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Ofsted and primary history
Primary History article
Firstly, I would like to introduce myself as Ofsted’s new Subject Lead for history.
Despite the many challenges of the past year, it is an exciting time for history education. I am very pleased that the number of primary history teachers who are now part of the HA community has...
Ofsted and primary history
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Primary History 101: Out now
The primary education journal of the Historical Association
Read Primary History 101
When we were discussing editing issue 101, our minds immediately went to Dalmatians – the book and the film! As a result, there may be more references to animals than usual in this edition. Kate Rigby’s article draws out the ways in which animals have helped us, in...
Primary History 101: Out now
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Inventing race? Using primary sources to investigate the origins of racial thinking in the past
Teaching History article
Having been given some additional curriculum time, Kerry Apps and her department made decisions about what had been missing in the previous curriculum diet. Building on an existing enquiry (in TH 176), Apps decided to focus on how and when the idea of race in its modern sense developed in early modern...
Inventing race? Using primary sources to investigate the origins of racial thinking in the past
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Teaching History 147: Curriculum Architecture
The HA's journal for secondary history teachers
02 Editorial
03 HA Secondary News
04 HA Update
08 Beth Baker and Steven Mastin - Did Alexander really ask, ‘Do I appear to you to be a bastard?' Using ancient texts to improve pupils' critical thinking (Read article)
14 Cunning Plan: Getting students to use classical texts - Beth Baker...
Teaching History 147: Curriculum Architecture
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Teaching History 112: Empire
The HA's journal for secondary history teachers
Special 64 page themed edition of Teaching History including: A case study in planning the teaching of the British Empire at key Stage 3, Using this map and all of your knowledge become Bismark, National Archives and the british Empire, Imperialism and the Roman Empire, History's challenge: facing the future,...
Teaching History 112: Empire
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Primary History 100: Out now
The primary education journal of the Historical Association
Read Primary History 100
We are proud to present you with the hundredth edition of Primary History journal. It is a publication that has developed and changed over the intervening years, adjusting and amending as the curriculum and teaching approaches have varied. At its heart, however, has always been the...
Primary History 100: Out now
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Cunning Plan 143: enquiries about the British empire
Teaching History journal feature
I wanted to give my Year 8 students ownership of their work on the British Empire by allowing them to suggest our ‘enquiry question'. In order to introduce the Empire, I brought in sugar, spices, bananas, chilli peppers and cotton. I then showed maps demonstrating the Empire at its height....
Cunning Plan 143: enquiries about the British empire
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Primary History 99: Out now
The primary education journal of the Historical Association
Read Primary History 99
Welcome to Primary History 99! As the countdown to our 100th edition begins, it is pleasing to read the findings of the 2024 Primary History Survey, which shows that children (and teachers) continue to love learning about the past. We know that history is a diverse and inclusive subject,...
Primary History 99: Out now
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Global Learning & Critical Thinking
Article
Critical thinkingGLP-E aims: Young people will also develop the skills to interpret that knowledge in order to make judgements about global poverty. In this way they will be able to:think critically about global issues.The GLP has a strong focus on developing young people's knowledge and understanding of development, and in...
Global Learning & Critical Thinking
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Primary History 58: The Olympics
The primary education journal of the Historical Association
THE OLYMPICS: TEACHING HISTORY TODAY
04 Editorial: Nelson Mandela, Apartheid and the Olympics
05 Think Bubble: What ever happened to the Standing Long Jump? - Peter Vass
06 Public celebration of the 1864 Olympian Festival - Dominic Wallis
PLANNING FOR THE OLYMPICS
08 Primary History and planning for teaching the...
Primary History 58: The Olympics
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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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Ideas on the Shape, Size and Movements of the Earth - Pamphlet
Classic Pamphlet
This classic pamphlet takes you through some of the key ideas on the shape, size and movements of the Earth as they changed over time from classical cosmology to the work of Galileo and Isaac Newton.
Ideas on the Shape, Size and Movements of the Earth - Pamphlet
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A (non-Western) history of versatility
Historian article
Waqās Ahmed broadens our perspective on where in history we might find polymaths, those who embody versatility of thought and action. While Western scholars might identify the likes of Leonardo da Vinci or Benjamin Franklin as the archetype of the polymath, they have in reality existed throughout history and across...
