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Become a member of a standing committee
13th March 2026
If you want to get more involved with the work of the HA but aren't sure about the commitment of a trustee position, we are also looking for members who would like to join our standing committees.
What do HA committees do?
HA committees help to steer, advise and support...
Become a member of a standing committee
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Black History Month 2025
News Item
Black History Month is an important opportunity to explore the histories of people who have often been excluded from popular narratives. While the idea of one month on Black history might appear tokenistic or simplistic, it does not have to mean sticking to already well-known characters or limited themes. Therefore,...
Black History Month 2025
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Film: What's the wisdom on... Consequence (Primary)
Article
Please note: the 'What's the Wisdom On' film series has been produced principally for secondary school history teachers, however some of the content is transferrable to a primary setting. Secondary members can view the film here
'What’s the wisdom on…' is a popular feature in our secondary journal Teaching History and provides the perfect stimulus for a...
Film: What's the wisdom on... Consequence (Primary)
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Time's arrows? Using a dartboard scaffold to understand historical action
Teaching History article
Arthur Chapman presents a task-specific scaffold - a ‘dart' board - designed to teach students how to interrogate sources of information so that these become sources of evidence for particular claims about past actions, beliefs and aims. Chapman also uses his ‘dart' board to foster students' reflection on the degrees of...
Time's arrows? Using a dartboard scaffold to understand historical action
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'A lot of guess work goes on': Children's understanding of historical accounts
Teaching History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated
The ESRC-funded Project Chata has collected evidence of children's ideas about the discipline of history and attempted to see if there is any progression in those ideas. Here, Peter Lee describes how Chata has tried...
'A lot of guess work goes on': Children's understanding of historical accounts
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Primary History 96: Climate and Environment
The primary education journal of the Historical Association
05 Editorial (Read article)
06 The potential of primary history – Alison Kitson and Michael Riley (Read article)
12 How much has the weather mattered in British history? A possible development study – Tim Lomas (Read article)
20 A Significant Local Event: Carlisle floods – Sue Temple (Read article)
24 Earth heroes: Etta Lemon,...
Primary History 96: Climate and Environment
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Young Quills shortlist for 2025
The HA's annual awards for best historical fiction for young people
Each year, the Historical Association runs ‘Young Quills’, a competition for published historical fiction for children and young adults (14+). The Young Quills books for each year must be published for the first time in English in the year preceding the competition – so 2024 for this year’s selection.
Our aim...
Young Quills shortlist for 2025
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PSHE education and statutory status
Briefing Pack
A briefing for Head Teachers and Chairs of Governing Bodies
PSHE education and statutory status
Wash-up negotiations between the government and opposition parties on the Children, Schools and Families Bill resulted in the removal of the clauses to introduce PSHE education as a statutory subject in the national curriculum at...
PSHE education and statutory status
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Primary History 88: Out now
The primary education journal of the Historical Association
Read Primary History 88
It is sometimes the case that the history we are exposed to changes in a way that is barely perceptible. At other times the changes have been momentous. Some have been long lasting, others fleeting. The time that primary history often felt like a support act for...
Primary History 88: Out now
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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
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Primary History Survey Report 2012
Primary Survey
History in Primary SchoolsIn June the Secretary of State announced that history would remain a compulsory part of the primary curriculum from age 5 to age 11. We welcomed that announcement but urged a note of caution regarding slimmed down programmes of study. The Survey into History in English Primary...
Primary History Survey Report 2012
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HA Primary Survey Report 2011
Primary Survey
Primary Teachers need more training for history and they have ideas about what the want to teachThe Historical Association has carried out a survey of Primary teachers across England and Wales revealing that training for teachers at that level is one of their biggest concerns. Primary School Teachers may not...
HA Primary Survey Report 2011
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Helen Snelson, 1969–2024
30th August 2024
It is with deep regret that we share the news that our good friend, supporter and Deputy President Helen Snelson passed away at the end of August. After her cancer recurred, she spent her final few days with her husband David, close family and friends.
