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Florence Nightingale
Primary History resource
Born: May 1820; Died: August 1910
Background and early life
Florence Nightingale was born to a wealthy evangelical family in Florence, Italy in 1820. She was named after her place of birth. It was normal at the time for girls from wealthy families to be educated at home by a governess,...
Florence Nightingale
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Isambard Kingdom Brunel: A Significant Victorian
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the current National Curriculum and some content, references and links may be outdated. For more recent content see our Brunel scheme of work and George Stephenson scheme of work.
The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) have recently published new Schemes of Work for all subjects. Included within these...
Isambard Kingdom Brunel: A Significant Victorian
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Investigating Henry VIII
Lesson Plan
Please note: this resource pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum.
The lesson required the children to consider carefully their own opinions about Henry and anything that they knew about him. This was followed up by a literacy lesson in which they used the evidence to express a point of view regarding...
Investigating Henry VIII
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Lesson Planning Recipe
Primary History article
Learning objectives
What questions should the children be able to answer at the end of your teaching of the topic? Pare this down to 6 key questions, one for each lesson of a 6-week term. What sub-questions will the lesson address and open up for the next step in the...
Lesson Planning Recipe
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From Kings To Queens to Sources and Evidence
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Until the mid 1930s the vast majority of children attended elementary schools, which went through from five to fourteen. In theory pre-war schools were left relatively free to teach in the way they chose as there...
From Kings To Queens to Sources and Evidence
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Children writing accounts: the Battle of Trafalgar
Exemplar
Paul Newton's Year 6 class was investigating the Battle of Trafalgar as the introduction to a Victorian study. The sources Paul had chosen were an extract from the diary of Lieutenant Paul Harris Nicholas, of HMS Belleisle, and the famous painting showing the death of Admiral Nelson on the quarterdeck...
Children writing accounts: the Battle of Trafalgar
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Victorian Britain - Lessons
Lessons
Please note: these free resources pre-date the 2014 National Curriculum.
You could start the Victorians with a story.
See the Victorian chimney sweep short lesson exemplar and the Upstairs Downstairs story in the History section of the Urban Spaces material.
Lessons and short lesson exemplars available on this site:
Victorian Britain: short...
Victorian Britain - Lessons
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Chronology exemplar: overview of Britain since 1930
Exemplar
History co-ordinator Sharon Amess helped a student teacher in the Year 6 class with the Britain since 1930 unit. They decided to introduce the topic with a timeline, followed by group research into elements of British life since 1930, decade by decade.Timescales discussionPlacing photographs along a timeline helped the children...
Chronology exemplar: overview of Britain since 1930
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Urban spaces cross-curricular work: Art & Design
Lesson Resources
Please note: these free resources pre-date the 2014 National Curriculum.
This is part of a set of subject areas also covering History, Science and Literacy.
See also Cross-curricular learning
Public spaces offer a range of opportunities for children's learning, and can enable children to investigate, observe, wonder, record and create.
The suggested activities in this section...
Urban spaces cross-curricular work: Art & Design
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A European Study: Ancient Greece
Primary Study Unit
Ancient Olympic Games and other lessons available on this site:
Ancient Greek Government is one of the most popular lessons this website - it's good for citizenship too.
Olympic GamesTheseus and the MinotaurAncient Greek Government at KS2Archimedes and the Kings CrownArchimedes and the Syracusan WarAncient Greek Ideas: ScienceThe IliadAncient Greek...
A European Study: Ancient Greece
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Scheme of Work: Maya
Primary Scheme of Work, Key Stage 2 History (unresourced)
In this unit pupils will learn about the remarkable achievements of the ancient Maya. Through these activities pupils will learn about the Maya perspective of time, the calendar system, writing, maths and the environment. In doing so they should see the stark contrast between their own history and that of...
Scheme of Work: Maya
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Remembrance Day at KS1
Lesson Plan
Famous event in the past
This lesson introduces a famous event in the past through personal family history.
(These resources are attached below)
The photograph of Angela's grandfather, and the surrounding illustrations, provided a direct route into discussions about remembrance and war, then ranged wider still.
The children's literacy was...
