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Dora Thewlis: Mill girl activist
Primary History article
Dora Thewlis was born in 1890 in Yorkshire to a family of textile workers employed in the mills around the Huddersfield Canal. She followed her mother and elder siblings into the mill at the age of 10, earning around £1 a week.
Dora’s family, and especially her mother, were very...
Dora Thewlis: Mill girl activist
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Towards a new primary curriculum: The Cambridge Primary Review 2009
Primary History article
Towards a new primary curriculum: Cambridge Primary Review Part 1, Past and Present, Part 2, The Future - An editorial response to the Cambridge Primary Review.
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Introduction
The Cambridge Primary Review, director Robin Alexander, is the...
Towards a new primary curriculum: The Cambridge Primary Review 2009
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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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Mid-Ulster Your Place and Mine (Bursary Project)
Local Study
Keith Wysner, Principal of Knockloughrim Primary School, Magherafelt, Northern Ireland was awarded a £900 grant from the Historical Association's Joan Lewin fund for his Bursary Project entitled Mid Ulster Your Place & Mine. The project focused on 10 & 11 year olds in the rural Protestant communities of Knockloughrim & Maghera...
Mid-Ulster Your Place and Mine (Bursary Project)
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Citizenship in Ancient Greece: case study
Case Study
This was a ten-week Ancient Greece unit, taught to a Year 6 mixed ability class of 34 children. There was a strong citizenship strand running through the whole programme, particularly the strands of political literacy and critical enquiry (see below). Citizenship values and concepts, with teaching/learning activities in italicsAppreciation of...
Citizenship in Ancient Greece: case study
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Sources for the Great Fire of London and its context
Primary History feature
Nina Sprigge reveals two interesting sources that can supplement teaching the Fire of London.
Fire of London: fundraising for refugees
The receipt on the back cover provides evidence of national fundraising in 1666. It is touching that people from Cowfold, a little village outside London, cared enough to want to...
Sources for the Great Fire of London and its context
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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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The revised EYFS Framework: exploring ‘Past and Present’
Primary History article
A new Early Years Foundation Stage framework will become statutory from September 2021. Around three thousand primary schools in England are already implementing this revised framework – these settings have been deemed early adopter schools.
The actual curriculum for EYFS is not changing. There will still be seven areas of learning...
The revised EYFS Framework: exploring ‘Past and Present’
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In the Footsteps of our Ancestors: Beamish - a unique educational experience
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the current National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
What kind of experience will be remembered by the children in your class in 20 or 30 years’ time? A trip to Beamish, The North of England Open Air Museum, would be a likely candidate....
In the Footsteps of our Ancestors: Beamish - a unique educational experience
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Using museums and artefacts
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the current National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Over several years of reporting on primary history, the use of museums and artefacts has been identified in Ofsted reports as an issue for schools to address. Although there is now far greater expertise in...
Using museums and artefacts
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Some teaching and learning strategies
Article
The history of the community is an important aspect of history in both key stages but is rarely something that can just be taken off the shelf. Wherever possible, local history should be used to link different periods of history. The specific Key Stage 2 unit should be an investigation...
Some teaching and learning strategies
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Language and communication in the ancient world
Primary History article
At the beginning of the year, I really enjoyed accompanying a school trip to see the excellent Tutankhamun exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery in London. One of the many treasures that was on display was a gilded wooden and ivory case which the young Egyptian king would have used to...
Language and communication in the ancient world
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The back cover image: Malachite Urn
Primary History feature
This large green urn was given as a gift to Queen Victoria in 1839 by Emperor Nicholas I, to thank her for the way in which his son Alexander had been welcomed in England the previous year. It was placed in the Grand Reception Room of Windsor Castle, and has...
The back cover image: Malachite Urn
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The Jill Grey collection and Hitchin British schools
Article
Jill Grey lived in Hitchin and over a period of 25 years, collected over 35,000 items. A11 of the material relates to the history of education and social history of childhood. I am still in the process of cataloguing the collection and it is a truly wonderful resource.
