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Whole-school planning for progression
Primary History article
The challenge for subject leaders and school leadership teams continues to be managing the tension between what history has to offer your vision for learning and your children's entitlement to a high-quality history education. The new national curriculum has ensured that this year you have had a close look at...
Whole-school planning for progression
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TREE-mendous history!
Primary History article
Since the nineteenth century there has been a rich heritage of outdoor learning pedagogy in Europe, and today in Scandinavia the open air culture (frulitsliv) permeates Early Years education. In 1993 Bridgewater College nursery nurses returned from a visit to Denmark enthused by the outdoor educational settings and started their own ‘Forest School'. From 1995 the college...
TREE-mendous history!
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Assessment and Progression without levels
Primary History article
The new (2014) Primary History National Curriculum is finally upon us. The first thing you might notice is that the level descriptions have gone. These were first introduced in 1995 and became the mainstay for assessing pupil progression and attainment in Key Stages 1, 2 and 3 across schools in...
Assessment and Progression without levels
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Ideas for Assemblies: Lest we forget
Primary History feature
Over the next three editions of Primary History our assemblies pages will be linked to the theme of commemorating the First World War. We have found that while many teachers wish to remember these events in school, they are unsure how to approach the subject with primary aged children. It...
Ideas for Assemblies: Lest we forget
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Progression from EYFS to Key Stage 3
Guide
The removal of National Curriculum levels has left many schools and teachers scratching their heads and wondering how to proceed. National Curriculum levels have been used and misused in the past to both define progress in the subject and as a basis for assessment.
In this pamphlet, Jamie Byrom takes us...
Progression from EYFS to Key Stage 3
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Victorians
Primary History article
The Victorians is a much-loved unit of work in many schools and some teachers were disappointed to see it had been removed but there are still ways to continue to teach it under the 2014 National Curriculum. In many localities there will be a huge variety of Victorian buildings - including...
Victorians
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Why stories?
Primary History article
Please note: this article was written before the 2014 National Curriculum and some content and references may no longer be relevant.
During the Early Years and Foundation Stage children should listen to stories, ask how and why and talk about the past (DfE 2012). Young children are comfortable with stories. Through...
Why stories?
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A Beginner's Guide to using visual image in primary schools
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content and links may be outdated.
The employment of the visual image is a fascinating and exciting way to enable children to gain a glimpse into the past. It is problematic, however, in that such imagery is often an...
A Beginner's Guide to using visual image in primary schools
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Local Authority Housing
Classic Pamphlet
Local authority housing has been a distinctive feature of the British housing system throughout the twentieth century. This pamphlet outlines the development of local authority housing in Britain from its origins in the late nineteenth century to the present day, focusing on the ways in which policy changes have affected...
Local Authority Housing
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Churches as a local historical source
Primary History Article
At Key Stage 1 children should learn about significant events, (e.g. the Great Fire of London) and about people and places in their locality. At Key Stage 2 they should learn about British settlement by Anglo-Saxons and Scots (e.g. Anglo-Saxon art and culture) and do a local history study (e.g....
Churches as a local historical source
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Alan Turing
Article
The man who helped win the war, invented computing and inspired artificial intelligence research
Editorial note: Alan Turing was a major figure in the cracking of the Germans' Enigma code at Bletchley Park which could well have helped shortened World War II by a couple of years. The more general...
Alan Turing
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Slavery in Britain
Primary History article
Images reflect the social customs and attitudes of the society in which they are produced, and we may nowdisapprove of these attitudes. Conversely, our own ideas of what is right and wrong may well have been unacceptable in the past. Among these are the rights accorded to children, the disabled,...
Slavery in Britain
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Teaching diversity through drama
Article
Teaching diversity through drama at the Museum of London: Stories of London people
From Roman times to the present, London has been shaped by the diversity of its people. London is home to500 different nationalities, 300 different languages,14 major faiths and a host of other religions. The Museum of London...
