Curriculum
As part of a broad and balanced curriculum, history should be taught from age 5 to 11. The National curricula for England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales all vary from one another, providing a statutory framework for each jurisdiction. Academies and free schools have the freedom to decide on their own curriculum. Other primary schools vary in their approach to delivering the history curriculum, ranging from adoption of a local curriculum to following the statutory model with or without changes, to other commercial models that the school buys into. In this section, you will find curriculum guidance and resources broken down by age range according to the 'Key Stages' referred to by the National Curriculum for England and Wales. Read more
Foundation Stage & Key Stage 1
- Up Pompeii: studying a significant event at Key Stage 1
- Riding along on my pushbike… exploring transport in EYFS
- Castles: distinguishing fact and fiction in the early years curriculum
- It worked for me: Knights and castles
- Using role-play to develop young children’s understanding of the past
- Food – a theme for learning about the past
Key Stage 2
- The history of medicine – warts and all – for Key Stage 2
- Elizabethan times: Just banquets and fun?
- Scheme of Work: The Blitz: all we need to know about World War II?
- For whose God, King and country? Seeing the First World War through South Asian eyes
- Dora Thewlis: Mill girl activist
- ‘So why did they go into hiding?’ Anne Frank in her historical and social context
Primary History resources
- The Bronze Age: what was so special about copper and tin?
- Rethinking the Stone Age to Bronze Age
- The Standing Stone
- Teaching pre-history outside the classroom
- Our Iron Age challenge
- From the Iron Age to Robin Hood
Curriculum Issues
- Ideas for assemblies: LGBT History Month
- Three first-class ladies – teaching significant individuals in Key Stage 1
- Muslim soldiers in World War I
- World War I: widening relevance in the modern world
- What confuses primary pupils in history? Part 2
- What confuses primary pupils in history? Part 1