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Write Your Own Historical Fiction 2025 – The winners
The HA’s writing competition for children aged 10-15 years
Take time, a place and a character or two, and you can create some of the most exciting stories ever told – and by telling a story you unleash a desire to seek knowledge, to entertain, to inform and to enrich the lives of others. Storytelling is one of the oldest...
Write Your Own Historical Fiction 2025 – The winners
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Previous Young Quills winners
Information
Each year the Historical Association runs the Young Quills, a competition for published historical fiction for children and young adults. The Young Quills books for each year must be published for the first time in English in the year preceding the competition. Divided by age suitability, the books are given...
Previous Young Quills winners
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Young Historian Awards 2025 – the winners
4th September 2025
Spirit of Normandy Trust SeniorAvani De Santis [Guildford Grammar School, Western Australia]Kyle Luk [Loughborough Grammar School] Caspar Wright [Wells Cathedral School]
Spirit of Normandy Trust Key Stage 3 Anne Andrews [St Mary’s Menston Catholic Voluntary Academy, Leeds]Rafferty Ludlow-Maisey [Crypt Grammar School, Gloucester]Robert Moczynski [Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wakefield]
Spirit of...
Young Historian Awards 2025 – the winners
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Young Quills 2025 – the winners
The Young Quills Awards for best historical fiction for young people
Each year, the Historical Association runs the Young Quills, a competition for published historical fiction for children and young adults (14+). The Young Quills books for each year must be published for the first time in English in the year preceding the competition – so 2024 for this year’s selection....
Young Quills 2025 – the winners
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Primary Committee biographies
Information
Find out more about the HA's committees here
Helen Crawford (Committee Chair)
Helen studied history at university and has worked in primary schools for twenty years as a class teacher, history subject leader, inclusion manager and senior leader. Most of her teaching career has been in London schools, but...
Primary Committee biographies
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100 editions of Primary History
11th June 2025
We've reached 100!
We are proud to announce the publication of the 100th edition of Primary History, dedicated to supporting and inspiring primary educators in the teaching of history. Since its first issue in 1992, Primary History has become a trusted companion for teachers, curriculum leaders, and education researchers across the...
100 editions of Primary History
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On-demand webinar series: History and literacy: better together
On-demand webinar series for primary teachers and history subject leaders
History is a highly literate discipline, but what should the relationship be between primary history and the general teaching of literacy and English? The answer is that primary history should be modelling what it is like to think, speak, read, write and listen in an historical way. However, the subject...
On-demand webinar series: History and literacy: better together
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The Historical Association's response to Curriculum Review 2024
20th November 2024
New government, new curriculum review. It always happens when there is a big change in who is in charge. But just because it always happens doesn’t mean we can ignore it. Ten years ago, substantial changes were made to education, and they have affected a whole generation of children and teachers....
The Historical Association's response to Curriculum Review 2024
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Young Historian Awards 2024 – the winners
16th September 2024
Spirit of Normandy Trust Senior
Vivaan Davda – The Cathedral and John Connon School, Mumbai
Spirit of Normandy Trust Key Stage 3
Joshua Broadbent – Royal Grammar School, Guildford
Spirit of Normandy Trust Primary
Salisbury Cathedral School
Best School History Magazine [sponsored by the Mid-Trent and Mercia Branch]
St Alban’s School
Stockport...
Young Historian Awards 2024 – the winners
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On-demand webinar series: Building and securing disciplinary thinking in primary history
On-demand webinar series for primary teachers and history subject leaders
What does this series cover?
This series of webinars will consider how disciplinary knowledge is slowly introduced into the primary curriculum, built upon and strengthened.
We know that substantive knowledge in history is the substance ('the stuff') we teach: the facts which we are sure about and which all have...
On-demand webinar series: Building and securing disciplinary thinking in primary history
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On-demand webinar series: Avoiding confusion and challenging misconceptions in primary history
On-demand webinar series for primary teachers and history subject leaders
What does this series cover?
This practical series of webinars will identify what confuses pupils in primary history and how such confusion and misconceptions can be avoided and challenged. Through examples of careful planning and activities it will show how pupils can develop an accurate and nuanced understanding of chronology...
On-demand webinar series: Avoiding confusion and challenging misconceptions in primary history
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Talking History 2026
A history public speaking competition for pupils in years 5 and 6
Following the success of our Great Debate competition for secondary students and the successful launch of our sister primary public speaking competition, we are pleased to announce that applications for our third Talking History competition for pupils in years 5 and 6 are now open.
