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GCSE Podcast: Revising for the GCSE History Exam
GCSE History Guide
Please note: these resources pre-date the 2014 curriculum
In these three podcasts Ben Walsh and Esther Arnot provide some helpful insights and suggestions to help to revise for the GCSE History Exam.
GCSE Podcast: Revising for the GCSE History Exam
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Primary history in the 21st century: Back to the past?
Primary History article
During my teaching of history I have been amazed by the asinine questions that children and adults ask about the subject matter. For example, a child once asked, ‘Sir, if Queen Cleopatra hadn't been bitten by the asp would she still be alive today?'. This question suggests that despite comprehensive...
Primary history in the 21st century: Back to the past?
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Enhancing temporal cognition: Practical activities for the primary classroom
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Research during the last ninety years has suggested that ‘time' concepts, such as chronology, duration and the usage of dating systems are difficult for children to assimilate. However, my research suggests that temporal concepts can be...
Enhancing temporal cognition: Practical activities for the primary classroom
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Using the back cover image: Communications
Primary History feature
Exploring the everyday objects that shaped our lives in the not too distant past can prove to be exciting historical challenges for primary age children. While we might remember or be familiar with the objects and their use, they can provide confusion for children. This is in part because of...
Using the back cover image: Communications
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Developing awareness of the need to select evidence
Teaching History article
Let's play Supermarket ‘Evidential' Sweep: developing students' awareness of the need to select evidence
Despite having built a sustained focus on historical thinking into their planning for progression across Years 7 to 13, Rachel Foster and Sarah Gadd remained frustrated with stubborn weaknesses in the evidential thinking of students in...
Developing awareness of the need to select evidence
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Evidential understanding, period knowledge and the development of literacy: a practical approach to 'layers of inference' for Key Stage 3
Teaching History article
Claire Riley explains how she developed and improved the ‘layers of inference' diagram-already a popular device since Hilary Cooper's work-as a way of getting pupils fascinated by challenging texts and pictures. Working with the whole ability range in Year 9 she analyses her successes and failures, offering many practical suggestions...
Evidential understanding, period knowledge and the development of literacy: a practical approach to 'layers of inference' for Key Stage 3
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Film: Surviving the Stone Age
Primary History Workshop Annual Conference 2019
This primary workshop took place at at the Historical Association Annual Conference, Chester, May 2019. The workshop featured: Chris Trevor – Presenter of HA subject leader courses/Primary Education consultant and Dave Trevor – Co-presenter of Prehistoric workshops and ex teacher.
This workshop dispelled the popular myths and stereotypes of the Old...
Film: Surviving the Stone Age
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Being ambitious with the causes of the First World War: interrogating inevitability
Teaching History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated
Gary Howells asks hard questions about typical teaching and assessment of historical causation at Key Stage 3. Popular activities that may be helpful in addressing particular learning areas, or in teaching pupils to use the...
Being ambitious with the causes of the First World War: interrogating inevitability
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'What's that stuff you're listening to Sir?' Rock and pop music as a rich source for historical enquiry
Teaching History article
Building on the wonderful articles by Mastin and Sweerts & Grice in TH 108, Simon Butler urges us here to make greater use of rock and pop music in history classrooms. His reasons are persuasive. First, it provides a rich vein of initial stimulus material to tap, helping us to...
'What's that stuff you're listening to Sir?' Rock and pop music as a rich source for historical enquiry
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The Tenth Grade tells Bismarck what to do: using structured role-play to eliminate hindsight in assessing historical motivation
Teaching History article
Neomi Shiloah and Edna Shoham show how history teachers in Israel have begun to move away from traditional talk-and-chalk based teaching. They describe a blend of role-play and ICT that not only grabs pupils’ attention and caters for different styles of learning but also helps pupils to appreciate the difficulties...
The Tenth Grade tells Bismarck what to do: using structured role-play to eliminate hindsight in assessing historical motivation
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Animation case study: Indus Valley figurines
Primary History case study
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum.
Since the advent of animation software for schools, I wanted to trial an animation project, inspired by the quirky human and animal figurines, model wheeled carts and toys, all of terracotta, from the Bronze Age Indus Valley civilisation which clamour for clay...
Animation case study: Indus Valley figurines
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Podcast Series: German History 1918-1948
Multipage Article
An HA Podcasted History of Modern German History: 1918-1948 featuring: Sir Ian Kershaw, Professor Jill Stephenson of the University of Edinburgh, Dr Christina von Hodenberg of Queen Mary, University of London and Professor Benjamin Ziemann of the University of Sheffield.
