Keystage history

Outstanding Lessons: Key Stage 1

If you have ever searched the internet for inspiration for your history sessions you will know how frustrating it can…

Using artefacts to help children’s historical understanding at Key Stage 1

Since the early 90s, artefacts have become increasingly available either to purchase or to loan. Many firms offer useful replicas…

Progression in chronology – KS1

Start of KS1 Can describe differences between him or herself as a baby and as he or she is now….

Learning principles applied to history at KS1

Effective history teaching at Key Stage 1 is rooted in sound learning principles that support young children’s development. At this…

Top tips for planning your KS2 history studies – The Anglo-Saxons

Planning the Anglo Saxons topic effectively ensures meaningful, engaging learning that builds pupils’ knowledge and thinking skills. These top tips…

Top tips for planning your KS2 history studies – Ancient Greece

A study of Greek life and achievements and their influence on the western world With its emphasis squarely on the…

Top tips for planning your KS2 history studies – Local history

Are you going to do more than one study, one period study in depth and one overview, one in Y3…

Top tips for planning your KS2 history studies – Thematic post-1066

A study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils’ chronological knowledge beyond 1066. Try to make…

Top tips for planning your KS2 history studies – The Vikings in Britain

Viking and Anglo-Saxon struggle for the Kingdom of England to the time of Edward the Confessor. There are two key…

Top tips for planning your KS2 history studies – Benin / Islam / Maya

Focus on why we are teaching this topic at KS2, often for the first time. Why was this civilization quite…

Top tips for planning your KS2 history studies – Roman Empire and its impact on Britain

Whilst it might look as if this is a bigger unit than simply the existing Roman Britain unit, in reality…

Top tips for planning your KS2 history studies – Ancient civilisations

For most of you, you will continue teaching Ancient Egypt as before, for 80% of this topic. You MUST give…

Top tips for planning your KS2 history studies – Stone Age to Iron Age

The British Isles has been populated by humans for 750.000 years but only became an island when the ice sheets…

Anglo-Saxon end of unit quiz

The Anglo-Saxons were people who came from parts of modern-day Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands to settle in Britain after…

Keystage history bulletin – March 2025

Welcome to this special edition of the newsletter devoted to the thorny issue of assessment. You will also find the…

Tudor Britain knowledge organiser – KS2

You are learning about the Tudors as it was a period of history that helped to shape the Britain we…

Mind friendly learning. What should you be doing in your classroom?

Mind-friendly learning in history focuses on creating rich, engaging experiences that align with how young children’s brains develop and absorb…

Latest historian’s wisdom on “Alfred the Great. How great was he?” in 2025

Source: Historical Association (membership required) Francis Leneghan is Professor of Old English at the University of Oxford. In this article…

Castles knowledge organiser – KS1

You are learning about castles because they are one of the most fascinating buildings that have been there for hundreds…

New guidelines for 21st century history

In a recently-published study by the Council of Europe entitled “Quality history in the 21st century” a number of key…

Castles – medium term planner

The main focus of this topic is the exploration of the past beyond living memory through a topic that is…

Castles – KQ1 – What makes a castle a castle?

Having elicited pupils’ initial knowledge of castles from books film and family visits, pupils are asked to explore a number…

Castles – KQ2 – Why did people build castles in the past?

This session is straightforward in that pupils are introduced via a short video to a variety of reasons which not…

Castles – KQ3 – What made castles so strong?

Rather than going through all the different methods used chronologically, this really fun session focuses on one year and casts…

Castles – KQ4 – What were medieval castles like to live in and how can we possibly know when so many are now ruins?

This five-part lesson starts with pupils in role as workers for company charged with recreating what a medieval castle would…

Castles – KQ5 – How did castles change over time?

This lesson starts with encouraging pupils to spot differences between 3 castles to give them confidence before working in groups…

Castles – KQ6 – How are castles used today?

Pupils have to deduce from a range of visual clues of castles they will see around them, the uses to…

Crime and punishment – assessment task

This task is provisional and adopts a different approach to the assessment task on the site you might have tried…

Mary Anning – assessment task

Focus: Significance This simple-to-administer, uncomplicated task uses a contemporary image to stimulate pupils to think about Mary Anning’s long-term significance….

Review of 2025 Historical Association survey

In addition to reading the OFSTED Lead Inspectors’ reports which are available online one of the ways of getting a…

2025 – Important anniversaries

Grace Darling – assessment task

Focus: Interpretations Y1 Pupils compare contrasting images of Graces’ rescue and try to explain how and why they are different….

Seaside – assessment task

Focus: similarity and difference and change Assessing Year 1 children’s understanding of how different going for a swim in the…

Great Fire – assessment task

Focus: Causation Using one large colour image as a stimulus pupils have to draw on their detailed understanding of the…

Caxton and Bell – assessment task

Focus: characteristic features of period & using sources Y2 Using just one image which contains lots of clues, pupils have…

Moon landing – assessment task

Focus : Using sources Pupils have to identify key features from a visual source to answer a question regarding the…

Rosa Parks knowledge organiser – KS1

Rosa Parks was an important black woman who wasn’t afraid to stand up for herself when she was treated unfairly….

Mary Anning knowledge organiser – KS1

You are learning about Mary Anning because she became very famous at a very young age. She was an expert…

Stone Age to Iron Age – assessment task

Very short diagnostic assessment in which pupils are the teachers. They have to correct a pupil’s description of the Bronze…

Wright brothers – assessment task

In this brief diagnostic assessment task , supported by 4 pictorial clues,  pupils are asked to show if they understand…

10 questions which we should ask when planning historical enquiries at KS1

Planning effective historical enquiries at Key Stage 1 lays the foundation for developing children’s curiosity, critical thinking, and understanding of…

Assessment for learning in history at Key Stages 1and 2 (some key ideas from the Primary Strategy)

Elements of AfL Ethos Attitudes Learning environment Routines and behaviours More focus should be placed on: Use of curricular targets…

 10 questions to ask yourself about the KS2 history curriculum

Question 1: Have you exploited the reduced amount of prescription in the new curriculum, or are you still teaching some…

History curriculum review – December 2024 update

If any of you were still waiting for the promised new model history curriculum which was due to appear by…

Sinking of the Titanic – assessment task – looking at consequences and change

This task asks pupils to consider consequences of the disaster and changes over time arising from it Assessment task and…

Florence Nightingale – assessment task

Focus: Change and significance This task offers pupils 3 carefully chose images to support their understanding of the achievements of…

Ancient Egypt – assessment task – The afterlife

Key Elements: ideas, attitudes and beliefs This assessment tasks focuses on a single picture.   Pupils are asked how the image…

Ancient Greece – assessment task – Life for women in Ancient Greece

This is a Year 6 task which focuses on Key Element 2a : characteristic features of life for men women…

Anglo-Saxons – assessment task – What were the main changes that took place in Anglo-Saxon England?

Focus: significance and change Using 3 images to help you, what were the most important changes that took place in…

Early Islamic Civilisation – assessment task – Why was life in 10th century Baghdad was so significant

Using two contrasting illustrations to help them, pupils have to explain why life in 10th century Baghdad was so significant….

Mayan civilisation – assessment task – What can we tell about Mayan society 1,000 years ago?

Focus skill/concept: Understanding characteristic period features and cultural diversity Using 3 images pupils are set the task to explain what…

Roman Britain – assessment task – interpretations of Boudicca

Focus: interpretations Another Year 4 task in which pupils have to compare two unseen illustrations from books about Boudicca. Having…