The Jill Grey collection and Hitchin British schools
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Having fun through time
Article
This article is about planning and teaching about ‘having fun across time’ for use in the later years of Key Stage 2 – investigating questions such as ‘Were people having fun in the same ways in the Middle Ages as in the Roman or Victorian periods?’ ‘What did our parents...
Having fun through time
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Recorded Webinar: Mass-Observing Modern Britain
Article
Mass-Observation is probably the most consistently useful source for the study of mid and late 20th social lives Britain. It was established in 1937 with the aim of investigating ordinary life and developing an 'anthropology of ourselves.' It used a range of different methods to collect information, from recording overheard...
Recorded Webinar: Mass-Observing Modern Britain
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Epistemic insights: bringing subject disciplines together
Primary History article
"Teaching epistemic insight goes hand in hand with teaching a broad and balanced curriculum. It includes building students’ understanding of the ways that different types of disciplinary knowledge can help us to address questions that bridge subjects and disciplines." (Teaching and Learning about Epistemic Insight brochure, https://crc.up.pt/wp-content/uploads/sites/101/2017/09/epistemic-insight-brochure.pdf)
The Epistemic Insight Project...
Epistemic insights: bringing subject disciplines together
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Similarity and difference with a tasty twist
Primary History article
Polly Gillow uses ice cream, something children will readily relate to, as a means of exploring similarities between past and present, drawing on a range of sources and contexts together with practical activities including their sense of taste...
Similarity and difference with a tasty twist
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Olympics, past and present
Primary History article
This article will consider how to use the Olympics as a ‘past event’. It will provide material that will allow children to compare and contrast Olympic Games that have been hosted in Paris. They will be encouraged to look at what has changed in relation to the sports, medals and...
Olympics, past and present
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Were all Romans in Roman Britain from Rome, Miss?
Primary History article
What comes into your mind when you imagine the Romans in Britain? Is it a soldier? Where did they come from? Your first thoughts – from looking at textbooks and re-enactments – might be that they came from Italy. Alf Wilkinson challenges this image and shows that they included men...
Were all Romans in Roman Britain from Rome, Miss?
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Unlocking the treasures of early Islam
Primary History article
Lucy Hawker demonstrates her school’s approach to teaching early Islam though focusing on its significance and demonstrating how lessons are effectively sequenced to develop subject knowledge and understanding. The article also indicates rich opportunities that this topic provides for links with other subjects...
Unlocking the treasures of early Islam
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Turning technology: making life better in Iron Age Britain
Primary History article
See also:
Stone Age to Iron Age - overview and depth
Stone Age to Iron Age - scheme of work
Our Iron Age challenge
Iron Age Farm - film
So who were the people living in Britain in the Iron Age?
The Iron Age describes the period in Britain when...
Turning technology: making life better in Iron Age Britain
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‘Miss, did the Romans build pyramids?’
Primary History article
Miss, did the Romans build pyramids? No Johnny, I think you are confusing the Romans with the Egyptians. Actually, Miss, the Romans did build pyramids – well, at least one – and you can still see it in Rome today!
The pyramid, which is 37 metres [or 125 Roman feet]...
‘Miss, did the Romans build pyramids?’
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The Phoney War: teaching WWII
Primary History article
The term ‘phoney war’ refers to the period at the beginning of WWII between September 1939 and April 1940 when there was little fighting. It was brought to an abrupt end by the German invasion of Norway in April 1940. The term is thought to have been coined by an...
The Phoney War: teaching WWII
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Dig for sustainability!
Primary History article
Paul Spear uses World War II government advertising strategies such as ‘Make do and Mend’ to consider how to promote modern campaigns related to sustainability. He investigates what the wartime government did to engage with the population as a whole and generate national action. By analysing how images were used...
Dig for sustainability!
