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What’s in a road? Local history at Early Years and Key Stage 1
Primary History article
One of the many amazing things about History is that it can be found in everything; even the smallest or most mundane objects can provide an insight into how life has changed or provide a greater understanding of a different period in time.
Late October last year as the light...
What’s in a road? Local history at Early Years and Key Stage 1
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One of my favourite history places: Studland Village
Primary History feature
Studland village is situated in the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset. Purbeck is not an island in the normal sense of being surrounded by sea. However, it is surrounded by large hills to its north and has a coastline to its south, both of which cut it off from the...
One of my favourite history places: Studland Village
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Fifty years ago we lost the need to know our twelve times tables
Primary History article
In the first year of junior school, I was in Mrs Phillip’s class. She was one of those teachers who you remember, but, sadly not for good reasons. I was very frightened of Mrs Phillips and the worst part of every week was the tables test… forwards, backwards and questions...
Fifty years ago we lost the need to know our twelve times tables
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Local study: Fulwell Windmill
Lesson Plan
Please note: This article pre-dates the current National Curriculum and some content and references may be outdated.
The lesson formed part of a local study of Fulwell and Fulwell Windmill in Sunderland. It could also be taught as part of the Victorian Britain Study Unit. The children had already looked at maps and...
Local study: Fulwell Windmill
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Benin: exploring an African empire at Key Stage 2
Primary History article
Karin Doull reminds us of the value in studying Benin as a non-European study area and suggests how it might be approached, stressing the importance of placing it in context through comparison. The article addresses worthwhile aspects, key concepts and questions as well as furnishing some key information including extracts...
Benin: exploring an African empire at Key Stage 2
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Topic book blitz: asking and answering questions and Tudor Britain
Short Lesson Exemplar
Please note: this resource pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum.
The topic book blitz approach, where children freely scan a range of topic books, provides both a marvellous stimulus to curiosity and questioning, and an authentic purpose for using research skills.
One of our key principles is Questions and Questioning.In this...
Topic book blitz: asking and answering questions and Tudor Britain
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Working with Boudicca texts - contemporary, juvenile and scholarly
Teaching History article
Please note: this article was written before the the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may now be outdated.
Robert Guyver describes a model for teaching Boudicca’s rebellion to pupils aged 7 to 13. Drawing on the tradition of critical source evaluation, he nonetheless shuns aspects of that tradition in favour of...
Working with Boudicca texts - contemporary, juvenile and scholarly
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Film: Power and Protest in Wales – 1714 to 1785
Film Series: Power and freedom in Britain and Ireland: 1714-2010
In Episode 9, Dr Eryn White (Aberystwyth University) discusses who had power in Wales in 1714, the changing relationship between Wales and the wider United Kingdom and the key developments that took place in Wales between 1714-1785.
Dr White reflects upon the rapid expansion of print and literacy in Wales...
Film: Power and Protest in Wales – 1714 to 1785
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Film: Power and Protest in Scotland – 1714 to 1785
Film Series: Power and freedom in Britain and Ireland: 1714-2010
In Episode 9, Professor Alison Cathcart (University of Stirling) discusses who held power in Scotland in 1714 and how the Union with England, together with the arrival of the Hanoverian dynasty, transformed the nation. She examines the central role of the Church of Scotland, the influence of the Royal Burghs,...
Film: Power and Protest in Scotland – 1714 to 1785
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Primary History 102
The primary education journal of the Historical Association
05 Editorial (Read article)
06 Developing historical understanding across all areas of the EYFS framework – Helen Crawford (Read article)
10 Using learning outside the classroom at historic sites to explore British history units – Paul Bracey (Read article)
16 Britain on pause: remembering the 1926 General Strike – Kate Rigby (Read article)...
Primary History 102
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Primary History 101
The primary education journal of the Historical Association
05 Editorial (Read article)
06 Animals who help us: teaching past and present in EYFS – Kate Rigby (Read article)
09 Student teacher experiences at the Historical Association Conference 2025 – Charlotte Deacon, Amy Cuthbert and Sarah Tinsley (Read article)
12 She sells seashells by the seashore: teaching Mary Anning...
Primary History 101
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Primary History 98
The primary education journal of the Historical Association
05 Editorial (Read article)
06 Who is in charge? – Helen Crawford and Karin Doull (Read article)
10 Building history connections with the local community: how one Quality Mark School showed that ambition reaps rewards – Rachael Gorczyca (Read article)
14 Musings and misconceptions about Remembrance Day – Susie Townsend...
Primary History 98
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History in the Urban Environment
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
A study of the local environment can make a vital contribution to children's sense of identity, their sense of place and the community in which they live. More importantly, a local study can enable children...