Podcast Series: German History 1918-1948
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How Michael moved us on: transforming Key Stage 3 through peer review
Teaching History article
Thomas Tallis history department have an interesting approach to planning. Whereas, all too often, this most time-consuming and intellectually demanding of teachers’ tasks is rendered invisible, and is supposed to happen by magic in the middle of the night, this department chose to make the planning process genuinely collaborative, pivotal...
How Michael moved us on: transforming Key Stage 3 through peer review
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History-specific support – for every career stage
Information
Register for the HA's SLT newsletter for more
Our biannual SLT newsletter will give you up-to-date information and support on managing history including updates on current issues, priorities and policy issues. Register here
Subject-specific support is an essential investment in your teaching staff, equipping them with the knowledge and...
History-specific support – for every career stage
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Historical Association Annual Conference - Terms & Conditions
Information
Please read these terms and conditions carefully before booking onto the Historical Association’s Annual Conference. You should understand that by booking a place at this Conference, you agree to adhere to these terms and conditions.
Please note that these terms and conditions are only applicable to the HA’s Conference and...
Historical Association Annual Conference - Terms & Conditions
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Case Study: Teaching World War 1 and professional development
Primary History case study
Please note: This article pre-dates the current National Curriculum and some content and references may be outdated.
During the autumn term 2008 I covered World War I as an example of how to attempt a cross curricular project at KS 2 [7-11 age range] with Newly Qualified Teacher Status [QTS] students. During my...
Case Study: Teaching World War 1 and professional development
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Visual Literacy: Learning through pictures and images
Primary History Article
Please note: this article pre-dates the current National Curriculum and some content and references are outdated.
What questions does the portrait raise in your mind?
What messages does the artist intend to convey?
How does the artist convey those messages to the intended audience? What might have been the circumstances under which the...
Visual Literacy: Learning through pictures and images
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On-demand webinar: Responding to historical questions and engaging in extended writing at A-level
Webinar series: Developing students’ historical thinking at A-level
Webinar series: Developing students’ historical thinking at A-level
Session 2: Responding to historical questions and engaging in extended writing
This second session will consider how teachers have helped their students to develop coherent explanations of historical processes and to form judgments in response to historical questions. The session will then engage with...
On-demand webinar: Responding to historical questions and engaging in extended writing at A-level
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Investigating children's awareness of changing values and attitudes through stories written in the past
Primary History article
Talking about historical stories written at different times in the past can reveal much about the more sophisticated understandings that young children have of the past. Primary school children often work with artefacts, historic architecture and sites to enable them to visualise and reconstruct the past. However, these sources do...
Investigating children's awareness of changing values and attitudes through stories written in the past
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Report on the Bristol Branch's A-level Russian History Conference
16th May 2024
The Bristol Branch of the HA’s A-level Russian History Conference27 March 2024
‘Such a great event – both for students and teachers. Many thanks…for organising it, and for sharing excellent resources’ (Mark Kauntze, Head of History Redland Green School, Bristol)
‘Brilliant, thank you… our students really enjoyed the experience.’ (Phill...
Report on the Bristol Branch's A-level Russian History Conference
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Evidenced based history teaching - teacher as researcher
Article
Introduction
Systematic, sustained provision of in-service courses has virtually disappeared. Increasingly, teachers' main source of professional development is the Internet. There is, however, a huge difference between reading about new approaches and skills and transforming that information, that understanding, into new ways of thinking, planning and teaching.
This is where...
Evidenced based history teaching - teacher as researcher
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British National Curricula For History 1989-2011
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
The national history curricula for Northern Ireland, England and Wales have passed through various stages since working groups were set up in England and Wales in 1989. Developments have been distinct, with Northern Ireland having quite...
British National Curricula For History 1989-2011
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Apology: Move Me On, TH185
17th January 2022
The Historical Association would like to offer an unreserved apology for serious errors of judgement in relation to the Move Me On problem presented within Teaching History 185.
We recognise that the content of this feature has caused offence, that it contained negative stereotypical biases which we failed to recognise and act...
Apology: Move Me On, TH185
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The Historian 140: Out now
Journal news
It sometimes seems to those of us living in Scotland, Ireland and Wales that our histories have no importance to anyone beyond our borders and when Americans, and others around the world, say ‘England’ when they actually mean the ‘United Kingdom’, it is hard not to bristle. Contributors to this...
The Historian 140: Out now
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Write Your Own Historical Fiction Competition 2026
The Historical Association Historical Fiction Prize
Please note: entries for this year’s competition have now closed. Winners will be announced by the end of October 2026.
Each year we are so impressed by the ever-increasing number and standard of entries we receive around such a wide range of historical periods and settings. You can take a look at...
Write Your Own Historical Fiction Competition 2026
