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Saxons, Normans and Victorians
Classic Pamphlet
When Queen Victoria died in 1901, the Annual Register remarked that the feeling of forlorn-ness which swept the country had no parallel since the death of King Alfred. The men of the new century were driven to seek a Saxon parallel. So too were men at the beginning of the...
Saxons, Normans and Victorians
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Edward the Confessor and the Norman Conquest
Classic Pamphlet
Nine hundred years have elapsed since the death of Edward the Confessor, the last English king descended directly from Cerdic, king of Wessex in the sixth century - and so from the pagan gods. Nine hundred years are a long time; and if Edward had been succeeded by a son,...
Edward the Confessor and the Norman Conquest
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Key Stage 2 – Key Stage 3: Transition
Primary History article
Often, primary schools and secondary schools are seen as separate entities. But why?
At primary, is it our responsibility to nurture our children and to encourage them only until they finish their primary education after the Year 6 SATs? Do we then just wave goodbye as they embark on their...
Key Stage 2 – Key Stage 3: Transition
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The British Museum: Creative ICT for Kids
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum.
With school budgets as they are it is amazing that any primary schools can fund history trips to the British Museum [BM]. The education department of the British Museum [BM] is well aware of these constraints and tries to meet the...
The British Museum: Creative ICT for Kids
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English Heritage's Heritage Explorer
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum.
[THINK BUBBLE, has burst, r.i.p... Diogenes, a curmudgeonly Ancient Greek cynic, has taken its place. The original Grumpy Old Man Diogenes typically looks back to a mythical golden age]
Introduction
Unfortunately I'm old enough to remember a time when primary school...
English Heritage's Heritage Explorer
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The Battle of Britain
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum.
David Field gives a descriptive account of a History Club's project on the Battle of Britain.
The Battle of Britain
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Differentiation: Gifted and Talented
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Gifted and talented (G&T) education has a major focus upon differentiation: the identification and support of pupils who have the abilities to perform at the highest levels. The Autumn 2007 edition of Primary History 47 focused upon...
Differentiation: Gifted and Talented
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Exploring chronology in a museum
Case Study
Introduction
This article explores how working in partnership with museums can help to build the concept of chronology. In 2009 the Education team at the Royal Armouries Museum, Leeds, worked with the Gifted and Talent Advisor at Education Leeds to provide a series of CPD days for teachers, and pupil...
Exploring chronology in a museum
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Egyptians, Embalming and Experiences
Primary History article
I am a third year student currently studying on a 4 year degree course at Leeds Trinity University College training to be a primary school teacher. Last year, as part of our History module, we visited the Leeds City Museum and met Esther Amis-Hughes who was then its Learning and...
Egyptians, Embalming and Experiences
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Folk tales: Universal values, individual differences
Paper
This paper is about using folktales to introduce young children to the past. It examines the ways in which folk tales reflect the different types of people found in the past and now, in all societies and how folk tales reflect universal values as well as differences between societies. It...
Folk tales: Universal values, individual differences
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Whatever did the Greeks do for us?
Primary History article
The National Curriculum asks us to help our children to study ‘Greek life and achievements and their influence on the western world’ [DfE 2013]. Lots of books explore the ancient Greeks [see, for example, Ancient Greece by Alf Wilkinson, Collins Primary Histories, published in 2019]. It is a familiar topic....
Whatever did the Greeks do for us?
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Addressing the issues of knowledge, skills and understanding
Article
This section explores some of the key ideas and activities for time, causation, interpretations, enquiry and significance. There are also some ideas on how history can be linked with literacy.
Addressing the issues of knowledge, skills and understanding
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Keeping the content manageable in Key Stage 2
Article
This section offers guidance on how Key Stage 2 history can be organised through the use of a number of key investigative questions for the most commonly taught areas of study.
Keeping the content manageable in Key Stage 2
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Podcast: Presidential Lecture - Charles I: The People's Martyr?
Podcast
2012 Annual Conference Presidential Lecture
Charles I: The People's Martyr?
Jackie Eales, HA President and Professor of Early Modern History at Canterbury Christ Church University
Charles I was renowned for his distrust of ‘popularity'. Yet during the 1640s he was forced to appeal to his people for support and in...
Podcast: Presidential Lecture - Charles I: The People's Martyr?
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Film series: Power and Freedom in Britain and Ireland, 1714–2010
New HA film series
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...
Film series: Power and Freedom in Britain and Ireland, 1714–2010
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The Olympics
HA Quick Guides
The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games look set to be an expression of an ultra-modern Britain. Yet they boast a legacy that dates back to Ancient Greece. There is a heritage of rich material for the primary history subject leader to mine and slot in alongside existing or newly...
The Olympics
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Ancient Egypt
Reference guide for primary
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 guide was written before the new National Curriculum...
Ancient Egypt
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Teaching the Maya in upper Key Stage 2
Primary History article
In this article, Jo identifies a rationale for learning about this civilisation and addresses some of the ways it can be taught, especially with older primary children. It includes a comparative enquiry with Anglo-Saxons. She also highlights how recent research has developed a greater understanding of the Maya and, at...
Teaching the Maya in upper Key Stage 2
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Britain on pause: remembering the 1926 General Strike
Primary History article
In this article, Kate Rigby looks back at the 1926 General Strike and considers how this could be used to explore significance, cause and consequence in Key Stage 2...
Britain on pause: remembering the 1926 General Strike
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What is characteristic of the Indus Valley Civilisation?
Primary History article
In this article, Karin Doull examines some characteristic features of the Indus Valley Civilisation and considers what these might tell us about this fascinating, less well-known empire...
What is characteristic of the Indus Valley Civilisation?
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Young children and chronology
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
"How did you stop yourself from getting the plague?"
This quotation from a child signals some of the challenges of teaching children about chronology in the primary school. Learning about chronology involves:
Knowing the conventions of...
Young children and chronology
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Animals who help us: teaching past and present in EYFS
Primary History article
Remembrance Day is a useful time to explore with EYFS pupils the people who help us. But of course animals also play a part in human conflicts. This article explores animals who have helped us in wartime now and in the past. The article includes useful teaching ideas and picture...
Animals who help us: teaching past and present in EYFS
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Who were the Greeks and how diverse was their society?
Primary History article
Susie Townsend explores ancient Greece through the use of maps in this innovative and interesting article. The focus here is on diversity within ancient Greek civilisations and the article includes some activities to support learning. There is something for everyone to take from this piece.
Who were the Greeks and how diverse was their society?
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An approach to teaching the British Civil Wars in the primary classroom
Primary History article
Denise Greany and Andrew Hopper show how to make the British Civil Wars of the mid-seventeenth century readily accessible to primary-aged children by focusing on the experiences of people who lived through these tumultuous times.
An approach to teaching the British Civil Wars in the primary classroom
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Using museums and artefacts
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the current National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Over several years of reporting on primary history, the use of museums and artefacts has been identified in Ofsted reports as an issue for schools to address. Although there is now far greater expertise in...
Using museums and artefacts
