is also...
Significant people: Mary Wollstonecraft
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Re-evaluating the role of statues
Primary History article
Like them or loathe them, statues are excellent learning resources and the recent events in Bristol and elsewhere should not dissuade us from using them to aid children’s historical knowledge and enquiry skills. In fact, in the current climate, statues need a careful re-evaluation of their role within our towns....
Re-evaluating the role of statues
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Local history for children: through the eyes of a B.ED. student
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
My favourite subject in primary school was always history. I loved everything about history, but in particular I liked learning about the history of the local area. I went to school in a small Yorkshire town...
Local history for children: through the eyes of a B.ED. student
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Primary History 12
Journal
5 Towards a Philosophy of Primary History John Fines
Quarry Bank Mill
6 The Apprentice House Vivienne Woods
7 Who Carried the Can? Keith Robinson
9 A Dark Satanic Mill Pauline Milk
10 The Fiction of History Ian Fell
Ironbridge Gorge Museum
12 The Museum Experience Suzanne Spicer
13 Holy...
Primary History 12
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Developing enjoyable historical investigations
Primary History article
About 2,000 years ago, a baby was born. No, not that baby. Not Jesus. This baby was a girl. Where she was born and what she was called we don't know but I'll call her Helena - it feels rude to go on just calling her ‘she'. When Helena grew up she became wealthy. Perhaps...
Developing enjoyable historical investigations
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Making the Modern World: The shock of the real at the science museum
Primary History article
Making the Modern World is a vast, exuberant exposition of the real deal. From Arkwright's textile machines that kick-started the industrial revolution to the first Apple computer; from a pair of patented genetically-modified mice to the Apollo 10 command module that orbited the Moon - ons of the industrialised world...
Making the Modern World: The shock of the real at the science museum
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Teaching the British Empire in primary history
Primary History article
The height of the BBC Proms season is its last night in the Royal Albert Hall. It features traditional patriotic songs such as Rule Britannia and Land of Hope and Glory. Cheerful crowds wave union flags as the magnificent music of Elgar and others swells to a crescendo. Contrast this...
Teaching the British Empire in primary history
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50th anniversary of the UK’s first official Pride march: 1 July 2022
Primary History article
2022 is a special year as it marks the 50th anniversary of the first official UK Pride march which was held in London on 1 July 1972. The Pride movement, and events like the London in Pride march, were inspired and influenced by the Stonewall riots. These were protests that took place...
50th anniversary of the UK’s first official Pride march: 1 July 2022
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Primary History 86
The primary education journal of the Historical Association
04 Editorial (Read article for free)
05 HA Primary News
06 HA Update
10 History in the news: George Floyd protest in Bristol: Colston statue toppled – Paul Bracey (Read article)
14 Developing chronological understanding and language in the Early Years and Foundation Stage – Damienne Clarke (Read article)
18 All the fun of the...
Primary History 86
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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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Smooth transitions: Key Stage 2 to 3
Primary History article
Transitions. Pivotal points in a child’s life and a phase in the educational journey that should be celebrated. How do we ensure that transitions are efficiently prepared for, when an ever increasing list of school pressures means that transitions can feel like the poor relation in the list of priorities?...
Smooth transitions: Key Stage 2 to 3
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Using the back cover image: Communications
Primary History feature
Exploring the everyday objects that shaped our lives in the not too distant past can prove to be exciting historical challenges for primary age children. While we might remember or be familiar with the objects and their use, they can provide confusion for children. This is in part because of...
Using the back cover image: Communications
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Primary History summer resource 2023: Early civilisations
Primary member resource
Our free summer resource for 2023 is intended to enhance your subject knowledge about ancient civilisations. We have selected two articles from the HA journal The Historian that provide you with an insight into current historical knowledge.
The first article includes Sumer, Indus, Shang and Egypt, early civilisations that are identified in...
Primary History summer resource 2023: Early civilisations
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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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Exploring the story of elections and voting with your primary students
Primary History article
David Carr introduces us to some of the educational resources and opportunities linked to the Houses of Parliament. With the prospect of a general election, it provides some interesting background information as well as suggestions for engaging children with the democratic process...
Exploring the story of elections and voting with your primary students
