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Primary history and British values
Article
In this article, Michael Maddison provides an overview of what schools must do in relation to promoting British values, as well as preventing extremism and radicalisation, and why it is so important that opportunities are taken in history to deal with these two pressing issues. It is an updated version...
Primary history and British values
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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Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.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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How a history club can work for you and your pupils
Primary History article
Bev Forrest writes: As part of my role as a Historical Association Quality Mark assessor I am privileged to visit schools across the country. In the autumn of 2019, I ventured out into Essex to carry out an assessment at Dilkes Academy. I was delighted to recommend gold status for...
How a history club can work for you and your pupils
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Raising the profile of history in your school
Primary History article
All too often, with increasing pressure to obtain the ‘best’ results, primary schools allow English and mathematics to steal the limelight, unwittingly pushing other subjects to one side. As a consequence, these ‘other’ subjects are squeezed into vehicles to teach English or maths – barely recognisable under the guise of...
Raising the profile of history in your school
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Ideas for Assemblies: historical events
Article
Here are a few suggestions for assemblies over the next few months (March-June); each idea is linked to a specific historical event from that month...
Ideas for Assemblies: historical events
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Curriculum planning: How to write a new scheme of work for history
Primary History article
Please note: this article was originally written in early 2014 for schools needing to prepare schemes of work for the new National Curriculum coming into effect that September.
The implementation from September 2014 of the new national curriculum programme of study for history gives you a time-scale for reviewing, refreshing and resourcing your new scheme...
Curriculum planning: How to write a new scheme of work for history
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Using cemeteries as a local history resource
Primary History article
Why visit a cemetery as part of the history curriculum? Local studies now feature prominently in the primary history curriculum for both key stages. This development challenges teachers to find easilyaccessible, inexpensive and relevant resources on their doorstep. A rich resource which has traditionally been overlooked is the local churchyard...
Using cemeteries as a local history resource
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History, ICT and the digital age
Primary History article
Three things are important
1.Don't fall for the hype
You are not a bad teacher if you are not using a lot of technology in history or any other area! Research evidence does not support many of the claims made about technology." Most of the evidence we have is anecdotal...
History, ICT and the digital age
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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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OFSTED, primary history and creativity
Primary History article
Co-ordinators concerns: OFSTED, primary history and creativity
I'm told the emphasis in schools now is for a rigorous approach to history where the children are taught the main facts and features of history. I recall a time not so long ago when the whole curriculum was about creativity but surely...
OFSTED, primary history and creativity
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Case Study: Historical information and the local community
Primary History article
The ICT revolution
A paper register, a pink-lined A4 mark book and a written school log book are surely historical artefacts? The transition from paper to digital technology continues, changing the world of the classroom teacher whose working life like mine, began in the print age when digital-based education was...
Case Study: Historical information and the local community
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Planning for history - the coordinator's perspective
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Editorial note: Cathie's paper can be used as a checklist of action points for the planning of Programmes of Study incorporating history.
Starting points
If you are responsible for leading teaching and learning in history, there...
Planning for history - the coordinator's perspective
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The National Curriculum for History from September 2014: the view from Ofsted
Article
IntroductionWith the publication on 11 September 2013 of the final version of the revised National Curriculum for September 2014, subject leaders and classroom teachers could start to consider the implications of the proposed changes. For history at Key Stages 1 and 2, some parts of the programmes of study are...
The National Curriculum for History from September 2014: the view from Ofsted
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A history of the world - 100 objects that tell a story
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Editorial comment: A History of the World is the most creative, imaginative and dynamic development in primary History Education for thirty years. It ties in perfectly with and supports the government's re-vitalisation of primary education that...
A history of the world - 100 objects that tell a story
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The digital revolution
Primary History article
Developments in information technology continue at an extraordinary pace. Many young children will have little or no idea of what it was like to live in a world without mobile phones, computers and the Internet.
Most children will regularly make use of devices such as smart phones, digital cameras and...
The digital revolution
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Thematic or topic based whole school curriculum planning
Primary History article
Creative curricular planning With the National Curriculum under review, it seems that more schools are taking a creative approach to planning by delivering the curriculum through a focused theme or topic. This has allowed schools to take more ownership of the curriculum and has helped teachers become more innovative in their...
Thematic or topic based whole school curriculum planning
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Assessment and Progression without levels
Primary History article
The new (2014) Primary History National Curriculum is finally upon us. The first thing you might notice is that the level descriptions have gone. These were first introduced in 1995 and became the mainstay for assessing pupil progression and attainment in Key Stages 1, 2 and 3 across schools in...
Assessment and Progression without levels
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From Home to the Front: World War I
Primary History article
Events which encapsulate family, community, national and global history provide rich opportunities for engaging children. Some of these draw on positive memories associated with past events: the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, how people responded to the first flight to the moon, the Millennium celebrations. Yet it is perhaps gruelling...
From Home to the Front: World War I
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Ideas for Assemblies: Empowering pupils to understand the First World War
Article
Remembering the Battle of the Somme and other events within the First World War will be popular features of primary assemblies as part of the centenary commemorations. Yet primary teachers are often concerned about how to explore a topic as challenging as the First World War with such a young...
Ideas for Assemblies: Empowering pupils to understand the First World War
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Ideas for Assemblies: the role of the international community in the First World War
Article
As part of our First World War centenary-themed assemblies, in the last issue of Primary History we focused on the importance of the local dimension. Here we have chosen to look at the role of the international community in the First World War. This approach reflects and celebrates our multi-cultural...
Ideas for Assemblies: the role of the international community in the First World War
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Ideas for Assemblies: Lest we forget
Primary History feature
Over the next three editions of Primary History our assemblies pages will be linked to the theme of commemorating the First World War. We have found that while many teachers wish to remember these events in school, they are unsure how to approach the subject with primary aged children. It...
Ideas for Assemblies: Lest we forget
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Diogenes: Creativity and the Primary Curriculum
Primary History article
Diogenes: WHITHER CREATIVITY?! A consideration of the article Creativity and the Primary Curriculum
In June 2010 the journal Primary Headship included an article entitled Creativity and the Primary Curriculum which endeavoured to pull together a range of positions as to where the curriculum might be going in the immediate future. These...
Diogenes: Creativity and the Primary Curriculum
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English Heritage's Heritage Explorer
Primary History article
Diogenes - Waving not drowning: English Heritage's Heritage Explorer
[THINK BUBBLE, has burst, r.i.p... Diogenes, a curmudgeonly Ancient Greek cynic, has taken its place. The original Grumpy Old Man Diogenes typically looks back to a mythical golden age]
Introduction
Unfortunately I'm old enough to remember a time when primary school...
English Heritage's Heritage Explorer
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Ideas for Assemblies: The life stories of refugees - Judith Kerr
Primary History feature
Judith Kerr, author of The Tiger Who Came to Tea and the Mog stories, came to Britain in 1936 with her brother Michael and their parents, Alfred and Julia Kerr. Her father was Jewish, an anti-Nazi, and famous theatre critic who fled Berlin as Hitler came to power in 1933,...
Ideas for Assemblies: The life stories of refugees - Judith Kerr
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Transition Key Stage 2 and 3
Primary History article
It can sometimes seem that the primary and secondary phases of education live in isolation from each other. After all, most primary teachers are generalists (despite sometimes having specialist experience of a particular curriculum area), having to turn their hands to all subjects on the curriculum whatever they feel about...
Transition Key Stage 2 and 3
