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From Kings To Queens to Sources and Evidence
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Until the mid 1930s the vast majority of children attended elementary schools, which went through from five to fourteen. In theory pre-war schools were left relatively free to teach in the way they chose as there...
From Kings To Queens to Sources and Evidence
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Ankhu and Nebu of Deir el Medina
Primary History article
Perhaps the hardest skill to develop in history is a sense of period. What was it really like to live in Ancient Egypt? Who should we study? Or, in this case, which workers were typical? Were these craftsmen in Deir el Medina typical of all the workers in Egypt? Or...
Ankhu and Nebu of Deir el Medina
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Census of Ireland, Dublin 1911 - National Archives of Ireland
Article
The household returns and ancillary records for the censuses of Ireland of 1901 and 1911, which are in the custody of the National Archives of Ireland, represent an extremely valuable part of the Irish national heritage. Click here to go to the site:
National Archives of Ireland
Census of Ireland, Dublin 1911 - National Archives of Ireland
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Elizabethan times: Just banquets and fun?
Primary History article
Although much of the Key Stage 2 history curriculum relates to the period before 1066, we are expected to include 'a study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils’ chronological knowledge beyond 1066' (DfE, 2013,p.5)
This raises two questions:a) How can a post-1066 topic be related...
Elizabethan times: Just banquets and fun?
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What confuses primary pupils in history? Part 2
Primary History article
Part 1 of this article looked at some of the main areas of confusion that often characterise primary pupils’ historical thinking. Part 2 continues this theme by looking at three more key areas of misunderstanding and possible strategies to help improve their understanding:
Confusion 4: Not really grasping how sources can be...
What confuses primary pupils in history? Part 2
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Women’s History Month: Female Voices
Primary resources
March is Women’s History Month each year. We have produced resources to support primary school assemblies exploring the history of female suffrage in the UK. If you would like some ideas for a special assembly during Women’s history month, download our assembly ideas and powerpoint presentation to support your school assembly....
Women’s History Month: Female Voices
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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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Celebrate your sporting heritage
Article
National Sporting Heritage Day takes place on 30 September every year. It aims to support schools and other community organisations to engage withtheir local sporting heritage, explore the heritage on their doorstep, celebrate and share the information that they find and inspire children and young people to find out more....
Celebrate your sporting heritage
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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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Britain's settlement by Anglo-Saxons and Scots
Primary History Article
Anglo-Saxons have been a part of the primary national curriculum from the onset so they may not be as unfamiliar to teachers as some themes. Many teachers also report that pupils enjoy studying them so there is clearly much in their favour.
That does not mean, however, that all is...
Britain's settlement by Anglo-Saxons and Scots
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Teaching Ancient Egypt
Article
Editorial note: This paper has two sections: first, a background briefing about Ancient Egypt with a timeline and map that introduces the second section's three teaching activities on: building the Great Pyramid of Giza; Hatshepsut, Egypt's great woman pharaoh; and Akhenaten and his attempt to revolutionise Egyptian religion.
‘Hail to thee, O...
Teaching Ancient Egypt
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Chronology: Developing a coherent knowledge
Article
Chronology: Developing a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain's past and of the wider world
First, this article considers the reasons why it is essential for children to develop a chronological framework. Next it considers ways in which this framework is necessary for the development of the time concepts set...
Chronology: Developing a coherent knowledge
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Stone Age to Iron Age - overview and depth
Primary History article
Stone Age to Iron Age covers around 10,000 years, between the last Ice Age and the coming of the Romans. Such a long period is difficult for children to imagine, but putting the children into a living time-line across the classroom might help. In one sense not a lot happens...
Stone Age to Iron Age - overview and depth
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Working with Historical Picture Books
Primary History article
For the majority of children a picture book is the first book that they enjoy and share with an adult. Picture books introduce children to different genres of writing, different themes and different artistic styles. As young children 'read' and explore picture books they take meaning from the text and...
Working with Historical Picture Books
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V&A Schools SEN Programme
Article
The V&A Learning Department aims to make the Museum's collections accessible to all through an engaging and diverse range of events, courses, workshops, trails and resources. The Schools programme supports Primary and Secondary students and teachers and includes sessions for students with special educational needs. The SEN sessions have a...
V&A Schools SEN Programme
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Teaching history as a national grand narrative
Article
There is no reason why highly sophisticated, intellectually challenging, creative and enjoyable ways to teach history to young children should not continue when a National Curriculum for History is based upon a country's Grand Narrative, know that knowledge, that can require knowledge of ‘facts' such as key dates, the names...
Teaching history as a national grand narrative
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Case Study: Creative exploration of local, national and global links 1650
Primary History article
Introduction: Linking two schools
Rather than looking to create connections with schools in distant places, two teachers from two schools located in different parts of the city of Bristol established a successful link which enabled children to appreciate the personal and local histories on each other's doorsteps. 7/8 year old [year...
Case Study: Creative exploration of local, national and global links 1650
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Helping pupils to view historical film critically
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum.
Introduction: The teaching potential of film
Films about historical events seem like the nearest thing we can give our pupils to a time machine. In commercial film, the physical appearance of the past has often been carefully researched, thus a snippet from...
Helping pupils to view historical film critically
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Museums: Entries to Learning
Primary History article
Editorial comment: Mick Waters raises the crucial point of awe and wonder - the visceral, affective impact ‘the real thing' can have on pupils and adults. One rider is the need to give the onlooker a clear, full explanation of the objects so they can come to life in their...
Museums: Entries to Learning
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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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In My View: Writing History
Article
First Steps
Writing history comes not at the beginning, but at the end of a process of selection and research. The first step is to choose a subject and develop some questions about it. Then comes the research into secondary and, much more excitingly, primary sources. Finally,the writing takes shape....
In My View: Writing History
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Enriching young children's understanding of time
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
As a primary teacher in the United States, I was sometimes caught off guard by students' ideas about time. Some 10-year-olds, I noticed, still could not read a clock or calculate the time between recess and...
Enriching young children's understanding of time
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Using inventories in Key Stage 2 history
Primary History article
Continuing the focus on using historical sources, this article by Clare Lally introduces us to the use of historical inventories. Using examples from the Tudor period, Clare considers how inventories can be used to explore diversity of experience between rich and poor.
At every stage of historical enquiry, from primary...
Using inventories in Key Stage 2 history
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Using picture books to explore ideas around history with very young children
Primary History article
This article looks at the relevance of picture books in the Early Years Foundation Stage as a resource for introducing children to the idea of the past. Firstly examining its relevance to the Framework, Karin identifies some appropriate resources and how they can be used. In particular, she links them...
Using picture books to explore ideas around history with very young children
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What is so important about interpretations?
Primary History article
Tim Lomas explores one of the key disciplinary concepts that form part of school history – that of interpretations and representations. This has been a staple of the National Curriculum since its inception. While many schools have a successful approach to it, others struggle. In this article Tim Lomas discusses its...
What is so important about interpretations?
