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Constructivist chronology and Horrible Histories
Primary History feature
Hilary Cooper illuminates how Horrible Histories can be effectively used to develop an understanding of chronology. She researched two topics: children and law and order. You can download her full paper: it is included in Primary History 59 on Teaching Chronology.
Constructivist chronology and Horrible Histories
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Introducing the Empire through coins
Lesson Plan
This coins lesson introduces children to the complex and controversial subject of the British Empire in a practical, hands-on way.
(These resources are attached below)
The lesson can stand alone or form an introduction to an in-depth study of empire, immigration and emigration. It overlaps usefully with geography and citizenship....
Introducing the Empire through coins
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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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The Historian 2
The magazine of the Historical Association
Articles include:
3 Feature: Representations of the Robin Hood Legend – John Taylor
13 The Case for History in School – John Slater
17 Local History: Blind Houses – Mary Delorme
19 Record Linkage: Deadboards – Trevor James
22 Update: Restoration and Revolution 1660-1714 – John Childs
28 Personalia: Profile of A J.P Taylor...
The Historian 2
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The Evacuee Letter Exchange Project: using audience-centred writing to improve progression from Key Stage 2 to Key Stage 3
Teaching History article
Jenny Parsons' work in primary-secondary liaison in history is nationally acclaimed. She is often asked to share her department's practice at courses and conferences. Readers of Teaching History are already familiar with her work in another area: in the ‘Triumphs Show' of Teaching History 93 (the ICT edition in November...
The Evacuee Letter Exchange Project: using audience-centred writing to improve progression from Key Stage 2 to Key Stage 3
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Film: A Jewish Divorce Case in Medieval England
Virtual Branch
In 1242, the prominent thirteenth-century Jewish financier David of Oxford attempted to divorce his wife, Muriel. In the process, he met with a number of obstacles which seriously hampered his efforts and had far-reaching implications for the Jewish community as a whole. In the end, David had to appeal directly...
Film: A Jewish Divorce Case in Medieval England
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Move Me On: struggling with different emphases on teacher talk
Teaching History feature
Move Me On is designed to build critical, informed debate about the character of teacher training, teacher education and professional development. It is also designed to offer practical help to all involved in training new history teachers. Each issue presents a situation in initial teacher education/training with an emphasis upon...
Move Me On: struggling with different emphases on teacher talk
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Flight from Kabul: a historical perspective
Historian article
In this article, Matt Jux-Blayney compares the British retreat from Kabul in 1842 with the most recent flight of NATO from Kabul in August 2021. Matt explores the various similarities between the two campaigns and includes personal recollections from his service in Afghanistan with the British Army.
On 6 January...
Flight from Kabul: a historical perspective
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Inverting the telescope: investigating sources from a different perspective
Teaching History article
As historians, we are dependent on evidence, which comes in many varieties. Rosalind Stirzaker here introduces a project which she ran two years ago to encourage her students to think about artefacts in a different way. They have examined randomly preserved artefacts such as those of Pompeii, and sets of...
Inverting the telescope: investigating sources from a different perspective
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‘Not again!’ - an additional viewpoint on using railways
Primary History article
‘Not again!’ I can remember my son muttering as his football thudded against the kitchen wall, ‘I went there in Year 2 and then in Year 4 and now I have to go there again in Year 6.’ He was referring to his school trips to the remains of the gunpowder factories in our village,...
‘Not again!’ - an additional viewpoint on using railways
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Polychronicon 119: The Second World War and popular culture
Teaching History feature
Polychronicon was a fourteenth-century chronicle that brought together much of the knowledge of its own age. Our Polychronicon in Teaching History is a regular feature helping school history teachers to update their subject knowledge, with special emphasis on recent historiography and changing interpretation. This edition of 'Polychronicon' investigates World War...
Polychronicon 119: The Second World War and popular culture
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The Unfortunate Captain Peirce
Historian article
An apprentice biographer researches the career of an eighteenth-century sea captain
On a cold January afternoon in 1986, my neighbour announced that he intended to go to Dorset's Purbeck coast that night. Puzzled, I asked why. He explained it was the 200th anniversary of the wreck of the East Indiaman,...
The Unfortunate Captain Peirce
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Distant voices, familiar echoes: exploiting the resources to which we all have access
Teaching History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
As an Advanced Skills Teacher, Denise Thompson has often been at the forefront of experimental developments. Five years ago, she reported on trials of an online discussion forum used to sharpen A level students' historical...
