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Teaching Robin Hood at Key Stage 1
Primary History article
The stories of Robin Hood, which date from the Middle Ages, are integral to an understanding of British history. Although historians have not been able to identify a single historical figure that can be called Robin Hood, rooted in evidence, the myth or legend of Robin Hood has had a...
Teaching Robin Hood at Key Stage 1
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Promoting Gypsy, Roma and Traveller heritage in your primary history curriculum
Primary History article
It goes without saying that the events of Black Lives Matter have prompted many leaders and teachers to take a step back and reflect on their curriculum content and how effectively it reflects the diverse story of our islands. However, it is not just Black History that is requiring more prominence...
Promoting Gypsy, Roma and Traveller heritage in your primary history curriculum
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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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Storytelling the past
Primary History article
This article will demonstrate how to engage children through storytelling and how it can be used to develop their critical understanding of the past.
Why story?
Despite their common derivation, the words ‘history’ and ‘story’ suggest very different kinds of knowledge, the former carrying overtones of detached understanding of the...
Storytelling the past
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Primary History and planning for teaching the Olympics - four curricular models
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Three curricular editions of Primary History, PH 50, Autumn 2008 , PH 53, Autumn 2009 and PH 57, Spring 2011 are directly relevant to teaching the Olympics.
PH 50, Autumn 2008 History Education in the 21st...
Primary History and planning for teaching the Olympics - four curricular models
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Who's afraid of the Big Bad Bronze Age?
Primary History article
It’s September 1992 and in Dover archaeologists from the Canterbury Archaeological Trust are working alongside construction workers when six metres below ground they find some waterlogged planks. Thankfully, an expert in maritime archaeology is on site and he recognises that this could be a lot more than abandoned timber. Uncovering...
Who's afraid of the Big Bad Bronze Age?
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Tudor Portraits: Who am I?
Lesson Plan
Please note: this resource pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum.
‘Who am I?' - what can we tell about this person from the clothes he/she is wearing?
Pupils use pictures and portraits as evidence for social diversity of Tudor life.
Pupils write pen portraits of characters, extending their vocabulary with the...
Tudor Portraits: Who am I?
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The Shang: What can we tell about an ancient civilisation from one tomb?
Primary History article
The Shang Dynasty of China, based around the Yellow River area, is regarded as the first Chinese dynasty that we have written evidence for. It was established in around 1760 BC when Tang set up his capital in the city of Bo. Over the next 600 or 700 years the Shang Empire grew and shrank,...
The Shang: What can we tell about an ancient civilisation from one tomb?
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The Spanish Armada
Lesson Plan
Please note: this resource pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum.
This is a highly interactive and stimulating simulation for years 3 and 4, and a very effective way of involving children in a range of issues.
We introduced the story of the Armada, outlining the main parties involved and the nature...
The Spanish Armada
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The Poor Law in Nineteenth-century England and Wales
Classic Pamphlet
Variety rather than uniformity characterised the administration of poor relief in England and Wales, and at no period was this more apparent than in the decades before the national reform of the poor law in 1834. Unprecedented economic and social changes produced severe problems for those responsible for social welfare,...
The Poor Law in Nineteenth-century England and Wales
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Scheme of Work: The Shang Dynasty
Primary Scheme of Work, Key Stage 2 History (unresourced)
Children can be introduced to evidence of the Shang Dynasty in China from the tomb of Fu Hao, dated around 1250BC and discovered in 1976. They can use the evidence to find out about the Shang, but also to find out what we can’t tell about the Shang from one...
Scheme of Work: The Shang Dynasty
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World War II medals at KS2 and Remembrance Day
Lesson Plan
Where World War 2 took placeI wanted the year 5 children to understand World War II in a wider context than just the Home Front in Britain. After reading the lesson on
World War II medals at KS2 and Remembrance Day
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Two women linked across three thousand years of history
Primary History article
16 May 1976 – a warm sunny day as Zheng was to recall – began as a typical day on site and ended with a remarkable discovery. Zheng Zhenxiang was leading an archaeological team at Yinxu, Anyang in China looking for evidence of tombs from the Shang Dynasty period. This...