Helen was a passionate history...
Helen Snelson, 1969–2024
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Teaching History 35
Journal
Teaching History, February 1983 Number 35
In this issue:
Editorial, 2
History in Danger - Margaret Parker, 3
Watching the Detectives: A Critique of the Schools Council's Analogy between the Historian and the Detective - John Plowright, 6
Teaching History Competition, 9
Microcomputers and Local History Work in a Primary...
Teaching History 35
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Building learning places
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
The built environment is hugely important to all of us, allowing us to live our lives in particular ways, and perhaps even constraining our lives in ways we don't yet recognise or understand. The buildings...
Building learning places
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Getting to grips with concepts in primary history
Primary History article
Perhaps one of the most perplexing aspects of teaching history is the fostering of conceptual understanding. History subject leaders often find this a challenging issue. Even if they have a decent grasp themselves, it can be difficult for others in the school who have to teach the subject.
Over recent...
Getting to grips with concepts in primary history
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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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Global Learning Project - Hawkshead Primary
GLP Case Study
Hawkeshead Primary School in the Lake District is a small village school, with a teaching head. Yet they have gone to great pains to integrate the ideals of Global Learning into their curriculum. They are an Expert Centre, leading a team of 20 local schools - primary and secondary -...
Global Learning Project - Hawkshead Primary
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Webinar series: Historical thinking in a digital world: how history builds digital and media literacy
HA webinar series for secondary history teachers, history subject leaders, senior leaders, teacher educators and KS2–3 transition leads
What does this series cover?
This series makes the case that history is a natural subject for digital literacy because it teaches how knowledge is made, contested, evidenced, and communicated – the exact habits students need for navigating misinformation, manipulated media, and AI-generated content. Across six sessions, participants build a...
Webinar series: Historical thinking in a digital world: how history builds digital and media literacy
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Significant anniversaries: Windrush 75
Primary History article
It is 75 years since the ship called the Empire Windrush brought people from the Caribbean to begin a new life in the United Kingdom. Those who also arrived in the years leading up to 1971 are often referred to as ‘the Windrush generation’. Their contribution to Britain socially, culturally...
Significant anniversaries: Windrush 75
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Become a Quality Mark School: Primary
The Historical Association Quality Mark for History
The Historical Association Quality Mark (QM) is all about recognition of the excellent history provision you the teacher, your department and your school offer young people.
The Quality Mark provides a framework for success whether you are looking to gain the acknowledgement you deserve, or whether you are looking to...
Become a Quality Mark School: Primary
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How can I improve my use of ICT? Put history first!
Teaching History article
What is the difference between using lots of ICT and using it well? Dave Atkin draws upon work in his own department and with other Gloucestershire teachers in order to identify criteria for effective ICT use. These boil down to ‘putting history first' and getting maximum value out of the...
How can I improve my use of ICT? Put history first!
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Primary History 65: Diversity and Inclusion
The primary education journal of the Historical Association
Overview
04 Inclusion & Diversity - Jon Nichol
05 History belongs to all of us - Diversity and the History Curriculum - Ilona Aronovsky (Read article)
12 Diversity in primary history: exemplar lessons: HA publications 2000-2013 and Nuffield Primary History - Sarah Codrington
14 Including the Muslim Contribution in the National...
Primary History 65: Diversity and Inclusion
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Women in the Tramway Industry 1914-1919
Article
Rosemary Thacker writes about one unusual area of expansion of war-time work for women in the Great War.
Women in the Tramway Industry 1914-1919
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Putting black into the Union Jack: weaving Black history into the Year 7 to 9 curriculum
Teaching History article
Making a passionate case for teaching Black British history in the secondary school curriculum, Hannah shares here the personal journey she has travelled in planning for Black British history in her curriculum. She cites her inspirations and offers striking examples to illustrate her rationale and approach to teaching this history....
Putting black into the Union Jack: weaving Black history into the Year 7 to 9 curriculum
