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The Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR)
Primary History article
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In a celebration of the 200-year anniversary of the Stockton...
The Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR)
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Film: Living with Violence at the End of the British Empire
Age of Emergency
In the 1950s, Britain fought a series of brutal wars against insurgents in the colonies of Malaya, Kenya, and Cyprus. How did people at home experience these wars? How did they learn about the use of torture and other unsettling tactics? And how did they respond to this knowledge?
In...
Film: Living with Violence at the End of the British Empire
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Virtual Branch Recording: Women and the Reformations
Article
The Reformations, both Protestant and Catholic, have long been told as stories of men. But women were central to the transformations that took place in Europe and beyond. What was life like for them in this turbulent period? How did their actions and ideas shape Christianity and influence societies around the world? ...
Virtual Branch Recording: Women and the Reformations
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Virtual Branch recording: The survival strategies of the Near Eastern powers facing Mongol invasion.
Virtual Branch Film
The Mongol invasions into the Near East had a devastating effect upon many societies, sultanates, empires and kingdoms. For decades, wave after wave of armies swept across the area, defeating every army sent against them and utterly reshaping the area’s complex political ecosystem. Some powers fell in battle; some submitted...
Virtual Branch recording: The survival strategies of the Near Eastern powers facing Mongol invasion.
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Making the most of a visit to the Museum of London Docklands
Primary History article
In this article Susie Townsend explores one of her favourite museums, the Museum of London Docklands, and explains why it has a real value and interest far beyond the locality. As well as covering the benefits of a visit, she also provides ideas for teaching activities across the primary age range....
Making the most of a visit to the Museum of London Docklands
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What do children think about the the royal family and the coronation of King Charles III?
Pupil voice vox pops films
Recently, Princess Anne, the Princess Royal, was interviewed for American television about the future of the monarchy and thoughts about a slimmed down royal family in line with how some European royal families operate. At a recent event in partnership with City, University of London and Southampton University about the...
What do children think about the the royal family and the coronation of King Charles III?
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Teaching about the German Occupation of Jersey through the Occupation Tapestry
Primary History article
The German Occupation and subsequent liberation of Jersey is particularly significant for schools in Jersey and is included in a new history curriculum being trialled for Key Stage 1 and 2 to be implemented in 2023. For children in Jersey, it relates to a significant event at Key Stage 1...
Teaching about the German Occupation of Jersey through the Occupation Tapestry
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Building history connections with the local community
Primary History article
St George’s is a Quality Mark school. Part of what impressed the assessors was the way that the school was able to extend its 150th anniversary to include the wider community of Mossley. Many schools have links with their local community but this article shows that sometimes this can be more...
Building history connections with the local community
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Oral history - a source of evidence for the primary classroom
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
To help children develop a more rounded awareness of historical understanding, they should have the opportunity to examine different types of evidence. The National Curriculum states that, "children should recognise that the past is represented and interpreted...
Oral history - a source of evidence for the primary classroom
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One of my favourite history places: Glastonbury
Primary History feature
Glastonbury, whether as a fleeting glimpse across the Somerset Levels from the M5, or up close and personal, walking within the town, holds a power that goes some way towards explaining why it has been of interest to so many people across its history. There are certain places that seem...
One of my favourite history places: Glastonbury
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Film: Bricks and the making of the city - London in the 19th century
Virtual Branch
In this HA Virtual Branch talk Peter Hounsell drew on his recently published book Bricks of Victorian London, exploring the crucial role brick production played in the creation of Britain's capital and why the important place of bricks in the fabric of the city isn't always obvious.
Peter Hounsell has published...
Film: Bricks and the making of the city - London in the 19th century
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Making use of outstanding resources in museums
Primary History article
‘An embarrassment of riches' is not an inappropriate description of the new ancient Egyptian galleries in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. The Ashmolean has always been famous for its Egyptian collection, being the product of the work of Oxford academics for over a 100 years, but the problem in the...
Making use of outstanding resources in museums
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Time travel to the Early Modern period...
