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An integrated literacy and history unit of work
Primary History article
The passing of Harry Patch - the last World War I veteran - in the summer of 2009 is a fitting starting point for children in Key Stage 2 (7-11 year-olds) to begin to tackle some of the issues of the First World War. Many classes already study the Second...
An integrated literacy and history unit of work
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Dig it: Literacy, ICT, Archaeology and History
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Editorial comment: Pupil reading of written and printed texts is a central element in their ‘Doing History'. As such, it is one of numerous integrated pedagogic activities that combine to make up a lesson, a series...
Dig it: Literacy, ICT, Archaeology and History
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Bringing an information text to life: Pets in the Blitz
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Editorial comment: The in-service course had focused on how to read information texts in a stimulating, engaging and intellectually rewarding way, and how to take Bruner's concept of transforming information from one mode to another...
Bringing an information text to life: Pets in the Blitz
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Reading Sources Using Textbreaker
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Pages 8-9 detail how functional literacy's concept of genre resulted in the creation of Textbreaker to empower pupils to ‘read' all historical sources, but especially those previously thought too hard for them to tackle. Below is...
Reading Sources Using Textbreaker
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Planning a post-1066 thematic study
HA Primary Subject Leader Area
The requirement in National Curriculum rubric at Key Stage 2 for a study or theme in British history that extends pupils’ chronological knowledge beyond 1066 can appear intimidatingly broad at first sight, but Andrew Wrenn is here to help! Drawing on non-statutory examples provided in the National Curriculum – such as...
Planning a post-1066 thematic study
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Visual Literacy: Learning through pictures and images
Primary History Article
Please note: this article pre-dates the current National Curriculum and some content and references are outdated.
What questions does the portrait raise in your mind?
What messages does the artist intend to convey?
How does the artist convey those messages to the intended audience? What might have been the circumstances under which the...
Visual Literacy: Learning through pictures and images
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Pride in place: What does historical geographical and social understanding look like?
Primary History case study
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
‘Some primary schools are like the High Street in many of our towns. I can predict what I will see before I go through the door. What I want to see is something that gives me...
Pride in place: What does historical geographical and social understanding look like?
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Teaching about the Russian invasion of Ukraine and events happening there
Article
The events of the last few days appear to have come out of nowhere to many people, especially children. While tensions have existed in the region for some time Russia’s decision to attack Ukraine was without provocation.
To have war return in such a way to the edges of Europe...
Teaching about the Russian invasion of Ukraine and events happening there
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Primary History summer resource 2021: Using historical sources
Primary member resource
This year's free summer resource for primary members looks at using historical sources with primary pupils. Introducing children to sources is an important part of understanding the disciplinary nature of history. One of the key ideas we need to get pupils to understand is that history is based on sources, which...
Primary History summer resource 2021: Using historical sources
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Teaching Gypsy, Roma and Traveller history
Article
Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people are the largest minority ethnic group in some communities (and therefore in some schools) in the UK. Yet the past of Gypsy, Roma, Traveller people may rarely be part of history lessons. The result is that pupils of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller heritage may not...
Teaching Gypsy, Roma and Traveller history
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Film: What's the wisdom on... Historical Significance (Primary)
Article
Please note: the 'What's the Wisdom On' film series has been produced principally for secondary school history teachers, however some of the content is transferrable to a primary setting. Secondary members can view this film here
'What’s the wisdom on…' is a popular feature in our secondary journal Teaching History and provides the perfect stimulus for...
Film: What's the wisdom on... Historical Significance (Primary)
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Film: What's the wisdom on... Similarity and Difference (Primary)
Article
Please note: the 'What's the Wisdom On' film series has been produced principally for secondary school history teachers, however some of the content is transferrable to a primary setting. Secondary members can view the film here
'What’s the wisdom on…' is a popular feature in our secondary journal Teaching History and provides the perfect stimulus for a department meeting....
Film: What's the wisdom on... Similarity and Difference (Primary)
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Storytelling the past
Primary History article
This article will demonstrate how to engage children through storytelling and how it can be used to develop their critical understanding of the past.
Why story?
Despite their common derivation, the words ‘history’ and ‘story’ suggest very different kinds of knowledge, the former carrying overtones of detached understanding of the...
