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Primary Committee biographies
Information
Find out more about the HA's committees here
Helen Crawford (Committee Chair)
Helen studied history at university and has worked in primary schools for twenty years as a class teacher, history subject leader, inclusion manager and senior leader. Most of her teaching career has been in London schools, but...
Primary Committee biographies
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Portsmouth Branch History
Branch History
See the current Portsmouth Branch programme of events
Portsmouth's Branch "Minutes Book No. 2" of the years 1946 -1981 is in the city Record Office. It records a Jubilee Dinner held in 1974: so the Branch was founded in 1924. Sadly, no "Minutes Book No. 1" has come to light....
Portsmouth Branch History
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Write Your Own Historical Fiction competition 2024 – the winners
The HA's writing competition for children aged 10-15 years
Real history contains some of the most fanciful, exciting, worrying and incredible stories – learning about the past can open our eyes to how people have interacted with the world and each other for centuries. It is not surprising that alongside the real history most cultures and traditions have a...
Write Your Own Historical Fiction competition 2024 – the winners
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Royal Holloway launches 'Inclusive Histories' project
18th September 2024
Royal Holloway, University of London has launched a £1.5 million project to support teachers with more inclusive UK political history resources.
The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) backed project will also support the AQA GCSE History specification, ‘Britain: Power and the People c1170 to the present day’.
This ‘Inclusive...
Royal Holloway launches 'Inclusive Histories' project
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Welcome to HA Membership
Information
We are delighted to welcome you as a member of the Historical Association. By joining you’ve become part of a vibrant subject community made up of thousands of different people with a shared interest: history!
Whether you want to gain access to high quality teaching support, undertake training to help...
Welcome to HA Membership
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HA short courses: Terms and conditions
Information
Please read the short course terms and conditions carefully before you register for a place on the short course. By booking a place, you agree to adhere to these terms and conditions.
Please note that these terms and conditions are only applicable to the HA’s short course and do not...
HA short courses: Terms and conditions
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Write Your Own Historical Fiction competition 2023 – the winners
The HA's writing competition for children aged 10-19 years
Being inspired by stories of the past to tell stories for today has kept people entertained for hundreds of years. Take a look at the shelves in any bookshop and there will be plenty of historical fiction. That is why we believe in starting them young at the HA, and...
Write Your Own Historical Fiction competition 2023 – the winners
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HA Annual Conference 2026: call for papers
Workshop proposals open until 7 November
The HA Annual Conference will be held in Newcastle in 2026. This two-day conference on 15-16 May is a leading highlight of the history community's year. It brings together all those working in and who have an active interest in history and heritage. With top-level academics, pedagogical sessions and discussion panels, the conference is...
HA Annual Conference 2026: call for papers
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Oppenheimer – a review
Paula Kitching
It is a blockbuster summer and autumn for films as the big studios seem to be hitting back following the Covid slump. Even better, rather than it just being about comic-book superheroes and supervillains, this year some of the film studios have hit on historical topics to get the audiences...
Oppenheimer – a review
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What makes good primary history?
Transition Training Session 5
This is the 5th in a series of 5 sessions arising from the 2005 KS2-KS3 History Transitions Project:
Transition training session 1: Historical Enquiries & Interpretations
Transition training session 2: Using ICT in the teaching of history
Transition training session 3: Extended writing in history
Transition training session 4: Joan of Arc -...
What makes good primary history?
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Popular history: Using the media
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Should we use the media to teach history? Many people who were ‘turned off' history at school have been brought back to it in later life by visits to historic places and especially by television programmes....
Popular history: Using the media
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The History around us: Local history
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
History is an important aspect of the development of even very young children. They need to begin to develop the foundations of an understanding of the past and how it has developed and affected our present....
The History around us: Local history
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HA awards evening 2022 round-up
21st July 2022
On 7 July in central London the Historical Association held our annual awards evening. The evening is an opportunity to present in person the awards for some of the competitions that the HA organises and to recognise many of the people who have achieved awards in history, contributed to the...
HA awards evening 2022 round-up
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Revising the Elizabethans
Revising the Elizabethans
In this series of podcasts Andy Harmsworth offers some advice and suggestions to help you when revising the Elizabethans for the GCSE History Exam.
Revising the Elizabethans
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Higher Education Committee biographies
HA Committees
Read the Higher Education Committee's remit
Find out more about the HA's committees
Katharine Burn
Katharine Burn is Associate Professor of Education at the University of Oxford, where she teaches on the PGCE History programme and on a range of part-time Masters courses for practising teachers. She is co-editor of the HA’s professional...
Higher Education Committee biographies
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Story-telling and simulation exemplar: The Great Exeter Fish War of 1309
Exemplar
The lesson was taught to 44 Year 3 children in a first school in Exeter. It describes how a story was used to introduce a local history unit, and how we followed it up. To begin, we sat the children on the carpet and told them John Hooker's story about...
Story-telling and simulation exemplar: The Great Exeter Fish War of 1309
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Teaching the Ancient Greeks: an introduction
Reference guide
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...
Teaching the Ancient Greeks: an introduction
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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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Romans, Anglo-Saxons, and Vikings Lessons
Lesson Plans
Please note: these lessons were produced as part of the Nuffield Primary History project (1991-2009) and pre-date the 2014 National Curriculum.
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...
Romans, Anglo-Saxons, and Vikings Lessons
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Britain and the Wider World in Tudor Times
Reference
The wider world: The Tudors ruled Britain during a fascinating and fast-changing century. Europe emerged from the Middle Ages, and Europeans sailed across the oceans, reaching the East, discovering the New World of America, establishing colonies, and circumnavigating the world for the first time (Ferdinand Magellan in 1517, and Francis...
Britain and the Wider World in Tudor Times
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The Right Kind of History. An Interview with Nicola Sheldon, Jenny Keating and John Hamer
Interview
Sir David Cannadine has written the book that tells the history of history in schools. On the podcast on this site he outlines some of his reasons for wanting to write the book and what his findings were. But alongside his name on the front cover are his research team...
The Right Kind of History. An Interview with Nicola Sheldon, Jenny Keating and John Hamer
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David Cannadine Interview about his book: The Right Kind of History
Cannadine Interview
Sir David Cannadine has done the unthinkable he has traced the teaching of history in state schools since the beginning. In his book The Right Kind of History: Teaching the Past in Twentieth-Century England he explores the real history of history education the truth is discovered to that age old...
David Cannadine Interview about his book: The Right Kind of History
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Battle of Arnhem Anniversary
75 years since Operation Market Garden
This September marks the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Arnhem in 1944 - otherwise known as Operation Market Garden. Launched on 17 September, it was an Allied attack to take further parts of Western Europe from Nazi control and continue the push created over the summer.
Building on the successes...
Battle of Arnhem Anniversary
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Vikings settle down
Lesson Plan (KS2)
Please note: this lesson was produced as part of the Nuffield Primary History project (1991-2009) and pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum. It is part of a full sequence of lessons available here.
This resource is free to everyone. For access to hundreds of other high-quality resources by primary history experts...
Vikings settle down
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Doing History at University 2025
Thinking of studying history at university?
Booking closed
(Registration is via Cademy which opens in a new window. Please read the HA CPD terms and conditions before registering)
We are pleased to be hosting a Doing History at University event for students and teachers in partnership with the University of Sheffield. The aim of the event is to...
Doing History at University 2025