Local History

Local history provides rich opportunities to engage children in their immediate local area and understand their own history and how history contributes to a greater overall understanding and bigger picture. In this section you will find articles, guides, and resources to enable you to make local history meaningful.

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  • Using museums, libraries and art galleries

    Article

    Lessons for Sustainablility: From the Experiences of Early Primary Student Teachers Student teachers, local museums, libraries and art galleries. This article is based on the experiences of student teachers on a BA (Hons) Early Primary Education Programme, during their placements in local Museums, Libraries and Art Galleries. We asked students...

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  • Using original sources

    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...

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  • Using the back cover image: Sandbach Crosses - an Anglo-Saxon market cross

    Article

    This image is a reconstruction, or interpretation, by Peter Dunn, an artist, of what Sandbach Crosses might have looked like in the ninth century. They are one of the few remaining Anglo-Saxon stone crosses in the country. They stand in the market place in Sandbach, Cheshire. You can find a...

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  • Victorians

    Article

    The Victorians is a much-loved unit of work in many schools and some teachers were disappointed to see it had been removed but there are still ways to continue to teach it under the 2014 National Curriculum. In many localities there will be a huge variety of Victorian buildings - including...

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  • Viking and Anglo-Saxon struggle for the kingdom of England

    Article

    The Vikings will be familiar territory to many primary teachers. For many, therefore, this section of the history curriculum should cause fewer headaches than others. This does not mean, however, that it is all straightforward. This article contains a number of elements that teachers might welcome including a timeline of...

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  • What makes good local history?

    Article

    Everywhere has a past and learning how to capitalise on that for primary history can be both rewarding and challenging. Not only are aspects of the local area's history a requirement in their own right at both key stages, but these aspects can also help to tell the national story,...

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  • What your local Archive Service can offer to schools

    Article

    Imagine a place where your pupils become detectives working on mysteries from the past such as the tale of Thomas Sargeant, a 15-year-old factory worker who died in a chemical works in 1898. Your local archive is bursting with stories about real people like this which can give children an...

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  • William Brookes and the Olympic Games

    Article

    Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated. History flows like a river, sometimes quiet and unobtrusive, sometimes a raging torrent with wide-ranging effects on the world around us. It is punctuated by momentous events and significant individuals, who impact on its direction and...

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  • Your Local Railway: a local history investigation in Key Stage 2

    Article

    In this article Tim Lomas discusses one of the best resourced themes you can find: your local railway. Railways make one of the best themes for a historical study. No place has ever been far from a railway station even if Dr Beeching wiped out one-third of the network in...

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  • ‘Not again!’ - an additional viewpoint on using railways

    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,...

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