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Questions you have always wanted to ask about... History and written sources
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the current National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Pat Hoodless answers questions about history and written sources.
Questions you have always wanted to ask about... History and written sources
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Visual Literacy: Learning through pictures and images
Primary History Article
Please note: this article pre-dates the current National Curriculum and some content and references are outdated.
What questions does the portrait raise in your mind?
What messages does the artist intend to convey?
How does the artist convey those messages to the intended audience? What might have been the circumstances under which the...
Visual Literacy: Learning through pictures and images
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The Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings: push, pull, cause and consequence
Primary History article
The Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings shaped British history in ways that are directly relevant to us today and inform our language, laws and culture. Without them we would not have some of our greatest stories, heroes and artefacts. The recent exhibition at the British Library on the Anglo-Saxons is testament...
The Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings: push, pull, cause and consequence
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Getting started with drama
Primary History article
Hugh Turner illuminates how drama can be used to teach medieval history...
Getting started with drama
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Riding along on my pushbike… exploring transport in EYFS
Primary History article
There is a myriad of opportunities for exploring the history of travel and transport in Early Years. You could focus on the Montgolfier brothers’ hot air balloon flight in the late eighteenth century, the invention of steam trains and motor cars in the nineteenth century, or even the space race...
Riding along on my pushbike… exploring transport in EYFS
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Teaching history through nursery rhymes in the foundation stage
Primary History article
Please note: this article was written before the the 2014 National Curriculum and some content is now outdated.
All teachers working within the foundation stage will, at some time, be using nursery rhymes in their classrooms. Their importance to early language development has long been acknowledged, particularly the way in which they contribute to...
Teaching history through nursery rhymes in the foundation stage
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The Victorian Age
Classic Pamphlet
This Classic Pamphlet was published in 1937 (the centenary of the accession of Queen Victoria, who succeeded to the throne on June 20, 1837).
Synopsis of contents:
1. Is the Victorian Age a distinct 'period' of history?
Landmarks establishing its beginning: the Reform Bill, railways, other inventions, new leaders in...
The Victorian Age
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Creating a curriculum to help children in the early years understand the world in which the live: history and children in the early years
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the current National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
In a recent article in Primary History Denis Hayes suggests that despite many lively ways of learning about the past, ‘history concepts will always be beyond both the experiential and conceptual reach of the youngest pupils’. Consequently...
Creating a curriculum to help children in the early years understand the world in which the live: history and children in the early years
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Guidance Pack: Building a Local Teacher Network
Information
We know that it is difficult for teachers to get to events too far from school. As a national charity, the HA recognises the importance and need to build strong regional networks for the history teaching community. Many of these are already existing or organically growing across the country at...
Guidance Pack: Building a Local Teacher Network
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Diversity, ethnicity and the Victorians
Primary History article
Editorial note: Alison raises crucial issues about pupils developing a sense of identity in a multi-racial environment through the medium of history. History provides a sense of belonging to all pupils if we acknowledge the rich origins of modern society's multiethnic routes - by origin, we are all immigrants. The...
Diversity, ethnicity and the Victorians
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Questions you have always wanted to ask about... History and archaeology
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the current National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Don Henson answers questions about history and archaeology.
Questions you have always wanted to ask about... History and archaeology
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Primary Oustanding Providers
Cranmer Primary School
Cranmer Primary is a large two-form entry primary school situated on the edge of Mitcham.The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is average. Over half of pupils come from minority ethnic backgrounds and a high proportion do not speak English at home. The proportion of pupils who have...
Primary Oustanding Providers
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Planning for diversity in the Key Stage 2 history curriculum
Article
Please note: this article was written before the the 2014 National Curriculum and some content is now outdated, e.g. reference to the QCA. This article may therefore be more useful for those engaging in research than for practising teachers. See Primary History summer resource 2019: Diversity for current guidance.
In a series of three articles Hilary Claire...