Teaching diversity through drama
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World War II evacuees and Kindertransport
Primary History Article
Editorial Note: The impact of war on children's lives and witness testimony is a powerful way to motivate history learning through engaging children with the recent past. The process of developing this unit provides a wonderful example of reflective curriculum development, and a teaching and learning journey.
When I first taught...
World War II evacuees and Kindertransport
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Case Study: Using Archives Creatively
Primary History article
Editorial note: Further details of this project and others can be found in Using Archives Creatively (Chapter 4) in ‘Teaching History Creatively' edited by Hilary Cooper published by Routledge in December 2012.
Archive Centres support innovative teaching
Using archive documentation
Some teachers, especially those with little training in teaching History,...
Case Study: Using Archives Creatively
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Case Study: Promoting creativity, empathy and historical imagination
Primary History article
Empathy and Imagination
Creativity, imagination and historical empathy are concepts with different meanings although interrelated in the field of historical learning (Lee, 1984; Shemilt, 1984, Ashby & Lee, 1987). According to Lee (1984) concepts such as empathy, understanding and imagination are connected in complex ways in history. Lee discusses the...
Case Study: Promoting creativity, empathy and historical imagination
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Case Study: Creative chronological thinking
Primary History article
Personal biographies
I often ask groups to collect and record their own personal chronologies. They are asked to bring in evidence to tell the stories of their own lives or of the life of a relative, which they will then weave into a ‘photo book' story. The photo books become...
Case Study: Creative chronological thinking
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Museums, schools and creativity: How learning can be enhanced
Article
What do we mean by creativity?In the last few years there has been an emphasis on the ‘creative curriculum', ‘creativity' and ‘creative teaching and learning', but there has not always been a shared understanding of what this means. This article uses the definition from ‘Creativity - find it, promote it'...
Museums, schools and creativity: How learning can be enhanced
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Geosong: a transition project
Primary History article
How do we engage young people with their Heritage, answer curriculum needs and make that big leap of transition from primary to secondary school that bit easier?
English Heritage's Geosong treasure hunt website went some way to providing answers. What does the website do? Using handheld GPS devices, groups must...
Geosong: a transition project
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In My View: Creativity & History
Article
Introduction
A great deal has been written recently defining what is meant by creativity in primary education. And much has been written urging us to ‘teach creatively'. Yet there had been no exploration of what teaching creatively means in terms of teaching history until a group of colleagues and I...
In My View: Creativity & History
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Chronology through ICT
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum.
Introduction: Research into chronological understanding
Chronological understanding is both one of history's most important disciplinary organising concepts (Lee and Shemilt: 2004) required for developing a full understanding of history, and certainly one of the most researched, though often with a broader remit...
Chronology through ICT
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Primary pedagogy: Lessons from Early Years and Primary ITT Students
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum.
The last decade has witnessed a massive increase in the use of ICT as a teaching and learning tool within the Primary classroom. Schools are indeed perceived as outmoded without the tools of the trade: the Interactive White Boards, ICT suites,...
Primary pedagogy: Lessons from Early Years and Primary ITT Students
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Egyptians, Embalming and Experiences
Primary History article
I am a third year student currently studying on a 4 year degree course at Leeds Trinity University College training to be a primary school teacher. Last year, as part of our History module, we visited the Leeds City Museum and met Esther Amis-Hughes who was then its Learning and...
Egyptians, Embalming and Experiences
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Case study 3: All hands on deck!
Primary History article
Editorial note: A perfect complement to Barbara's articles is Helen Horler's. ‘ARTEFACT HANDLING AT BRUNEL'S SS GREAT BRITAIN ...Touch, Look, Listen, Smell - But Please Don't Taste' in Primary History 54, 2010.
Introduction: Time Helmet
For those who yawn at the prospect of yet another "famous person", and wonder how...
Case study 3: All hands on deck!
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Creating a school museum
Primary History case study
Using an artefacts loans service Within the UK there is a wealth of museums and heritage sites across the country, offering children, young people and teachers the chance to experience a hands on approach to history and telling the story of our past. However if you are unable to visit...
Creating a school museum