A (non-Western) history of versatility
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Liz Kellaway's Top Tips
Article
" If you are close enough to a university library and the university is willing, try to take A level students there for research on their individual assignments and general extended reading. Often sixth formers are allowed to use the university library as a reference library. This is really useful...
Liz Kellaway's Top Tips
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Primary History 98: Out now
Article
Read Primary History 98
This edition goes to print when the post-election landscape in still hazy, especially regarding the role of history in the primary curriculum. We can remain optimistic that history will be a key part of a broad and balanced curriculum. As we patiently await future changes (it...
Primary History 98: Out now
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The Willing Suspension of Disbeliefs
Article
There should be no hesitancy doubting his existence R. G. Collingwood is remembered today as a philosopher, a man with a wide range of interests, the core of whose work is in the Idealist tradition. He died in 1943 and although his work has subsequently not been widely celebrated the...
The Willing Suspension of Disbeliefs
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Primary History 84
The primary education journal of the Historical Association
04 Editorial (Read article for free)
05 HA Primary News
08 Using stories to support early history skills and understanding in the EYFS – Sandra Kirkland (Read article)
10 Democratising history lessons in Key Stage 1: how pupil voice shapes history teaching and learning in our school – Stuart Boydell...
Primary History 84
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Teaching History 103: Puzzling History
The HA's journal for secondary history teachers
This edition looks at two types of puzzles: first, those we tackle as historians, puzzles about the past and, second, those puzzles that occured for people living in the past, puzzles form their perspectives - dilemmas, decisions and judgements that require us to imagine ourselves into their situation in a...
Teaching History 103: Puzzling History
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Progression & Assessment without Levels - Guide
Progression & Assessment
In the 2014 national curriculum for primary and secondary history one of the key differences is that, for the first time since 1991, there are no level descriptions against which you can assess pupils' progress. The new attainment target says simply that:
‘By the end of each key stage, pupils...
Progression & Assessment without Levels - Guide
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Boudicca
Lesson Plan
Please note: this lesson was produced as part of the Nuffield Primary History project (1991-2009) and pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum. It is part of a full sequence of lessons available here.
Pupils asked:
Who was Boudicca?
What was she like physically and what was she like as a person?
What did other...
Boudicca
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A view from the Editor’s desk 1997–2006
Primary History article
This article 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 community of teachers and subject leaders, join the Historical Association today
Congratulations on the publication of the 100th issue of Primary...
A view from the Editor’s desk 1997–2006
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St Peter’s-ad-murum, Bradwell-juxta-Mare
Historian article
Marie Paterson discovered this historical and spiritual structure many years ago and it continues to affect her.
In Essex, on the northern shore of the Dengie Hundred, overlooking the mouth of the Blackwater estuary, proudly stands the lonely Saxon chapel of St Peter’s-on-the-Wall. Erected on the site of the Roman...
St Peter’s-ad-murum, Bradwell-juxta-Mare
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Ofsted: primary guidance 2019
A guide to what primary schools might expect from the new Education Inspection Framework (EIF) 2019
As we approach the introduction of the new Ofsted framework, it seems timely that we offer schools, subject leaders and teachers some guidance on how to approach the coming changes. The call for a broad and balanced curriculum is given renewed emphasis in the new framework, but beyond that, curricula...
Ofsted: primary guidance 2019
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Global Learning & Critical Thinking
Article
Critical thinking
GLP-E aims: Young people will also develop the skills to interpret that knowledge in order to make judgements about global poverty. In this way they will be able to:
think critically about global issues.
The GLP has a strong focus on developing young people's knowledge and understanding of...
Global Learning & Critical Thinking
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Planning for progression and sequencing in primary history
Primary History article
Jo Pearson uses the example of The Greetland Academy in Halifax to address the thorny issue of planning for progression and sequence. She recognises the problems of simplistic and formulaic definitions about progression. In planning the curriculum, four lenses are identified and considered to determine what is taught and when. This is a compelling...
Planning for progression and sequencing in primary history
