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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Please note: This article pre-dates the current National Curriculum and some content and references may be outdated.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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Teaching about the translatlantic slave trade and emancipation
Primary History article
Introduction – slavery, abolition and emancipation 25 March 2007 marked the bicentenary of the Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade. It is not compulsory to teach about the slave trade. However, the links to the National Curriculum – particularly in history, citizenship and geography – are clear. The...
Teaching about the translatlantic slave trade and emancipation
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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Please note: this article pre-dates the current National Curriculum and some content and references are outdated.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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Throw away the worksheets!
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Those teachers who can still manage a school trip to the British Museum are in for a treat. The new Michael Cohen Gallery (Room 61) is everything a museum exhibition room should be. Its focus is...
Throw away the worksheets!
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A Victorian Christmas
A Victorian Xmas
The Historical Association In Alliance With Association for Language Learning. Cross-Curricular Unit: Year 5/6 French and History. A Victorian Christmas.
A Victorian Christmas
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What your local Archive Service can offer to schools
Primary History article
Imagine a place where your pupils become detectives working on mysteries from the past such as the tale of Thomas Sargeant, a 15-year-old factory worker who died in a chemical works in 1898. Your local archive is bursting with stories about real people like this which can give children an...
What your local Archive Service can offer to schools
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Local History through Drama (Bursary Project)
The Women Chain Makers Strike Of 1910
A Campaign Project For Primary Schools Focusing On The Women Chain Makers Strike Of 1910.
The Historical Association was left a legacy by Joan Lewin which became the Joan Lewin Education Bursary Fund. Each year, applicants apply for grants for education projects surrounding aspects of teaching and learning, resources, or...
Local History through Drama (Bursary Project)
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One of my favourite history places: Fulham Palace
Primary History feature
In the south-west corner of London, nestled up against the Thames, lies Fulham Palace. This is a palace that was not for kings and queens but bishops, the princes of the church. This was the summer palace for the bishops of London which they retreated to when the heat and stench of the...
One of my favourite history places: Fulham Palace
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TREE-mendous history!
Primary History article
Since the nineteenth century there has been a rich heritage of outdoor learning pedagogy in Europe, and today in Scandinavia the open air culture (frulitsliv) permeates Early Years education. In 1993 Bridgewater College nursery nurses returned from a visit to Denmark enthused by the outdoor educational settings and started their own ‘Forest School'. From 1995 the college...
TREE-mendous history!
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Ideas for Assemblies: Refugee stories
Primary History feature
Please note: this piece was written before Sir Mo Farah’s 2022 disclosure that he was trafficked to the UK as a child, so some of its content is no longer accurate.
An assembly could focus on the achievements of their lives, experiences as child refugees and migrants, and how they overcame...
Ideas for Assemblies: Refugee stories
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Using the back cover image: Exploring the collections of Victorian naturalists
Primary History feature
Many museums around the country house natural history collections that offer children the opportunity to engage with a wide variety of species from around the world. Using the collections of Victorian explorers and naturalists offers children a historical perspective with a cross-curricular approach which has a great appeal. Yet for...
Using the back cover image: Exploring the collections of Victorian naturalists
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Using 'Development Matters' in the Foundation stage
Primary History article
Using ‘Development Matters' to plan learning for history in the Foundation stage
You won't find the term history in the Early Years curriculum framework at all. That being so, it can be difficult to know how best to support our Nursery and Reception colleagues when developing historical understanding within the...
Using 'Development Matters' in the Foundation stage
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Place, time and society
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Editor's note The Place, Time and Society 8-13 Project was established in 1971 ‘to explore the problems of the part of the curriculum for children aged 8-13 which is related to the subject-areas of history, geography and...
Place, time and society
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Stone Age to Iron Age - overview and depth
Primary History article
Stone Age to Iron Age covers around 10,000 years, between the last Ice Age and the coming of the Romans. Such a long period is difficult for children to imagine, but putting the children into a living time-line across the classroom might help. In one sense not a lot happens...
Stone Age to Iron Age - overview and depth
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Getting started with drama
Primary History article
Hugh Turner illuminates how drama can be used to teach medieval history...
Getting started with drama
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Creating the 'creative history' website
Primary History article
Editorial note: The role of ICT in the Digital Age is a major, perhaps even, the major factor, in enhancing creativity in the learning and teaching of history. This paper illuminates another dimension of ICT in the Digital Age and creativity. It shows how a teacher's creativity has produced a...
Creating the 'creative history' website
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Using sites and the environment
Primary History article
Focus and Purpose
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....
Using sites and the environment
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Music and history combine at Key Stage 2
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Section 1: Introduction
Music is a powerful, emotive subject to enrich Historical, Geographical and Social Understanding. The Historical Association has a long and proud tradition of working closely with the Schools Music Association. In 2005, to...
Music and history combine at Key Stage 2
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Using the Olympics as a learning tool: Active Research and Selecting Information
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
The London 2012 Olympics presents a fantastic opportunity for cross-curricular teaching. All children are likely to be engaged on some level, with different countries represented in a variety of sports, huge coverage in the news and...
Using the Olympics as a learning tool: Active Research and Selecting Information
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Saltaire: Planning for an effective learning experience on a living site
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
In the autumn of 2009 I agreed to contribute to a project looking at how Saltaire village, Bradford could be developed as an educational site. This is a very popular site visited by many local schools,...
Saltaire: Planning for an effective learning experience on a living site
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Education for geographical understanding
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Geography is one of humanity's big ideas. It literally means something like ‘writing the world'. Thus, traditionally, geography is associated with rich descriptions of places. For many years geographers were almost synonymous with explorers, bringing back...
Education for geographical understanding
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Children's thinking in archaeology
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Young children enjoy prehistory Tactile, Physical and Enactive engagement with archaeological remains stimulates, excites and promotes children's logical, imaginative, creative and deductive thinking. Through archaeology there are infinite opportunities for ‘reasonable guesses' about sources and...
Children's thinking in archaeology
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The Leeds Community History Project
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
The Nuffield Foundation-funded Leeds Community History Project brought together schools and older community members in the creation of community archives. It focused on articulating, valuing and recording the older generation's memories and knowledge. Its overarching...
The Leeds Community History Project
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The Dramas of History
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
The Mantle of the Expert [MoE] dramatic system works quite simply whereby classes are first of all invited to imagine. Within this imagined world - the class view their world through the eyes of other people...
The Dramas of History
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Getting Started with Drama: The Roses of Eyam 1665
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
If you are a little nervous of using drama in your history lessons, here is a safe way to start but look out for the many opportunities that arise for developing empathy, personal opinion, understanding of...
Getting Started with Drama: The Roses of Eyam 1665