Storytelling the past
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Film: What's the wisdom on... Change and continuity (Primary)
Article
Please note: the 'What's the Wisdom On' film series has been produced principally for secondary school history teachers, however some of the content is transferrable to a primary setting. Secondary members can view the film here
We know how difficult life is for teachers in the current circumstances. We also understand your need...
Film: What's the wisdom on... Change and continuity (Primary)
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Primary History summer resource 2020: Historical Fiction
Article
This year's free summer resource for primary members explores historical fiction and how we can use it in our teaching and learning.
Historical fiction can be a potent tool for creating a ‘sense of period’, immersing us in the past through the power of narrative. When studying a particular historical period,...
Primary History summer resource 2020: Historical Fiction
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Film: What's the wisdom on... Evidence and sources (Primary)
Article
Please note: the 'What's the Wisdom On' film series has been produced principally for secondary school history teachers, however some of the content is transferrable to a primary setting. Secondary members can view the film here
We know how difficult life is for teachers in the current circumstances. We also understand your need...
Film: What's the wisdom on... Evidence and sources (Primary)
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Film: What's the wisdom on... Causation
Your Virtual History Department Meeting
We’ve been talking to our secondary school members and we know how difficult life is for teachers in the current circumstances, so we wanted to lend a helping hand.
'What’s the wisdom on…' is a brand-new and already popular feature in our secondary journal Teaching History and provides the perfect...
Film: What's the wisdom on... Causation
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Primary History Summer Resource 2019: Diversity
Primary History resource
This free summer resource for primary members is designed to help primary subject leaders and teachers consider the implications of developing a school policy for teaching of diversity in history. This comprehensive guide provides timely advice and considers questions associated with teaching diversity and provides a rationale for its essential role in providing an understanding...
Primary History Summer Resource 2019: Diversity
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Ofsted: primary guidance 2019
A guide to what primary schools might expect from the new Education Inspection Framework (EIF) 2019
As we approach the introduction of the new Ofsted framework, it seems timely that we offer schools, subject leaders and teachers some guidance on how to approach the coming changes. The call for a broad and balanced curriculum is given renewed emphasis in the new framework, but beyond that, curricula...
Ofsted: primary guidance 2019
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Here comes the ‘60s
Primary History article
The 1960s were a decade of great change in Britain. The previous decade had seen America begin its gradual global cultural domination while Britain had to revise its role from imperial state to a member of the new Commonwealth of Nations. Recovery from the war had not been easy and...
Here comes the ‘60s
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It's like they've gone up a year!' Gauging the impact of a history transition unit on teachers of primary and secondary
Teaching History article
Year 7 history teachers frequently bemoan the lack of historical learning in the primary sector. Pupils may be well versed in suffixes and similes, but their study of history can be limited. This group of history teachers decided that things could be different. Not only did they bring enquiry methods...
It's like they've gone up a year!' Gauging the impact of a history transition unit on teachers of primary and secondary
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Teaching with Meaning: Supporting Historical Understanding in the Primary Classroom
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
In essence, history is a record of human affairs. The problem in making this record is that events are past and gone and have to be reconstructed. Evidence may be uncertain and incomplete. Inevitably, several...
Teaching with Meaning: Supporting Historical Understanding in the Primary Classroom
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Using shoes as an historical source
Primary History article
There is something fascinating about what people wore in the past. From corsets to clogs, the evolution of clothing and footwear can give an insight into different periods of history, an excellent way of engaging with the past. Shoes, in some form or another, have been around from the earliest...
Using shoes as an historical source
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Podcast Series: Confronting Controversial History
Podcast Series
Controversial History formed the focus of the Historical Association’s report, Teaching Emotive and Controversial History 3-19 (TEACH). Published in 2007, it offered teachers invaluable guidance for teaching historical topics that can stir emotion and controversy. However, the authors noted how the nature of the sensitivity can be affected by ‘time, geography and...
Podcast Series: Confronting Controversial History
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Exploring the use of historical fiction to support historical learning
Article
How many of us became interested in history through reading a good historical story? When starting this article we came up with a seemingly endless list of historically based stories and films which have inspired us. Clearly, we are surrounded by references to the past in popular culture and our...
Exploring the use of historical fiction to support historical learning
