-
Beyond the classroom walls: museums and primary history
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum.
Apart from the difficulty of getting hold of a hard copy of the new National Curriculum framework, museum educators have little to worry about in the results of the curriculum review. The framework reveals few changes that will affect what museums have...
Beyond the classroom walls: museums and primary history
-
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?
-
Looking at buildings as a source for developing historical enquiries
Primary History article
Please note: this article was written before the the 2014 National Curriculum. The section on using computers in particular is now outdated.
Buildings offer a fascinating insight into history. We live, work and shop in buildings of various descriptions. Some of these buildings are very new, others are very old. Frequently...
Looking at buildings as a source for developing historical enquiries
-
A creative Egyptian project
Primary History article
Ideally when teaching history, teachers will look to deliver projects that will engage and motivate, hopefully making the hard work of being creative stimulating and rewarding, based upon questioning, enquiry, investigation of sources and reaching conclusions grounded in the evidence.Ancient Egypt is one of those history topics which, because it...
A creative Egyptian project
-
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!
-
The importance of history vocabulary
Primary History article
Teachers and schools should surely be forgiven for quickly turning to the pages containing the ‘subject content' - within the new 2014 history curriculum - and finding out ‘what' they should be teaching. This is especially true for Key Stage 2 where children must now learn British history from the...
The importance of history vocabulary
-
Local People and Places in the Early Years
Article
Learning in the Early Years through Local People and Places: developing historical concepts in the Early Years Foundation Stage
Using the local environment as a starting point for historical learning in EYFS not only helps young children engage and make learning meaningful and relevant, but also helps them develop a strong sense of identity. Working...
Local People and Places in the Early Years
-
Implementing the 2014 curriculum in Year 2
Primary History article
The chance to pilot the new National Curriculum presented me with the opportunity I was looking for to revamp a tired Year 2 curriculum. I began teaching in Year 2 two years ago, having previously spent five years working in Key Stage 2. As in many other schools across the...
Implementing the 2014 curriculum in Year 2
-
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
-
Towards inclusion: A study of significant figures and disability within the national curriculum
Primary History article
Since the early days of the National Curriculum, considerable progress has been made to introduce children to an inclusive view of history. The research of the late Hilary Claire (1996) served as a major impetus and now primary teachers strive to ensure that no groups or individuals are marginalised, particularly...
Towards inclusion: A study of significant figures and disability within the national curriculum
-
Thematic or topic based whole school curriculum planning
Primary History article
Creative curricular planning With the National Curriculum under review, it seems that more schools are taking a creative approach to planning by delivering the curriculum through a focused theme or topic. This has allowed schools to take more ownership of the curriculum and has helped teachers become more innovative in their...
Thematic or topic based whole school curriculum planning
-
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
-
A view from the KS1 classroom
Article
Introduction
"So what did you do at school, today?"
As a child, I remember being asked this question often by my good humoured, paternal grandfather, when he met me at the end of the day. On returning from the trenches in 1919, he had trained to become a teacher and...
A view from the KS1 classroom
-
Archaeology and the Early Years: The Noah's Ark Experience
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the current National Curriculum and some content and links may be outdated.
The authors of this article first worked together on a number of small scale excavations while Bev was still a primary school teacher in the Bradford area. When Bev changed roles to train...
Archaeology and the Early Years: The Noah's Ark Experience
-
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
-
What are the reasons for linking art and history?
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content and links may be outdated.
Visual images, paintings, sculpture, photographs, cartoons from past times are important historical sources. Accordingly, Simon Schama embeds visual images and imagery in his historical oeuvre, not primarily as illustration but as a crucial...
What are the reasons for linking art and history?
-
Thinking about questions to ask a sailor who knew Christopher Columbus
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the current National Curriculum and some content and links may be outdated.
The drama was an element in teaching a topic on Columbus with a class of 6-7 year old pupils. The Scheme of Work's title was WATER which lasted six weeks. The history element lasted...
Thinking about questions to ask a sailor who knew Christopher Columbus
-
Scheme of work: Significant historical events, people and places in their own locality
Primary history scheme of work, Key Stage 1 (unresourced)
Children can be introduced to the idea that schools have been in the locality for some time but they have not always been the same. They can look at similarities and differences, as well as be introduced to some of the events that affected the schools. The theme allows children...
Scheme of work: Significant historical events, people and places in their own locality
-
What’s in a road? Local history at Early Years and Key Stage 1
Primary History article
One of the many amazing things about History is that it can be found in everything; even the smallest or most mundane objects can provide an insight into how life has changed or provide a greater understanding of a different period in time.
Late October last year as the light...
What’s in a road? Local history at Early Years and Key Stage 1
-
How a history club can work for you and your pupils
Primary History article
Bev Forrest writes: As part of my role as a Historical Association Quality Mark assessor I am privileged to visit schools across the country. In the autumn of 2019, I ventured out into Essex to carry out an assessment at Dilkes Academy. I was delighted to recommend gold status for...
How a history club can work for you and your pupils
-
Emerging historians in the outdoors
Primary History article
I love history and I love the outdoors. I often find myself wondering who has walked down the same worn cobbled path, or climbed the same rickety stile. I am intrigued about a toy car I found in the garden, and speculate about who it might have belonged to. I...
Emerging historians in the outdoors
-
Significant Individuals: Charles Darwin
Primary History article
Charles Darwin: exploring the man behind the beard – studying the lives of significant individuals in the past
Studying the life of Charles Darwin is an exciting way to meet the requirement in Key Stage 1 to teach significant individuals. But what do we actually know about him, beyond the...
Significant Individuals: Charles Darwin
-
Learning about the past through ‘ourselves and our families’
Primary History Article
‘Ourselves and our families’ is a popular theme in foundation settings and Reception classes. It is often undertaken at the beginning of the academic year, although it can be taught later when teachers have a better understanding of children’s home circumstances. This theme can provide many opportunities for children to...
Learning about the past through ‘ourselves and our families’
-
Using the back cover image: Mummified cat
Primary History feature
For hundreds of years, travellers to Egypt have marvelled at the amazing monuments evident throughout the country. The treasures of Ancient Egypt became more fascinating after the discovery of the Rosetta stone in 1799, which led to the deciphering of the hieroglyphic language. Many Victorian explorers returned to their European...
Using the back cover image: Mummified cat
-
Primary history and British values
Article
In this article, Michael Maddison provides an overview of what schools must do in relation to promoting British values, as well as preventing extremism and radicalisation, and why it is so important that opportunities are taken in history to deal with these two pressing issues. It is an updated version...
Primary history and British values
