Keystage history - Imaginative History Teaching in Primary and Secondary Schools
About Keystage History
Keystage history is the home of best practice in primary and secondary history teaching and learning. You can totally trust the authoritative, cutting edge, expert advice and you will be inspired by all the creative planning and teaching ideas. Subscribers love the wide range of fully resourced history lessons, all judged outstanding by a vastly experienced LA history adviser who has observed over 2,000 primary and secondary lessons and has carried out 60 national inspections for OFSTED. Every aspect of leading history 5-19 is covered in detail, from assessment and progression through to curriculum planning, raising standards and inspiring colleagues. This site is a must for any forward-looking subject leader.
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What are deep dive OFSTED reports saying about history within the EIF 2019 Framework
I thought I would publish all the OFSTED deep dive reports i can find which illuminate what schools should be doing in primary history Here are verbatim extracts from a recent deep dive into history in a school judged outstanding ....moreMeeting OFSTED’s criteria for a good history curriculum at KS1 and 2 during extended transition period
Now that schools have an extra year’s grace from OFSTED to refine their curriculum that is being worked on, it is worth reminding ourselves of the key indicators that inspectors will be exploring.more- broadening the curriculum to make sure that...
Great new lesson on Ancient Egypt coming soon
A great new lesson using objects to draw conclusions about life in Ancient Egypt is soon to be available to subscribers who can request an early draft copy from 1.06.20 The lesson takes images of four small objects each of which...moreThinking historically: ‘learning to’..as well as ‘learning about’
While so many of you are locked down, it seems a good time to remind you of the key features of what it means to think historically. Much is encapsulated in the title. What do we ask children to learn...moreWhat new material would you like to see on the Keystage history website
Up til now, what goes on the site has largely been driven bu the need to cover the National Curriculum/GCSE syllabi. The time has now come to move to the next phase where we respond to your requests. So, if...moreWhat should we do with Martha? Exciting new New KS2 lesson on VIctorian workshouses ready for subscribers on request
We are about to launch an exciting new KS2 lesson on the poor in Victorian Britain. The lesson is called. What should we do with Martha and revolves around life in a Victorian workhouse. Martha is a difficult child, having...more
KQ2 Why did Grace Darling act in the way she did?
An active lesson in which pupils generate adjectives and then use a Diamond-4 ranking activity, followed by hot seating, to ascertain Grace’s motivation. A broader context is achieved by asking pupils to analyse the possible reasons why Grace was seen...more
How to get KS1 pupils into history-13 ideas
If you haven't already come across this School Run website offers 13 different ideas for making history come alive with your pupils, including games, story books, visits, history re-enactments etc. What i like about the list is that they...more
Common assessment tasks in history at KS1
It is often difficult knowing how to assess pupils’ historical thinking at KS1. Are we simply testing literacy and /or recall? But what about historical understanding? Faced with this problem, I have been working with two large London primary schools....more
Medium-term planning for history at Key Stage 1
This part of the site contains a dozen detailed fully-developed enquiry-led, key question-driven medium term plans for all the major KS1 history -led topics. They have all been judged to be outstanding by an experienced OFSTED history inspector. All the...more
KQ2 Why did Grace Darling act in the way she did?
An active lesson in which pupils generate adjectives and then use a Diamond-4 ranking activity, followed by hot seating, to ascertain Grace’s motivation. A broader context is achieved by asking pupils to analyse the possible reasons why Grace was seen...more
KQ2 What are other people’s toys like?
This session comprises two very simple tasks: matching objects to the young children who would usually play with them, followed by a follow-up task, this time on the theme of wheeled transport where children have to sequence 3 images and...moreSpreading the word: a new KS1 topic that links famous people on the same theme: Caxton and Bell
Those of you who have shown an interest in this topic will be pleased to know that enough schools have enquired about it so that we have promoted it up our priority list for development.. I'm pleased to say that...more
KQ2 Why did Grace Darling act in the way she did?
An active lesson in which pupils generate adjectives and then use a Diamond-4 ranking activity, followed by hot seating, to ascertain Grace’s motivation. A broader context is achieved by asking pupils to analyse the possible reasons why Grace was seen...moreKQ2 What are other people’s toys like?
This session comprises two very simple tasks: matching objects to the young children who would usually play with them, followed by a follow-up task, this time on the theme of wheeled transport where children have to sequence 3 images and...moreSpreading the word: a new KS1 topic that links famous people on the same theme: Caxton and Bell
Those of you who have shown an interest in this topic will be pleased to know that enough schools have enquired about it so that we have promoted it up our priority list for development.. I'm pleased to say that...more
How to assess pupils’ progress in KS2 history. At last the answer that not only works but will work for you too.
Even though we will have had the National Curriculum for history ( albeit in different guises) for nearly 30 years, there hasn’t been a great deal of attention paid to, let alone progress with, the thorny issue of assessment. Up...moreThe top 10 things you need to know about chronology at KS2, but were afraid to ask.
The top 10 things you need to know about chronology at KS2, but were afraid to ask. 1.There is more to chronology than sequencing. While sequencing is fundamentally important, you also need to think about a range of other issues too....more
Planner for teaching early Islamic civilization at KS2
For many schools this is new topic and one to be taught with particular sensitivity in the 21st century. Try wherever possible to think of the reasons it is on the curriculum i.e. for about half of what is deemed...more
Rotten apple or …. How should we portray Dyer’s motivation in the Amritsar massacre?
This enquiry asks students to look critically at the depiction of the massacre in the film Gandhi as a way into trying to determine the motivation of Dyer. Students are provided with an initial set of influence cards which they...moreGreat new KS3/ GCSE lesson on Amritsar massacre looking at Gen. Dyer’s actions in the context of India and the Empire
Loading tomorrow is a great new lesson exploring the motivation of Gen. Dyer at Amritsar 1919. It starts with students analysing Attenborough's treatment in the 7 min excerpt from Gandhi followed by a 2-part thinking skills activity. Students are given...more
How should Germany be treated at the Paris peace conference? KS3 or KS4 task
This short but engaging task precedes any detailed analysis of the terms of the treaty itself. It has four distinct elements: prediction; analysis of a rarely seen German poster; attaching significance; and refining ideas based on most recent scholarship. Step 1 Firstly,...more
Rotten apple or …. How should we portray Dyer’s motivation in the Amritsar massacre?
This enquiry asks students to look critically at the depiction of the massacre in the film Gandhi as a way into trying to determine the motivation of Dyer. Students are provided with an initial set of influence cards which they...moreHow should Germany be treated at the Paris peace conference? KS3 or KS4 task
This short but engaging task precedes any detailed analysis of the terms of the treaty itself. It has four distinct elements: prediction; analysis of a rarely seen German poster; attaching significance; and refining ideas based on most recent scholarship. Step 1 Firstly,...more
Which cartoon best explains the paradox of the Nazi Soviet pact?
moreThe Unholy Alliance: why on earth did Hitler and Stalin sign the Nazi-Soviet Pact when they clearly hated each other?
Starting with the historical puzzle of why Stalin and Hitler signed the Non-Aggression pact on August 1939 which so shocked the...
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About Me
Neil acts as an educational consultant for history for schools throughout the country. After teaching for 12 years, during which time he ran two departments and was a member of the Senior Leadership, Neil moved into advisory work,
For 18 years, he supported 70 secondary and 450 primary and special schools in Hampshire during which time he carried out over 60 national OFSTED inspections. More recently he has been heavily involved in running about 40 highly acclaimed national training courses a year for primary and secondary history teachers, as well as bespoke whole staff INSET days in primary schools.
