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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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Teaching and learning about Grace O'Malley as a significant woman at Key Stage 1
Article
"Why are you so angry Grace?" Teaching and learning about Grace O'Malley as a significant woman at Key Stage 1
Grace O'Malley was an Irish queen in the Tudor period and her story provides insights about life in Ireland at the time of the Elizabethan conquests. Grace, also known as...
Teaching and learning about Grace O'Malley as a significant woman at Key Stage 1
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How do we ensure really good local history in primary schools?
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Primary History regularly contains articles from teachers who have taken some aspect of their locality and turned it into a really good activity. Hundreds of OFSTED reports as well, comment on really good practice in...
How do we ensure really good local history in primary schools?
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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
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Progression and coherence in history
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
"The focus for much of the planning and the teaching is on pockets of knowledge at basic levels. Thus, the notion that pupils can progress and do better over time in history is not well established...
Progression and coherence in history
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From Champion to Hero: Engaging Pupils in a study of significant Olympians
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Allocated the task of researching and presenting ideas for teaching about significant Olympians, I thought: ‘Brilliant, this is the easy one'. How wrong can one be! I expected to be able to access a plethora of...
From Champion to Hero: Engaging Pupils in a study of significant Olympians
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History in the early years
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Early years history should provide opportunities to expand the children's knowledge and understanding of events, people and changes in the past and develop children's investigative and interpretive skills. Children should focus on:
Questioning
Observation
Generating thoughts...
History in the early years
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Planning for history and environmental education
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
As a headteacher, I want my teachers to plan high quality learning experiences for children. By ensuring that lessons are vibrant and exciting, and that stimulate that ‘inbuilt curiosity', we make sure that children encounter...
Planning for history and environmental education
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How have schools interpreted the new EYFS Framework?
Primary History article
The new Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Framework became statutory from this September (2021). Although the seven areas of learning and development remain unchanged (including Understanding the World), the Early Learning Goals (ELGs) have changed within each of these areas. These new ELGs have been written so that they are...
How have schools interpreted the new EYFS Framework?
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Cross Curricular Project on a famous person
Primary History case study
Please note: This article pre-dates the current National Curriculum and some content and references may be outdated.
If you are considering studying someone other than Florence Nightingale you have two basic options. You can either choose a local character who would be more relevant to the children, or you could study someone who...
Cross Curricular Project on a famous person
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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
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Creating a curriculum to help children in the early years understand the world in which the live: history and children in the early years
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the current National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
In a recent article in Primary History Denis Hayes suggests that despite many lively ways of learning about the past, ‘history concepts will always be beyond both the experiential and conceptual reach of the youngest pupils’. Consequently...
Creating a curriculum to help children in the early years understand the world in which the live: history and children in the early years
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Music in the History Curriculum
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the current National Curriculum and some content and references are outdated.
In a primary school in Devon, there is a teacher who sings to his class every day: traditional songs; love songs; lyrical ballads; sea shanties; tales of mystery and suspense; songs of ritual and ceremony, hunting songs,...
Music in the History Curriculum
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Planning for 'Changes within Living Memory'
Primary History article
While changes to the Key Stage 1 subject content are not as extensive as Key Stage 2 it is necessary to be aware of the changing emphasis within the different themes. ‘Changes within Living Memory' has a couple of key issues to be aware of. First, ‘living memory' refers to...
Planning for 'Changes within Living Memory'
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The wheels (and horses…) on the bus
Primary History article
A theme in the Early Years will have many cross-curricular links, encompassing many of the different areas of learning in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Statutory Framework. The focus for this article is on historical elements of Understanding the World; however there will be some cross-over into other areas of...
The wheels (and horses…) on the bus
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Food – a theme for learning about the past
Primary History article
Food is a theme that can provide many opportunities for children to develop their understanding of the past. This is a popular theme in many Early Years settings and Reception classes. It can be planned at any time of year and can be adapted in many ways.
Food – a theme for learning about the past
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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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Exploring the past through active enquiry
Primary History article
Story and enquiry – that’s what I think of when considering history. The stories of events and people pull you into the past and stories generate a curiosity that encourages exploration. ‘Finding out’ is central to what we do in history. Our early-years classrooms must provide vibrant and challenging environments...
Exploring the past through active enquiry
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All the fun of the fair! Key Stage 1 – Beyond living memory
Primary History article
Alf Wilkinson outlines three activities looking at fairs past and present.
We all enjoy a visit to the fair, don’t we? There’s always a bit of a buzz when the fair comes to town. In my village it arrives just in time for Feast Weekend, in the summer holidays. The rides...
All the fun of the fair! Key Stage 1 – Beyond living memory
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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
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Developing chronological understanding and language in the EYFS
Primary History article
Developing secure chronological understanding is an essential aspect of effective history learning. Chronological understanding develops over time and children’s progress in this can be most effectively secured if schools plan for development in this area and provide opportunities for children to build upon their understanding throughout their time in school....
Developing chronological understanding and language in the EYFS
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Historical fiction: it’s all made up, isn’t it?
Primary History article
One of the hardest things for children to develop in history is a sense of period. What was it really like to live in a Stone Age house for example, to get up every morning knowing if you didn’t collect food or hunt something then there would be nothing to...
Historical fiction: it’s all made up, isn’t it?
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Castles: distinguishing fact and fiction in the early years curriculum
Primary History article
Castles is a popular topic which fits well into the expectations for Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and the Key Stage 1 National Curriculum. This article focuses on suggestions for the EYFS but there are links in the resources section for Key Stage 1 articles previously published. If you are...
Castles: distinguishing fact and fiction in the early years curriculum
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Using stories to support history in the EYFS
Primary History article
Stories can be used as starting points for planning topics. Activities suggested below relate to ‘Understanding the world’ including Early Learning Goal 13 – People and communities:
Children talk about past and present events in their own lives and in the lives of family members.
They know about similarities and...
Using stories to support history in the EYFS
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Pupil voice: Democratising history lessons in Key Stage 1
Primary History article
Why is pupil voice important? Children are at the centre of everything we do and safeguarding their well-being and ensuring their progress across the curriculum is a key emphasis for schools. Recognising the importance of pupil voice in this is key.
Robin Alexander’s Towards Dialogic Teaching: Rethinking Classroom Talk (2017)...
Pupil voice: Democratising history lessons in Key Stage 1