Distant voices, familiar echoes: exploiting the resources to which we all have access
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Approaches to the History Curriculum: integrated learning models
Briefing Pack
In 2010 an integrated curriculum was being implemented in some schools in England. This short briefing pack provides some practical examples of that process.
Is your school on the brink of curriculum innovation that involves history? Are you in the midst of such a change and feel confused and uncertain?...
Approaches to the History Curriculum: integrated learning models
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Film: Brezhnev's agenda
Film Series: Power and authority in Russia and the Soviet Union
In this film Dr Edwin Bacon talks about Brezhnev’s change in direction and approach after Khruschev, making collective leadership work and the Kosygin reforms. Whilst there were changes from the era of Khruschev, Brezhnev’s response to the Prague Spring in 1968 showed that some things had not changed. The events...
Film: Brezhnev's agenda
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Migration to Britain through time
Primary History article
Migration is rarely absent from the news and arouses political, social cultural and emotional responses which range from compassion to hostility, racism and anti-racism. By exploring migration in the past, it is possible for children to go beyond current issues and appreciate that, rather than being a recent characteristic of...
Migration to Britain through time
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Manchester (with Liverpool and Chester) Branch History
Branch History
The Branch is proud of its role in the foundation of the Historical Association in 1906. Professor Thomas Frederick Tout and others at Manchester University had been discussing the idea of forming an Association to promote the teaching of a more relevant and vibrant form of history than was currently...
Manchester (with Liverpool and Chester) Branch History
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Teaching History 90
The HA's journal for history teachers
4 Editorial
5 Teaching History Briefing
10 A Role for History in Initial Teacher Education by Sally Pearce
12 In Touch with the Past: Music Making and Historical Re-enactments by Penlope Harnett and Liz Newman
17 Appeasement Role Play: the alternative to Munich by Robin Duff
20 Using Information Technology...
Teaching History 90
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Teaching the British Empire in primary history
Primary History article
The height of the BBC Proms season is its last night in the Royal Albert Hall. It features traditional patriotic songs such as Rule Britannia and Land of Hope and Glory. Cheerful crowds wave union flags as the magnificent music of Elgar and others swells to a crescendo. Contrast this...
Teaching the British Empire in primary history
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WWI and the flu pandemic
Historian article
In our continuing Aspects of War series Hugh Gault reveals that the flu pandemic, which began during the First World War, presented another danger that challenged people’s lives and relationships.
Wounded in the neck on the first day of the battle of the Somme, 1 July 1916, Arthur Conan Doyle’s son Kingsley...
WWI and the flu pandemic
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Support your branch: FAQs
Volunteering to help your local branch
Our local branches are all run by volunteers. Joining your local branch committee can be a wonderful way to get more involved with history.
What roles are there within each branch?
Each branch has three formal branch officers: the Chair (or President), the Branch Secretary and the Branch Treasurer.
Alongside those...
Support your branch: FAQs
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Making rigour a departmental reality
Teaching History article
Faced with the introduction of a two-year key stage and a new whole-school assessment policy, Rachel Arscott and Tom Hinks decided to make a virtue out of necessity and reconsider their whole approach to planning, teaching and assessment at Key Stage 3. In this article they give an account of...
Making rigour a departmental reality
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Cambridge Primary Review 2009
Briefing Pack
We are sure that you are aware by now of the findings of the Cambridge Primary Review. The author, Robin Alexander has been working recently to disseminate information and give teachers and primary education professionals the chance to discuss the priorities for primary education. These ideas, based around the key...
Cambridge Primary Review 2009
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Recorded webinar: Henry VIII on Tour
Finding a new perspective on the Tudors
During his lifetime, Henry VIII journeyed throughout his kingdom in what are known as royal 'progresses'. In this webinar, Anthony Musson will share research from the AHRC-funded 'Henry on Tour' project which seeks to reassess these progresses by exploring archival sources, archaeology, music and material culture. In addition to contributing...
Recorded webinar: Henry VIII on Tour
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Primary History 39
The primary education journal of the Historical Association
04 Pupils’ reviews
05 Editorial
06 Primary Noticeboard
08 In My View: why should we continue to learn about the Second World War? — Dan Phillips
11 The impact of World War II on British children's gendered perceptions of contemporary Germany — Russell Gray (Read article)
14 When we were...
Primary History 39
