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The Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR)
Primary History article
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
In a celebration of the 200-year anniversary of the Stockton...
The Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR)
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Think Bubble - Jumping stories: selective chronology
Primary History feature
I recently finished a most interesting commission with the educational publishers, Schofield and Sims. They asked me to help put together a comprehensive timeline of British History to cover as broad a chronological perspective as possible. They wanted this to be the complete Cavemen to Cybermen story all on one...
Think Bubble - Jumping stories: selective chronology
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Teaching possibilities: From Plato to Nato
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
The Olympics historical dimension opens up a plethora of possibilities for history, projects and integrated approaches that draw upon the themes and approaches that underpin the primary school curriculum. Our top ten are:
1. Home and...
Teaching possibilities: From Plato to Nato
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Poetic writing
Primary History article
Poetry is a major area for pupils creative and imaginative historical writing. Pupils writing historical poetry can draw upon a wide range of poetic modes, for example haikus, sonnets, blank verse. Poetry is an excellent vehicle for public presentation, with pupils reading their composition to their class members. To use...
Poetic writing
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Using cemeteries as a local history resource
Primary History article
Why visit a cemetery as part of the history curriculum? Local studies now feature prominently in the primary history curriculum for both key stages. This development challenges teachers to find easilyaccessible, inexpensive and relevant resources on their doorstep. A rich resource which has traditionally been overlooked is the local churchyard...
Using cemeteries as a local history resource
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Progression in historical learning
E-CPD
N.B. This unit was produced before the 2014 curriculum and therefore while much of the advice is still useful, there may be some out of date references or links.
This unit is concerned with the way that children's learning takes place in history. Without understanding the progression, it becomes impossible to...
Progression in historical learning
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Assessment for learning in Primary History
A Guide to Assessment
A Guide to Assessment for learning in Primary History
Assessment for learning in Primary History
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Incorporating Fieldwork into Your History Curriculum
Article
Please note: this guide is now over 10 years old.
Fieldwork might fit in to almost any British unit you study – is there a Stone Age burial, or Iron Age Hill fort nearby to investigate? A Roman villa or Viking settlement? Can place names tell us about the local...
Incorporating Fieldwork into Your History Curriculum
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‘Nothing was easy’: Viewing war, empire and racism through the eyes of a local Windrush migrant
Primary History article
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
Andrew Wrenn shares examples from a fascinating project with which...
‘Nothing was easy’: Viewing war, empire and racism through the eyes of a local Windrush migrant
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Teaching Robin Hood at Key Stage 1
Primary History article
The stories of Robin Hood, which date from the Middle Ages, are integral to an understanding of British history. Although historians have not been able to identify a single historical figure that can be called Robin Hood, rooted in evidence, the myth or legend of Robin Hood has had a...
Teaching Robin Hood at Key Stage 1
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Monitoring, assessment, recording and reporting
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Much of the recent guidance related to assessment, monitoring and recording in primary history has focused more on what does NOT have to be done rather than on practical advice on what might be done. Given...
Monitoring, assessment, recording and reporting
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Significant anniversaries: the infamous Beeching Report 1963
Primary History article
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...
Significant anniversaries: the infamous Beeching Report 1963
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Developing disciplinary knowledge: how and why castles and forts developed
Primary History article
Disciplinary knowledge is often identified as a key area of development by subject leaders. In this article, Susie Townsend explores the concepts of change, continuity and causation through the lens of forts and castles. Emphasizing the importance of enquiry, she provides a range of historical activities that could be used in...
Developing disciplinary knowledge: how and why castles and forts developed
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Place-names and the National Curriculum for History
Primary History article
Place-names, such as house or school names, are infinite in number and all around us. Every place-name may convey a message about the place. Often place-names record and celebrate local and national people, events and incidents, define what a place looked like in the past and how we used to...
Place-names and the National Curriculum for History
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Using Nursery Rhymes to develop children's knowledge and understanding of the past
Primary History article
Nursery rhymes are good sources of evidence about the past and their potential for developing children's understanding has been discussed in earlier editions of Primary History (Woodhouse: 2005, 2001; Cooper: 2005; Primary History : 2000) They may be used as starting points to provide information about past ways of life...
Using Nursery Rhymes to develop children's knowledge and understanding of the past
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The creative history curriculum
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the current National Curriculum and some content and links may be outdated.
Do you give in to bullying, stay loyal to your leader, admit your actions, betray your neighbours, challenge discrimination or just keep quiet? These were the issues faced by Year 4 children at East...
The creative history curriculum
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History, values education & PSHE
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the current National Curriculum and some content and references may be outdated.
The core values which are supposed to underpin the curriculum are generally taught through discrete personal, social and health education lessons and developed through classroom ethos. Yet history has at its heart the ways...
History, values education & PSHE
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Recorded webinar: Making the most out of Holocaust Memorial Day: challenges and opportunities
In partnership with UCL Centre for Holocaust Education
Since 2001 the UK has marked Holocaust Memorial Day on 27th January, the date of the 'liberation' of Auschwitz Birkenau by Soviet soldiers in 1945. History teachers and their colleagues are often asked to 'mark' HMD in their schools. In this webinar we will explore themes of commemoration and education...
Recorded webinar: Making the most out of Holocaust Memorial Day: challenges and opportunities
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Scheme of Work: Local History – transport
Primary Scheme of Work, Key Stage 2 History (unresourced)
Children can be introduced to the idea that transport has changed considerably in the locality over time and that this has had a significant impact on the way that the community has changed and developed. They can also understand how and why these developments have occurred.
This unit is structured...
Scheme of Work: Local History – transport
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Children in Victorian Britain: Down the Mine
Lesson Plan
This resource 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
Please note: this free resource pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum....
Children in Victorian Britain: Down the Mine
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War memorials as a local history resource
Primary History article
War Memorials Trust (WMT) is the charity that works for the protection and conservation of war memorials in the UK. It defines a war memorial as ‘any physical object created, erected or installed to commemorate those involved in or affected by a conflict or war' (WMT 2009, ‘Definition of a...
War memorials as a local history resource
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The Leeds Community History Project
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
The Nuffield Foundation-funded Leeds Community History Project brought together schools and older community members in the creation of community archives. It focused on articulating, valuing and recording the older generation's memories and knowledge. Its overarching...
The Leeds Community History Project
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Teaching history to young children
Article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
History is a subject whose meaning is properly appreciated only in our maturity. In their old age we find those we consider wisest turning to Gibbon, Burckhardt, and Thucydides. The richness and endlessly elaborated meaning of...
Teaching history to young children
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History...about lives and living
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Let me start with a personal experience and then move on to a classroom example.
I went to Paris for a few days recently and sat in the bar where Hemingway used to drink with...
History...about lives and living
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Aztec Experience
Lesson Plan
Take a holiday with the Aztecs! Children design holiday brochures.
History providing a context for literacy. Demonstration and modelling of the holiday brochure genre, and the transfer of understanding of the generic form into an historical context.
Pupils produced their own brochures giving information about life in the Aztec capital,...
Aztec Experience
