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Jubilee medals: celebration and creation
Primary History article
The Queen’s jubilee is a great opportunity to explore a huge range of concepts with EYFS children, and what better way to celebrate the experience than by creating your own celebration medals and to wear them in your own celebrations, as a continuation of the celebrations of so many years past....
Jubilee medals: celebration and creation
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World War II evacuees and Kindertransport
Primary History Article
Editorial Note: The impact of war on children's lives and witness testimony is a powerful way to motivate history learning through engaging children with the recent past. The process of developing this unit provides a wonderful example of reflective curriculum development, and a teaching and learning journey.
When I first taught...
World War II evacuees and Kindertransport
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Exploring the story of elections and voting with your primary students
Primary History article
David Carr introduces us to some of the educational resources and opportunities linked to the Houses of Parliament. With the prospect of a general election, it provides some interesting background information as well as suggestions for engaging children with the democratic process...
Exploring the story of elections and voting with your primary students
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Significant anniversaries: The Bristol Bus Boycott, 1963
Primary History article
It is sixty years since the Bristol Bus Boycott highlighted race inequalities and discrimination in the workplace. In this article, Stuart Boydell revisits this watershed moment and considers how the Bristol Bus Boycott could be incorporated into the curriculum today.
Sixty years ago, Bristol was at the centre of a...
Significant anniversaries: The Bristol Bus Boycott, 1963
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What’s in your pocket, Peg?
Primary History article
What’s in your pocket, Peg? is a story book about Jersey which experienced German occupation throughout most of World War II. We wanted to create a book that appealed to children across different primary age groups, helping them to imagine the first-hand life experiences of a child alive at that time. The...
What’s in your pocket, Peg?
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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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Musings and misconceptions about Remembrance Day
Primary History article
Very few primary schools do not address Remembrance Day in some form or another. We assume a broad awareness of what it stands for but Susie Townsend suggests that this may not always have been the case. We may be making assumptions about children’s awareness that are not justified. This...
Musings and misconceptions about Remembrance Day
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Olympics, past and present
Primary History article
This article will consider how to use the Olympics as a ‘past event’. It will provide material that will allow children to compare and contrast Olympic Games that have been hosted in Paris. They will be encouraged to look at what has changed in relation to the sports, medals and...
Olympics, past and present
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Earth heroes: Etta Lemon, ‘The Mother of Birds’
Primary History article
In this article Ailsa Fidler considers Etta Lemon and her role in halting the plume boom, which saw many bird species driven to the edge of extinction, all in the name of fashion. Linking a study of Etta to the government’s policy on Climate Education, the article shows how Etta’s...
Earth heroes: Etta Lemon, ‘The Mother of Birds’
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Dig for sustainability!
Primary History article
Paul Spear uses World War II government advertising strategies such as ‘Make do and Mend’ to consider how to promote modern campaigns related to sustainability. He investigates what the wartime government did to engage with the population as a whole and generate national action. By analysing how images were used...
Dig for sustainability!
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Exploring sustainability in the Early Years
Primary History article
Lucy Hawker has thought about how we might begin to explore the idea of sustainability with very young children. She suggests focussing on why we might save or reuse materials and objects. She presents a loose structure that could be used to develop talk. She also considers how we might...
Exploring sustainability in the Early Years
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Significant anniversaries: Windrush 75
Primary History article
It is 75 years since the ship called the Empire Windrush brought people from the Caribbean to begin a new life in the United Kingdom. Those who also arrived in the years leading up to 1971 are often referred to as ‘the Windrush generation’. Their contribution to Britain socially, culturally...
Significant anniversaries: Windrush 75
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Teaching about Remembrance Day in EYFS
Primary History article
Remembrance Day (11 November) is an important time for children to learn about how we choose to both represent and remember significant events in the past. Within EYFS, learning about remembrance most obviously lends itself to Understanding the World – with a focus on children making connections between past and present,...
Teaching about Remembrance Day in EYFS
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The new King
Primary History article
King Charles III acceded to the throne on 8 September 2022 on the death of Queen Elizabeth II. This article looks at the lives of the three kings named Charles and investigates how things will change with our new king. It includes activities and a timeline of British monarchs from Tudors to present...
The new King
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The Queen in procession
Primary History article
Today’s children in reception and nursery were probably not born at the last jubilee and it is possible that they will not remember this one, nevertheless they will have the chance to be part of this historic occasion. If we help prepare them to understand what is going to happen...
The Queen in procession
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Ten texts for the Platinum Jubilee
Primary History article
With the Platinum Jubilee approaching later this year and celebrations planned for June 2022, here is a round-up of ten fiction and non-fiction books which will help you plan and find resources for your school celebrations...
Ten texts for the Platinum Jubilee
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50th anniversary of the UK’s first official Pride march: 1 July 2022
Primary History article
2022 is a special year as it marks the 50th anniversary of the first official UK Pride march which was held in London on 1 July 1972. The Pride movement, and events like the London in Pride march, were inspired and influenced by the Stonewall riots. These were protests that took place...
50th anniversary of the UK’s first official Pride march: 1 July 2022
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Anniversary: Festival of Britain 1951
Primary History article
The Festival of Britain was held 70 years ago. For many this provided a boost for the country after the deprivations of World War II and the economic struggles afterwards. It was designed to be educational and was held 100 years after the Great Exhibition. It was designed to show pride...
Anniversary: Festival of Britain 1951
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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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Anniversaries: The Coventry Blitz and the Grave of the Unknown Soldier
Primary History article
This Autumn we remember two events related to the impact of war and how people have reacted to them. The first anniversary remembers the Nazi devastation of Coventry 80 years ago on 14 November 1940 and the second event relates to the body of the ‘Unknown warrior’ who was laid...
Anniversaries: The Coventry Blitz and the Grave of the Unknown Soldier
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The Phoney War: teaching WWII
Primary History article
The term ‘phoney war’ refers to the period at the beginning of WWII between September 1939 and April 1940 when there was little fighting. It was brought to an abrupt end by the German invasion of Norway in April 1940. The term is thought to have been coined by an...
The Phoney War: teaching WWII
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Rhyd-y-Car cottages at St Fagans Museum of Welsh Life
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum.
The miner’s cottage is part of a project at The Museum of Welsh Life, St Fagans, to preserve folk history. Since its founding in 1948, over 40 buildings, including a row of six original miners’ cottages from Rhyd-y-Car, have been dismantled and...
Rhyd-y-Car cottages at St Fagans Museum of Welsh Life
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The Blitz: All we need to know about World War II?
Primary History article
The Blitz of 1940 is certainly a significant event in Britain’s past, one which has repeatedly been drawn upon as a symbol of national consciousness. It was a time when most of Europe had been defeated by the Nazi regime in Germany, typically through ‘Blitzkrieg’ – or lightning war methods...
The Blitz: All we need to know about World War II?
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Using the back cover image: Lest We Forget
Primary History feature
Over the past four years the nation has been commemorating the centenary of the First World War. From soldiers, women, animals, technology and much more… we researched, filmed, documented and preserved. On 11 November, 100 years since the agreement to end hostilities, we commemorated the Armistice. But what can we...
Using the back cover image: Lest We Forget
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Women in parliament since 1918
Primary History article
At the 1918 election just one woman, Constance Markievicz, won a seat, in Dublin, for Sinn Fein. She was in prison at the time. At the time, of course, the whole of Ireland was part of the United Kingdom. All 73 Sinn Fein MPs refused to take up their seats, and...
Women in parliament since 1918
