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Stories to extend and support the study of life in Victorian Times
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum.
The study of life in Victorian Times with Key Stage 2 pupils, or aspects of life beyond living memory (now ‘the more distant past’) with children in Key Stage 1 is surely one of the richest and most popular historical themes. Some...
Stories to extend and support the study of life in Victorian Times
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Teaching history and geography together in a meaningful way
WHEN 2 + 2 = 5!
This article explores some of the ways history and geography can be taught side by side, so that the sum of the parts adds up to more than the original. How can we teach history with geography and vice versa, to the benefit of both, while fulfilling the aims of...
Teaching history and geography together in a meaningful way
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Issues relating to the youngest children
Article
History plays an important role in the development of young children’s understanding of their world. It can broaden children’s experiences beyond the immediate present, to a time in the past, which might be only a few years ago or which might extend much further back in time. ‘Tell me about...
Issues relating to the youngest children
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Case Study: Prehistory in the primary curriculum: A stonehenge to remember
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
An article in the Sunday Times newspaper on 7 December reported that Britain is to stop making nominations to UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) for heritage sites to be granted World Heritage...
Case Study: Prehistory in the primary curriculum: A stonehenge to remember
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Dealing with the dead: Identity and community - Monuments, memorials and local history
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Death is one of the most sensitive and controversial issues that teachers encounter, linked inextricably as it is to identity. I think it sometimes escapes our attention that, as teachers of history, we constantly deal...
Dealing with the dead: Identity and community - Monuments, memorials and local history
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Fun with hieroglyphs
Review
Synopsis: Fun with Hieroglyphs contains 24 rubber stamps, an ink pad and full colour book. It is recommended for children aged 8 upwards and will enable them to discover the secrets of the hieroglyphic language of the ancient Egyptians. The stamps can be used to write messages and create designs...
Fun with hieroglyphs
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In My View: Migration - the search for a better life
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the current National Curriculum and some content and links may be outdated.
Migration is not new. The movement of people has been part of defining cultures throughout history. Asylum seekers could be seen as the thin (contemporary) end of this historical wedge. But is the...
In My View: Migration - the search for a better life
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A Project on Working Class Education in the Victorian Period
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the current National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
In the third year at London Metropolitan University, history B.ED students research and prepare a resource about an aspect of life in C19th Britain for use with their chosen age group. Nicky made a book,...
A Project on Working Class Education in the Victorian Period
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Records for a study of the life of Agricultural Labourers in Somerset in the mid 19th century
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum.
This article focuses on extracts from the mid nineteenth and provides information on the wages and living standards of agricultural labourers. In the article Sue Berry suggests numerous ways in which these extracts can be used in lessons at Key Stage 1...
Records for a study of the life of Agricultural Labourers in Somerset in the mid 19th century
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Teaching The Indus Valley Civilisation in the 21st Century
Primary History article
This article discusses how mathematical concepts, literacy requirements and other areas of the curriculum can be harnessed to promote meaningful historical enquiry and understanding. This is especially so for a history topic which lends itself to enquiry based learning, scrutiny of every little clue, and speculation about the very many...
Teaching The Indus Valley Civilisation in the 21st Century
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Unpicking the learning potential in creative approaches to studying World War II
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
‘The biggest issue for school history is its limited place in the curriculum.' (Ofsted, 2007)
This central concern of Ofsted's 2007 report, History in the balance, could equally apply to the teaching of drama in primary schools....
Unpicking the learning potential in creative approaches to studying World War II
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Your Victorian (And Greek!) Olympic Games
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
The teaching ideas below are adapted from an idea the great John Fines developed for teaching Ancient Greek science. With active teacher support and guidance, it requires the pupils to use what they know, and their...
Your Victorian (And Greek!) Olympic Games
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Teaching Robin Hood at Key Stage 1
Primary History article
The stories of Robin Hood, which date from the Middle Ages, are integral to an understanding of British history. Although historians have not been able to identify a single historical figure that can be called Robin Hood, rooted in evidence, the myth or legend of Robin Hood has had a...
Teaching Robin Hood at Key Stage 1
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Thinking through history: assessment and learning for the gifted young historian
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Historical enquiry requires reasoning. Even historical imagination depends on being able to evaluate a number of possible responses to an hypothesis and mastery of detail and argument. The high levels of thinking in history of...
Thinking through history: assessment and learning for the gifted young historian
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Britain and the wider world in Tudor times
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum.
The first two articles in this series introduced three generic principles which might underpin planning a scheme of work in the KS2 History Curriculum. Article 1 (Jan 2001) drew on contemporary history to analyse and explain the principles. Article 2 (May 2001)...
Britain and the wider world in Tudor times
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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 eighty years has suggested that ‘time’ concepts, such as chronology, duration and the usage of dating systems are difficult for children to assimilate. However, my recent research would suggest that temporal concepts...
Enhancing temporal cognition: practical activities for the primary classroom
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The Jill Grey collection and Hitchin British schools
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum.
Jill Grey lived in Hitchin and over a period of 25 years, collected over 35,000 items. A11 of the material relates to the history of education and social history of childhood. I am still in the process of cataloguing the collection and...
The Jill Grey collection and Hitchin British schools
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Teaching history through nursery rhymes in the foundation stage
Primary History article
Please note: this article was written before the the 2014 National Curriculum and some content is now outdated.
All teachers working within the foundation stage will, at some time, be using nursery rhymes in their classrooms. Their importance to early language development has long been acknowledged, particularly the way in which they contribute to...
Teaching history through nursery rhymes in the foundation stage
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Introducing history at Key Stage 1: a view from the classroom
Article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
‘What are we doing this for?’ I was asked this question as we entered the churchyard to look at the local War memorial. The curiosity and directness of a six year old child is guaranteed...
Introducing history at Key Stage 1: a view from the classroom
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Film: Primary History at greater depth
Primary History Workshop Annual Conference 2019
This primary workshop took place at at the Historical Association Annual Conference, Chester, May 2019.
In this session, Stuart explored the principles of how working at greater depth can be applied into history units of work to allow the most able of learners to excel and fully reach their potential in history...
Film: Primary History at greater depth
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Anglo-Saxon Women
Primary History Article
The Anglo-Saxon era is a diverse period that stretches across just over 650 years. Those we call Anglo-Saxons were not homogenous nor were their experiences. In AD 410 the Roman legions leave and the first Anglo-Saxon raiders appear. These pagan warrior bands would come to terrorise Romano-British settlements until, inevitably,...
Anglo-Saxon Women
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Keeping the content manageable in Key Stage 2
Article
This section offers guidance on how Key Stage 2 history can be organised through the use of a number of key investigative questions for the most commonly taught areas of study.
Keeping the content manageable in Key Stage 2
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As a primary school teacher have you taught about the Holocaust?
Primary History article
Teaching the Holocaust at primary level can be incredibly rewarding and result in pupils broadening their historical understanding as well as encouraging them to consider other issues. The importance of challenging prejudice, ignorance and racism, the importance of not being a bystander and valuing life are just a few of...
As a primary school teacher have you taught about the Holocaust?
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Questions you have always wanted to ask about...Using photographs as sources of evidence
Primary History article
Alan Hodkinson answers questions about using photographs as sources of evidence.
Questions you have always wanted to ask about...Using photographs as sources of evidence
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What was it like to live here in the past? Resourcing the local study
Primary History article
Finding sources for your local study can be a challenge, particularly if you are not familiar with the history of the area around your school.
Please note: this article uses the Images of England website which has now closed down. The images can still be found via the Historic England website. This...
What was it like to live here in the past? Resourcing the local study