History in the Urban Environment
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Alan Turing
Article
The man who helped win the war, invented computing and inspired artificial intelligence research
Editorial note: Alan Turing was a major figure in the cracking of the Germans' Enigma code at Bletchley Park which could well have helped shortened World War II by a couple of years. The more general...
Alan Turing
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Primary History 11
The primary education journal of the Historical Association
4 Farming in the 30s - Patrick Wood
6 The Living History Experience - Karen Player
8 Do Vikings Eat Chocolate? - Meryl Hargreaves
10 Village History - Kathleen Byrne
12 ''We've Done That Miss" - Four Warwickshire teachers
14 History Comes To Life - Shirley Davies
15 News
16...
Primary History 11
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Primary History 100
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
It is difficult to remember the precarious position of history in...
Primary History 100
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Primary History 99
The primary education journal of the Historical Association
05 Editorial (Read article)
06 Using children’s illustrators as a focus for learning about ‘Past and Present’ in EYFS – Helen Crawford (Read article)
10 Developing disciplinary knowledge: pulling up the portcullis to explore how and why castles and forts developed – Susie Townsend (Read article)
18 Little coins, big...
Primary History 99
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The potential of primary history
Primary History article
In this article Alison Kitson and Michael Riley consider the potential of the primary history curriculum to educate children about climate change and sustainability. They suggest some important principles, and a range of strategies, that could be used to develop a stronger emphasis on environmental history in primary history.
The potential of primary history
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Disability in primary history teaching
Primary History article
This article is based on a session by Bev Forrest and Mel Jones at the HA Conference in May 2024. The central concern is to support teachers to weave the experiences and lives of disabled people in the past into the primary curriculum. It looks at possible opportunities in EYFS, Key Stage 1...
Disability in primary history teaching
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Teaching ‘these islands’ from prehistoric times to 1066
Primary History article
The first aim in the National Curriculum indicates that children should:
Know and understand the history of these islands as a coherent, chronological narrative, from the earliest times to the present day: how people’s lives have shaped this nation and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider...
Teaching ‘these islands’ from prehistoric times to 1066
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Is There a Place for The Holocaust in the Primary Curriculum?
Article
The Holocaust – the murder of approximately six million Jewish men, women and children by Nazi Germany and its collaborators during the Second World War – is possibly the most difficult event that any history teacher will ever have to teach. Most obviously, it can be deeply upsetting, for educators...
Is There a Place for The Holocaust in the Primary Curriculum?
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Primary History 69 - Editorial
Article
When was the last time there was no war anywhere on Earth?
Estimates are that there have been 230 years of peace during the last 3,500 years. Of war fatalities over the past 500 years, it is estimated that three quarters occurred during the twentieth century - including roughly 16...
Primary History 69 - Editorial
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Assessment in Primary History - Guidance
Assessment in Primary History
Whilst a number of schools have had well-considered assessment procedures for primary history, these represented a minority. With the new national curriculum, the old level descriptions have been replaced by a single sentence attainment target which states that "by the end of each key stage, pupils are expected to know,...
Assessment in Primary History - Guidance
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Visual image exemplar: Using pictures of Sutton Hoo objects
Exemplar
Please note: this lesson was produced as part of the Nuffield Primary History project (1991-2009) and pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum.
The Sutton Hoo ship burial contained a king's ransom in gold and jewellery. Indeed, it contained the worldly and spiritual goods needed for the king's voyage into the next world.
But...
Visual image exemplar: Using pictures of Sutton Hoo objects
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The Great Exhibition of 1851: teaching a significant event at Key Stage 1
Primary History article
The Great Exhibition allows pupils to consider the impact of a particular event. The exhibition provides a means to look at Britain’s wider role in the world and social and technical developments such as the impact of the railways. Pupils can explore a variety of sources, consider the substantive concepts...
The Great Exhibition of 1851: teaching a significant event at Key Stage 1