Primary History article
This article describes how children in a German primary school explored some documents from the early modern period (seventeenth and eighteenth centuries) relating to the capture of merchant vessels. It makes use of a digital resource ‘The Prize Papers’ linked to the National Archives and found here: www.prizepapers.de The article also explains how...
Time travel to the Early Modern period...
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Out and About First World War memorials in the heart of London
Historian feature
The First World War had an enormous impact on society and on our landscape, perhaps not through war damage as was the case during the Second World War but through the erection of memorials. It doesn't matter where I am in the UK and often when abroad I will find...
Out and About First World War memorials in the heart of London
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Exploring sustainability in the Early Years
Primary History article
Lucy Hawker has thought about how we might begin to explore the idea of sustainability with very young children. She suggests focussing on why we might save or reuse materials and objects. She presents a loose structure that could be used to develop talk. She also considers how we might...
Exploring sustainability in the Early Years
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The Great Exhibition of 1851: teaching a significant event at Key Stage 1
Primary History article
The Great Exhibition allows pupils to consider the impact of a particular event. The exhibition provides a means to look at Britain’s wider role in the world and social and technical developments such as the impact of the railways. Pupils can explore a variety of sources, consider the substantive concepts...
The Great Exhibition of 1851: teaching a significant event at Key Stage 1
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Trade – lifeblood of the empire: how trade affected life in Roman Britain
Primary History article
The Ofsted Research Review: History highlights the importance of developing children’s understanding of key substantive concepts, ideas that are woven through historical content such as settlement, invasion, power. Children’s understanding grows more complex as they encounter these ideas in different contexts, enabling children to grow increasingly sophisticated schemas that support future...
Trade – lifeblood of the empire: how trade affected life in Roman Britain
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Using photographic evidence to explore the impact of the Berlin Wall
Primary History article
I remember being struck by the quote from Primo Levi when leaving Anne Frank’s house in Amsterdam. He stated that ‘One single Anne Frank moves us more than the countless others who suffered just as she did but whose faces have remained in the shadows’. While not trying to make...
Using photographic evidence to explore the impact of the Berlin Wall
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Film: Why does the massacre of the Armenians in the First World War still get overlooked?
Virtual Branch
Why is the term 'Armenian Genocide' controversial, with many countries still not acknowledging a genocide at all? What do we know about the event of 1915 and the plight of the Armenian community in Turkey? How can we grapple with a history that many people want to forget? In this...
Film: Why does the massacre of the Armenians in the First World War still get overlooked?
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Diversity, ethnicity and the Victorians
Primary History article
Editorial note: Alison raises crucial issues about pupils developing a sense of identity in a multi-racial environment through the medium of history. History provides a sense of belonging to all pupils if we acknowledge the rich origins of modern society's multiethnic routes - by origin, we are all immigrants. The...
Diversity, ethnicity and the Victorians
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One of my favourite history places: Bournville
Article
One of my favourite places is Bournville Village in the south of Birmingham – every time I go there it feels as if I am entering a different world, away from the noise and bustle of the city. Less than five minutes' walk away from the tourist attraction of Cadbury World is the village...
One of my favourite history places: Bournville
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How can we make effective use of the census in the primary history classroom?
Primary History article
If there is a list of sources that teachers are likely to be familiar with, it is almost certain that the census will be included. In part this is because this is something that we all participate directly in anyway so it has a personal resonance. It can hold a...
How can we make effective use of the census in the primary history classroom?
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Quality Mark: The Five Phases
Quality Mark Phases
There are four phases you need to go through to be accredited with the Historical Association Quality Mark. Find out more via the links below:
Quality Mark: The Five Phases
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Music in the history curriculum
Primary History article
Music is a dimension of teaching history that is under used. Rosie explores key ideas about its value for teaching history. The first Aim of the proposed 2014 National Curriculum highlights the role of history: perform, listen to, review and evaluate music across a range of historical periods, genres, styles...
Music in the history curriculum
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One of my favourite history places: Saltaire
Primary History article
Saltaire is my favourite place and one I never tire of visiting as each time a new discovery may be made. As you walk down the uneven cobbles of the narrow streets, even with the trappings of the twenty-first century (especially cars) in evidence, you cannot help but feel that...
One of my favourite history places: Saltaire
