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Learning about the past through ‘ourselves and our families’
Primary History Article
‘Ourselves and our families’ is a popular theme in foundation settings and Reception classes. It is often undertaken at the beginning of the academic year, although it can be taught later when teachers have a better understanding of children’s home circumstances. This theme can provide many opportunities for children to...
Learning about the past through ‘ourselves and our families’
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What confuses primary children in history...
... and what can we do about it?
Young children who automatically see shiny things as new no matter what their age, those who mix up technology from one age with another, those who dismiss people in the past as stupid because they did not have the possessions we have today, those who equate the age of a...
What confuses primary children in history...
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Using the back cover image: Mummified cat
Primary History feature
For hundreds of years, travellers to Egypt have marvelled at the amazing monuments evident throughout the country. The treasures of Ancient Egypt became more fascinating after the discovery of the Rosetta stone in 1799, which led to the deciphering of the hieroglyphic language. Many Victorian explorers returned to their European...
Using the back cover image: Mummified cat
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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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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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Learning Outside the Classroom
Article
In recent times, it is easy to recognize that there has been a general move towards promoting outside activities across all manner of organizations and groups. For instance, organisations such as The National Trust and Ordnance Survey are keen to promote outdoor experiences in their literature. An online presence advocates...
Learning Outside the Classroom
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Teaching the First World War in the primary school
Article
The current commemorations of the First World War have opened the door to some real opportunities for those teaching primary history – perhaps even considering taking children to the battlefields. Although this is customarily a secondary-school experience, this article outlines the opportunities for primary-age children. The suggestions here are based...
Teaching the First World War in the primary school
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What made Cleopatra so special?
Article
Ancient Egyptian civilisation is rich and mysterious with distinctive visual imagery and strange animal-headed gods. The exotic differences of the society have always intrigued the western imagination and so they continue to ensure that this is a popular unit with both teachers and children. There are plentiful resources with new...
What made Cleopatra so special?
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Local history and a sense of identity
Article
The history co-ordinator often finds some real challenges as well as opportunities in addressing local history in primary schools. The advantages are well rehearsed – making history relevant to the lives of the children and giving them an improved sense of identity and place through engagement with the ‘real thing’....
Local history and a sense of identity
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Celebrate your sporting heritage
Article
National Sporting Heritage Day takes place on 30 September every year. It aims to support schools and other community organisations to engage withtheir local sporting heritage, explore the heritage on their doorstep, celebrate and share the information that they find and inspire children and young people to find out more....
Celebrate your sporting heritage
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What are the reasons for linking art and history?
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content and links may be outdated.
Visual images, paintings, sculpture, photographs, cartoons from past times are important historical sources. Accordingly, Simon Schama embeds visual images and imagery in his historical oeuvre, not primarily as illustration but as a crucial...
What are the reasons for linking art and history?
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Case Study: Investigating a picture in Key Stage 1
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content and links may be outdated.
The teacher, Angela, brought from home a large coloured picture: in the middle a photograph of her grandfather in uniform, taken in 1917. The reading of the picture produced a flood of writing...
Case Study: Investigating a picture in Key Stage 1
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Art and History: Justifying the Links
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content and links may be outdated.
History and Art have been taught as traditional subjects for many years and as cross curricular subjects they compliment each other beautifully. I do not see how we can realistically completely separate them...
Art and History: Justifying the Links
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Teaching history through photographs in the internet and digital age
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content and links may be outdated.
Images allow us to step back in time and ask important historical questions such as ‘Were the Victorians just like us?' Growing digitisation and the spread of the internet allow teachers and learners...
Teaching history through photographs in the internet and digital age
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Using feature films as a means of enhancing history teaching in the primary school
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Although I have always been fascinated by history and almost took it as my major subject at university, I have to admit that the bulk of my ‘knowledge' about historical people and events was shaped...
Using feature films as a means of enhancing history teaching in the primary school
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History and Illustration: Quentin Blake
Primary History article
When, at your invitation, I bring together the words ‘History' and ‘Illustration', two images spring immediately to mind. One is John Leech's illustrations to The Comic History of England (1847-1848); the other is the drawings that Ronald Searle brought back from being a prisoner of war of the Japanese a hundred...
History and Illustration: Quentin Blake
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Our Iron Age challenge
Developing historical understanding through building an iron age house
The University of Chichester’s three-year BA (Hons) Degree for Primary Education and Teaching involves learning how to provide rigorous and creative educational opportunities for children. The course involves one creativity module each year. The final one involves the development of skills and confidence in creating problem-solving.
Four of us were...
Our Iron Age challenge
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Ideas for Assemblies: Battle of the Somme
Article
Commemorating the Battle of the Somme through an assembly is not an easy task and one which needs careful thought and preparation. This battle officially started on 1 July 1916, after a week-long artillery bombardment, though both British and French commanders had prepared for the offensive for several months. To highlight...
Ideas for Assemblies: Battle of the Somme
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Using Horrible History to develop primary literacy and history
Primary History article
When I started planning for my Key Stage 2 literacy lessons last year, I wanted to link them to my history topic, the Tudors, and I also needed them to cover a significant amount of non-fiction English objectives, having focused on fiction and poetry texts in the previous term. One...
Using Horrible History to develop primary literacy and history
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The Stone Age conundrum
Making use of a local site to develop historical knowledge
History – the very word makes the primary teacher in me feel excited. There are simply so many variables, so many dark nooks and crannies of history to explore and so many different angles through which to draw in a class of eager young minds. Thanks to a wellexecuted history...
The Stone Age conundrum
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Using original sources
Primary History article
Why would I want those old books in my classroom?
It has always been recognised that good primary history is able to connect the past with the world the children currently inhabit. That is why focusing on schools can be so useful. If there is one experience the children have...
Using original sources
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Time for a story
Using stories in the Early Years and Foundation Stage
Stories are an important part of a young child’s way of making sense of their world. Hilary Cooper’s excellent article ‘Why Stories?’ explores some of the reasons why stories are important to young children and their growing ‘understanding of the world’. This article is going to explore some recommended stories...
Time for a story
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What can you do with a Victorian Trade Directory…?
Primary History article
What is a trade directory?
Trade directories are the equivalent of the telephone directory and the Yellow Pages. They were published on a county or city basis every year and contain detailed descriptions of every village and town in the county. They also contain pages and pages of advertisements, for...
What can you do with a Victorian Trade Directory…?
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Ideas for Assemblies: The Olympics
Article
A series of whole-school or class assemblies planned for the weeks leading up to the Olympic Games in 2016 provides an excellent opportunity to introduce or reinforce pupils’ understanding of significance. Over the weeks the pupils will be introduced to inspirational stories taken from previous games and through this be...
Ideas for Assemblies: The Olympics
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Celebrating Success: Quality Mark
London Fields Primary School achieves Gold Award Quality Mark
London Fields is a larger than average primary school situated in Hackney, east London. The school was rated Outstanding by Ofsted in 2011 and again in 2015. The school has a challenging context with free school meals, minority ethnic groups and English as an Additional Language all far in excess...
Celebrating Success: Quality Mark