Two women linked across three thousand years of history
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Dramatising Boudicca and the Celts
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the current National Curriculum and some content and links are outdated.
The story of Boudicca lends itself equally well to both history and drama. As a key part of work on ‘The Romans', it is an example of how history and drama when used together can contribute to...
Dramatising Boudicca and the Celts
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Magdalen Road
Lesson Plan
We focused on changes in one local set of shops (in Magdalen Road) and looked at the impact of the World War II Exeter blitz on the area.
The topic was a local study incorporating history and geography, developing children's historical understanding.
To develop as fully as possible the children's...
Magdalen Road
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Studying the Maya
Article
Most pupils like history, but some struggle with aspects of reading and writing – how can we make history more accessible? This article explores some ways I have found useful in engaging pupils of all abilities. It will focus on activities that might be used in studying the Non-European Society...
Studying the Maya
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Olympic Games
Lesson Plan
This was the fourth lesson in a ten-week unit about the ancient Greeks. We had already looked at Homer's Iliad, examining Greek ideas about heroes and roles; investigated the evidence for the Trojan War; and used topic books to identify and classify the main features of ancient Greek life. Throughout...
Olympic Games
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Eweka's story: Benin and Big Picture History
Article
The prospect of teaching Benin as a non-European Study within the time frame 900-1300 AD is challenging! Traditional oral evidence suggests that the critical event during this period in Benin's past was a transition from the Ogiso to the Eweka Dynasty, named after its first Oba, which resulted in it...
Eweka's story: Benin and Big Picture History
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Primary Scheme of Work: Indus Valley
Primary Scheme of Work, Key Stage 2 History (resourced)
This unit on the Indus Valley Civilisation (2600-1900) BCE gives children the opportunity to study an ancient, 'lost' urban civilisation discovered by archaeologists in the Indian subcontinent, early 20th Century. The story of its discovery and the surviving evidence – architecture and artefacts – helps children understand how we can...
Primary Scheme of Work: Indus Valley
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Mystery of the Missing Cake
Lesson
Please note: these resources pre-date the 2014 National Curriculum and some content and links may be outdated
History Mysteries at KS1 and KS2 The lessons centred round a mystery, the theft of a cake in an imaginary land where soft toys or characters from children's nursery rhymes live - Nursery...
Mystery of the Missing Cake
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Local railway history: using visual resources
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Before the 1960s British Rail's spider-web network of railway lines reached every town and thousands of villages. Where you live would have been within a thirty minute journey from a station; scroll down to look at...
Local railway history: using visual resources
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Using Local Buildings
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Whilst there are many obvious historical buildings - castles, Roman Villas and Abbeys these often involve transport costs which may be beyond a school budget. Turner-Bisset suggests:
There is also history in ordinary, everyday sites,...
Using Local Buildings
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Grace Darling
Lesson Plan
I taught a short history topic on Grace Darling, using a painting as the main focus, to encourage evidence-based learning. The painting depicts Grace and her father rowing towards the rocks where the remains of the Forfarshire are resting, with the lighthouse in the distance.
The speaking and listening elements...
Grace Darling
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Mystery Suitcase
Lesson Plan exemplar
Please note: this lesson was produced as part of the Nuffield Primary History project (1991-2009) and pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum.
This resource is free to everyone. For access to hundreds of other high-quality resources by primary history experts along with free or discounted CPD and membership of a thriving...
Mystery Suitcase
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Primary History 102
The primary education journal of the Historical Association
05 Editorial (Read article)
06 Developing historical understanding across all areas of the EYFS framework – Helen Crawford (Read article)
10 Using learning outside the classroom at historic sites to explore British history units – Paul Bracey (Read article)
16 Britain on pause: remembering the 1926 General Strike – Kate Rigby (Read article)...
Primary History 102
