Teaching a unit that considers ‘changes within living times’ requires a focus that provides clear evidence of those changes. Children need to be able to identify specific differences as well as recognise relevant similarities. While we all still undertake shopping on a daily or weekly basis the processes involved in...

The National Curriculum specifies a local study both at Key Stages 1 and 2. Basing your local study around an individual is a great way to bring the heritage of your locality to life. Many of these individuals are part of larger national events and changes and seeing these changes at...

Local history is fascinating, but finding interesting, authentic resources can be challenging. In this article, James P. Bowen gives practical advice about how to source a local history project, setting this in the context of Baldwin’s Gate in North Staffordshire – a valuable guide for anyone devising a 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 article, Nick Harman shares his school’s experience of participating in an exciting joint project with the local heritage...

One of the strengths of the HA is our broad interest in all areas of history. So many history themes and narratives focus on the big issues, but for many of us, history starts in the local. That is why we introduced Local History and Community Month for each May...

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 Maria Vlachaki explores her home city of Thessaloniki, Greece with...

Children love discovering things and collecting treasures. They might find shells or pebbles on the beach or broken pieces of pottery in their garden soil. They might ask family members to share interesting things about their family history. This video has been designed to inspire children, from EYFS to year...

It is commonplace to include significant people when looking at the history of a given locality. The Historical Association has a series of case studies of significant local individuals organised by counties or regions. In this article Tim Lomas builds on that resource by looking at the way such individuals...

Poster 1: Paris Olympics 1924 Poster 2: Parks and gardens in Britain since 1066

Local parks are important local amenities that both enhance our wellbeing and provide an important contribution to the environment, especially in urban areas. This article identifies ways in which you can explore your local park, an amenity that, is familiar to most children, within its historical perspective. It considers resources...

This article includes a compilation of a series of articles about significant trees around Britain. It is hoped that this will prompt readers to explore their own environments, helping children to engage with and enjoy nature. Some of the trees in the article are designated as Great Trees. These were significant...

Sue Temple has used her personal experience of flooding around Carlisle as a basis for exploring local history. She suggests strategies for how we can explore events that have occurred in our own environments by making use of photos and oral history to link to the personal and immediate. As extreme...

The Key Stage 1 curriculum requires an exploration of changes within living memory, and what better way to do this than discovering the history of your own school! In this article, Helen Crawford and Sandra Kirkland provide guidance and suggested activities to explore change and continuity in your own locality. ...

In this article Tim Lomas illustrates how it is valid and creative to go beyond some of the most popular sources used by primary history teachers. He looks at a number of historical enquiries and questions that might be considered as a theme and some sources that might be used....

Karin Doull considers how we can develop historical thinking in the Early Years in this article about locality and place. Karin offers helpful suggestions for developing historical vocabulary and assessing understanding. How can we seek to encourage Foundation Stage children to engage with historical thinking and processes? What appears to...

Rachel Bruce and Susannah Russell were two of the six primary teachers on the recent Local History Teacher Fellowship. Here they outline the activities they were engaged in and how they produced two very different local history enquiries – one based in York and the other in Wrecclesham, Surrey. They...

The huge benefits that local archives can bring to primary history are explored by Steven Kenyon. He illustrates this with a case study of Lancashire Archives. The central focus is on ways in which local history can support diversity in the curriculum by providing three examples – one for Key Stage...

Debbie Doolan explores how the locality of her school, Worle School in North Somerset, was impacted by a significant event, World War II. What is particularly pertinent is not just the range of activities in this topic but the way the theme was refined over a number of years. It...

A year on from the 2021 Development Matters and it is now much clearer how the changes in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum, with its emphasis on the role of communities, place, space and histories, has provided greater support for teachers and children to make the transition from the Understanding the...

March 2023 sees the anniversary of a report that had profound significance on social history and which affected many parts of the United Kingdom. There is every chance that it had an effect close to your school especially if you are in a more rural or coastal area. The Beeching...