Planning for diversity in the Key Stage 2 history curriculum
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Ideas for Assemblies: A slightly different view of remembrance
Primary History feature
The principle of this assembly is to show that positive events and developments can occur in the worst times and events of human history. To begin with, it is vital to ensure that the children (and staff!) know and understand that the First World War was not a good thing for...
Ideas for Assemblies: A slightly different view of remembrance
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Power and Freedom in Britain and Ireland: 1714–2010
New HA film series | Starting this autumn
From royal courts to radical protests, from industrial revolutions to global empires – this compelling new film series traces the dramatic evolution of power, rights, and freedom across three centuries of British and Irish history.
We will trace Britain and Ireland’s transformation from 1714 to 2010, unpacking power struggles, social revolutions, and...
Power and Freedom in Britain and Ireland: 1714–2010
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Scheme of work: The Platinum Jubilee
Primary Scheme of Work, Key Stage 1 History (unresourced)
In this unit, children will learn about the significance of the 2022 Platinum Jubilee. They will look at the life of Queen Elizabeth II, from her role as Princess Elizabeth to her coronation and through to 2022, as a great-grandmother and the longest-reigning British monarch. The unit will help children...
Scheme of work: The Platinum Jubilee
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Virtual Branch recording: Tudor Liveliness?
Discovering Vivid Art in Post-Reformation England
In Tudor England, artworks were often described as ‘lively’. What did this mean in a culture where naturalism was an alien concept? And in a time of religious upheaval, when the misuse of images might lure the soul to hell, how could liveliness be a good thing?
In this talk...
Virtual Branch recording: Tudor Liveliness?
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What can you do with an old postcard?
Primary History article
Whether looking at ‘events in living memory’ at Key Stage 1, or a local history study at Key Stage 2, old postcards are extremely useful. They are also relatively cheap and easy to get hold of.
One aspect that can easily be explored using old postcards is evidence - they are an...
What can you do with an old postcard?
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Using original sources
Primary History 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...
Using original sources
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Ancient Sumer: the cradle of civilisation
Primary History article
In 1936 the next eagerly awaited Agatha Christie novel had just been published and readers were transported to a region that, from 1922 had been named Iraq, but through history had been part of Mesopotamia. The plot focuses on an archaeological dig that was taking place there, the victim is...
Ancient Sumer: the cradle of civilisation
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History co-ordinators' dilemmas: teaching the Romans, Anglo-Saxons and Vikings
Article
Dr Tim Lomas offers advice on topics, such as the Romans, the Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings.
Please note: this article pre-dates the current National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
History co-ordinators' dilemmas: teaching the Romans, Anglo-Saxons and Vikings
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Ankhu and Nebu of Deir el Medina
Primary History article
Perhaps the hardest skill to develop in history is a sense of period. What was it really like to live in Ancient Egypt? Who should we study? Or, in this case, which workers were typical? Were these craftsmen in Deir el Medina typical of all the workers in Egypt? Or...
Ankhu and Nebu of Deir el Medina
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The Coronation
Primary History article
On 6 May 2023 King Charles III, together with Camilla, the Queen Consort, will be crowned in Westminster Abbey. The Coronation provides rich opportunities for history lessons at both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. At Key Stage 1 it naturally lends itself to Key Stage 1 ‘changes within living...
The Coronation
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The Amesbury Archer
Primary History article
One of the requirements for the Key Stage 2 history curriculum is that children learn about changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age. In some ways this is a challenging period to teach – the evidential record is patchy, it is open to interpretation, and there...
The Amesbury Archer
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Film: Living with Violence at the End of the British Empire
Age of Emergency
In the 1950s, Britain fought a series of brutal wars against insurgents in the colonies of Malaya, Kenya, and Cyprus. How did people at home experience these wars? How did they learn about the use of torture and other unsettling tactics? And how did they respond to this knowledge?
In...
Film: Living with Violence at the End of the British Empire