What do I have to...
Talking History 2026
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Course: Supporting SEND pupils in your primary history lessons
HA CPD course for history subject leaders in mainstream schools
Book Now
(Registration is via Cademy which opens in a new window. Please read the HA CPD terms and conditions before registering)
Available dates
Spring term: Friday 26 June 2026 (online)
What does the course cover?
Do you struggle to engage your lower attaining or EAL pupils in their history lessons? Are you finding...
Course: Supporting SEND pupils in your primary history lessons
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What makes good primary history?
Transition Training Session 5
This is the 5th in a series of 5 sessions arising from the 2005 KS2-KS3 History Transitions Project:
Transition training session 1: Historical Enquiries & Interpretations
Transition training session 2: Using ICT in the teaching of history
Transition training session 3: Extended writing in history
Transition training session 4: Joan of Arc -...
What makes good primary history?
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Joan of Arc - Saint, Witch or Warrior?
Transition Training Session 4
This is the 4th of 5 sessions arising from the 2005 KS2-KS3 History Transitions Project:
Transition training session 1: Historical Enquiries & Interpretations
Transition training session 2: Using ICT in the teaching of history
Transition training session 3: Extended writing in history
Transition training session 4: Joan of Arc - Saint,...
Joan of Arc - Saint, Witch or Warrior?
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Welcome back to a new school year
Information
Welcome back to a new school year
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Campaign: Make an impact and history
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
What is the role of history in the curriculum? Is it to give a traditional education or because history is a powerful teacher that we all can learn from? In my view well-taught history doesn't leave...
Campaign: Make an impact and history
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Guidance Pack: Building a Local Teacher Network
Information
We know that it is difficult for teachers to get to events too far from school. As a national charity, the HA recognises the importance and need to build strong regional networks for the history teaching community. Many of these are already existing or organically growing across the country at...
Guidance Pack: Building a Local Teacher Network
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Making the most of your primary membership
Information
Making the most of your HA membership
HA membership offers much more than just your subscription to Primary History. As a member you can enjoy a wholistic package of benefits and resources designed to support you, whatever challenge you may face. With the vast array of support available it can...
Making the most of your primary membership
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Assessment exemplar: children questioning artefacts
Exemplar
Questioning can be used in assessing childrens historical skills, as this example shows.The children were all in Year 4, and were withdrawn from their mixed Year 3/4 class for this lesson. They had covered several aspects of National Curriculum history, including over the past year the Egyptians and a local...
Assessment exemplar: children questioning artefacts
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Outline plan using key questions: Vikings example
A Series of Lessons (KS2)
Overall key question: Who were the Vikings?
Lesson 1
Key question: What can a case study tell us about the Vikings?
Content Building on prior knowledge - what the children knew and what they wanted to know.Digging up a burial mound on the Isle of Man, and discovering many aspects...
Outline plan using key questions: Vikings example
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Flight
Lesson Plan
Please note: this resource pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Download the attached lessons below.
Cross-curricular lessons in History, Science, and Design & Technology:
the story of Icarus and his flight to the Sun (is this possible?),
the story of the Montgolfier brothers and their...
Flight
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Story-telling and simulation exemplar: The Great Exeter Fish War of 1309
Exemplar
The lesson was taught to 44 Year 3 children in a first school in Exeter. It describes how a story was used to introduce a local history unit, and how we followed it up. To begin, we sat the children on the carpet and told them John Hooker's story about...
Story-telling and simulation exemplar: The Great Exeter Fish War of 1309
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Using sites and the environment exemplar: a visit to Petworth House, Sussex
Exemplar
A Year 5 class of 27 children were to visit the North Gallery at Petworth House in Sussex, where the 3rd Earl of Egremont kept his collection of sculptures and pictures. If the children were to learn I needed to give them a focus and a purpose.PreparationBeforehand, in the classroom,...
Using sites and the environment exemplar: a visit to Petworth House, Sussex
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Reading documents and simulation exemplar: Victorian trade directories
Exemplar
The Year 5 class was soon to visit a local museum where a Victorian parade of shops is recreated. We decided to use the 1857 trade directory for our town, Crediton in Devon, to bring its main shopping street to life before the visit. Trade directories, together with census returns...
Reading documents and simulation exemplar: Victorian trade directories
