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Using Local Buildings
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Whilst there are many obvious historical buildings - castles, Roman Villas and Abbeys these often involve transport costs which may be beyond a school budget. Turner-Bisset suggests:
There is also history in ordinary, everyday sites,...
Using Local Buildings
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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Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.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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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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Learning what a place does and what we do for it
Primary History article
Please note: This article pre-dates the current National Curriculum and some content and references may be outdated.
Why teach children about architecture and the built environment?
Because they shape the future and because they already change our architecture and define the public realm everyday through their actions. Learning about architecture and the built...
Learning what a place does and what we do for it
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Our heritage: use it or lose it
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the current National Curriculum and some content and links may be outdated.
Mrs Markham's influential textbook, ‘A History of England', was first published in 1819 but was still being printed at the end of the nineteenth century. At the end of each chapter is a ‘Conversation'...
Our heritage: use it or lose it
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Victorians
Primary History article
The Victorians is a much-loved unit of work in many schools and some teachers were disappointed to see it had been removed but there are still ways to continue to teach it under the 2014 National Curriculum. In many localities there will be a huge variety of Victorian buildings - including...
Victorians
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How significant is the tragic story of the SS Mendi?
Primary History article
Historical anniversaries and events are often in the news, commemorated locally and nationally. I have found that getting the children involved in topics relating to these can really help them feel the importance of their learning, help them to appreciate the past and feel a sense of responsibility – a...
How significant is the tragic story of the SS Mendi?
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Local People and Places in the Early Years
Article
Learning in the Early Years through Local People and Places: developing historical concepts in the Early Years Foundation Stage
Using the local environment as a starting point for historical learning in EYFS not only helps young children engage and make learning meaningful and relevant, but also helps them develop a strong sense of identity. Working...
Local People and Places in the Early Years
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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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Shropshire's Secret Olympic History
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
What has a small Shropshire town got to do with the modern Olympic Games? Why is a country doctor a key figure in the development of the modern games? Why is one of the 2012 mascots...
Shropshire's Secret Olympic History
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A treasure trove of local history - how to use your local record office
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum.
In her article in Primary History No 21, Jayne Woodhouse highlighted that the study of history needn’t be all about national events. Essentially it is a series of stories, often about ordinary people and their ordinary lives, which can be built up...
A treasure trove of local history - how to use your local record office
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Urban spaces: inner-city Leeds
Lesson Resources
Please note: this free resource pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum.
This is an account of a series of six lessons focusing on a local urban square. Teachers can adapt this to suit their own circumstances. The teaching took place in an inner-city Leeds primary school, with pupils from 48 different...
Urban spaces: inner-city Leeds
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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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Using a local historical figure as a stimulus for history in the English National Curriculum
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Editorial comment: Ben Screech indicates how new trainees are being trained to adapt to the opportunities that the Historical, Geographical and Social Studies area of the New National Curriculum offers.
Using a local historical figure as a stimulus for history in the English National Curriculum
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One of my favourite history places: Conwy
Primary History feature
The medieval walled town of Conwy, situated by the River Conwy and surrounded by the stunning and rugged Welsh countryside, is well deserving of its status as a World Heritage Site and is also my favourite history place.
Approach the town from the east side and the first thing you...
One of my favourite history places: Conwy
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How local history can bridge the gap...
Primary History article
A year on from the 2021 Development Matters and it is now much clearer how the changes in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum, with its emphasis on the role of communities, place, space and histories, has provided greater support for teachers and children to make the transition from the Understanding the...
How local history can bridge the gap...
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Dora Thewlis: Mill girl activist
Primary History article
Dora Thewlis was born in 1890 in Yorkshire to a family of textile workers employed in the mills around the Huddersfield Canal. She followed her mother and elder siblings into the mill at the age of 10, earning around £1 a week.
Dora’s family, and especially her mother, were very...
Dora Thewlis: Mill girl activist
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Chronology and local history: Year 6
Primary History case study
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Editorial note: This short paper introduces a highly creative, imaginative and enthralling case-study of a local history project for year 6 pupils. The teaching programme has a chronological spine that provides coherence and focus. Chronology is...
Chronology and local history: Year 6
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Introducing history at Key Stage 1: a view from the classroom
Article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
‘What are we doing this for?’ I was asked this question as we entered the churchyard to look at the local War memorial. The curiosity and directness of a six year old child is guaranteed...
Introducing history at Key Stage 1: a view from the classroom
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Learning to engage with documents through role play
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
First let me say that I did not research the materials used or plan this lesson. For this I must acknowledge, with thanks, that this is the work of my colleague, Mike Huggins, and the senior...
Learning to engage with documents through role play
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Saltaire: Planning for an effective learning experience on a living site
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 agreed to contribute to a project looking at how Saltaire village, Bradford could be developed as an educational site. This is a very popular site visited by many local schools,...
Saltaire: Planning for an effective learning experience on a living site
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Doing local history
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Editorial comment: ‘Doing Local History' permeates John Fines' oeuvre on the teaching of history - it is both warp and weft. In introducing a Local History case study John outlined the nature and purposes of Local...
Doing local history
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Exploring the history of our place with very young children
Primary History article
Karin Doull considers how we can develop historical thinking in the Early Years in this article about locality and place. Karin offers helpful suggestions for developing historical vocabulary and assessing understanding.
How can we seek to encourage Foundation Stage children to engage with historical thinking and processes? What appears to...
Exploring the history of our place with very young children
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School war memorials as the subject for enquiry-based learning
Primary History article
A visit to a local war memorial to coincide with Remembrance Day leaves a lasting legacy. Every year, groups of primary school children visit a war memorial in their town and village or local church, and increasingly benefit from educational visits to sites of remembrance such as the National Memorial...
School war memorials as the subject for enquiry-based learning
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What was it like to live here in the past? Resourcing the local study
Primary History article
Finding sources for your local study can be a challenge, particularly if you are not familiar with the history of the area around your school.
Please note: this article uses the Images of England website which has now closed down. The images can still be found via the Historic England website. This...
What was it like to live here in the past? Resourcing the local study