Remembrance Day at KS1
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Gunpowder plot at key stage 1
Lesson Plan
Please note: this resource pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum.
Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot is a cracking tale for any age group, although the complex political and religious elements are difficult for young children to understand. However, we can help them to gain insights into past people's motivations and...
Gunpowder plot at key stage 1
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Bringing an information text to life: Pets in the Blitz
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Editorial comment: The in-service course had focused on how to read information texts in a stimulating, engaging and intellectually rewarding way, and how to take Bruner's concept of transforming information from one mode to another...
Bringing an information text to life: Pets in the Blitz
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Using classic fiction to support the study of childhood in Victorian times
Primary History article
Please note: This article pre-dates the current National Curriculum and some content and references may be outdated.
Classic fiction provides useful sources of information for investigating the lives, beliefs and values of people in the past. In this article Ann Cowling describes activities undertaken with student teachers which may also serve as models...
Using classic fiction to support the study of childhood in Victorian times
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Difficult and challenging reading: Genre, text and multi-modal sources
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
What impact did the Saxon invaders have? Our Year 4 class were puzzling over the picture of the Roman town forum at the height of the Roman Empire, one A3 picture per pair of pupils.
To...
Difficult and challenging reading: Genre, text and multi-modal sources
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Towards a new primary curriculum: The Cambridge Primary Review 2009
Primary History article
Towards a new primary curriculum: Cambridge Primary Review Part 1, Past and Present, Part 2, The Future - An editorial response to the Cambridge Primary Review.
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Introduction
The Cambridge Primary Review, director Robin Alexander, is the...
Towards a new primary curriculum: The Cambridge Primary Review 2009
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Artefacts and art facts: images of Sir Francis Drake
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content and links may be outdated.
Editorial note: This article reveals the power of the Internet in helping us all, adults and children, to bring portraits like Drake's to life. So, as you read, follow the links.
Artefacts and art facts: images of Sir Francis Drake
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A view from the KS1 classroom - investigating an artefact
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
In the autumn of 2009 I saw some of the Anglo-Saxon Staffordshire Hoard on display at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, and stood in awe at the skills of the craftsmen. Reminded so vividly of the...
A view from the KS1 classroom - investigating an artefact
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Throw away the worksheets!
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Those teachers who can still manage a school trip to the British Museum are in for a treat. The new Michael Cohen Gallery (Room 61) is everything a museum exhibition room should be. Its focus is...
Throw away the worksheets!
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Recorded Webinar: Mass-Observing Modern Britain
Article
Mass-Observation is probably the most consistently useful source for the study of mid and late 20th social lives Britain. It was established in 1937 with the aim of investigating ordinary life and developing an 'anthropology of ourselves.' It used a range of different methods to collect information, from recording overheard...
Recorded Webinar: Mass-Observing Modern Britain
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Getting Started: The identification of gifted historians
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
The complexity of identification Crucial to personalised learning, entitlement and opportunity for equality is the identification of outstanding gifts and talents in children. The quest to identify gifted young historians is challenging as these pupils...
Getting Started: The identification of gifted historians
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In my view: We must support gifted historians from an early age
Primary History article
A successful schools system must have the capacity to harness the potential of all pupils. This means tailoring teaching so that every pupil makes strong, steady progress throughout their school lives. While we all agree that learners who are struggling need effective teaching and support, I am passionate that gifted...
In my view: We must support gifted historians from an early age
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Citizenship in Ancient Greece: case study
Case Study
This was a ten-week Ancient Greece unit, taught to a Year 6 mixed ability class of 34 children. There was a strong citizenship strand running through the whole programme, particularly the strands of political literacy and critical enquiry (see below).
Citizenship values and concepts, with teaching/learning activities in italics
Appreciation...
Citizenship in Ancient Greece: case study
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Lessons with strong literacy links
Lessons
Please note: these resources pre-date the 2014 National Curriculum.
All history lessons have literacy links. The following lessons on this website have particularly strong links with literacy and the Literacy Hour.
Urban spaces near you - cross-curricular work history, literacy, art & design, and science
The Aztec experience persuasion genre: producing...
Lessons with strong literacy links
