KS2 History Resources, Lessons and Planning
If life was so hard in Victorian cities, why did Wilf move his family there?
If life was so hard for families in the towns why did so many leave the countryside and move to the towns in Victorian times? – a history mystery Starting…
Read MoreThe mystery of the empty Saxon grave
This highly engaging lesson places pupils in the role of detectives. After a short briefing they have to work out the significance of the various clues found in the bodiless…
Read MoreEric the evacuee
Extending the BBC website on Eric the evacuee The BBC children’s history section has been in touch with the school asking for their help in extending their website section on…
Read MorePrimary History: Teaching Victorian Britain Key Stage 2
Astonishingly, at a stroke, Gove removed the Victorians from the KS2 history curriculum where it had reigned supreme for decades. At least he thinks he has. Most primary teachers will…
Read MoreForward planning in history at Key Stage 2
This section ties in with the others on prioritising and monitoring and the message is basically the same. You need to be clear about: What you are trying to improve,…
Read MorePrioritising your work as history leader
When there is so little non-contact time to lead history, it is crucial that you spend your time wisely. This is easier said than done, when it inevitably means that…
Read MoreMonitoring in history at Key Stage 2
You will, at some stage, need to monitor standards and the quality of learning in history. The quality of teaching will also need to be looked at, but how you…
Read MoreUsing data to improve history teaching and learning at Key Stage 2
Given that there is no subject-specific data on history at Key Stage 2 this might seem a strange inclusion on the site. Those of you who feel that there is…
Read MoreRaising attainment in history at Key Stage 2
The prospect of raising attainment across the whole key stage is quite daunting, especially when you consider how little non-contact time you have to devote to history. You can waste…
Read MoreSelf-evaluation in history at Key Stage 2
Please view our curriculum health check -> With the emphasis of school improvement and OFSTED inspection now firmly placed on self-evaluation this has become one of the most important sections…
Read MorePersonalised learning in history at KS 2
This is certainly one of the key areas to be focusing on in the next few years and lies at the heart of the government’s Every Child Matters agenda. But a…
Read MoreGender issues in history at Key Stage 2
It is hard to think of a teaching and learning strategy that one would use with boys. We all know that boys seem to like more active approaches, but so…
Read MoreGifted and talented pupils in history at Key Stage 2
Much has been written in general terms about identifying and then catering for able pupils in history. OFSTED and others have criticized schools for not moving beyond identification and general…
Read MoreKey motivational factors in history teaching at Key Stage 2
The essence of what appeals to pupils can often be summed up by the words, People, Puzzle and Point. Children engage best if there is human interest . They like…
Read MoreS.E.N. in history at Key Stage 1 and 2
By inclusion we mean three things here: setting suitable learning challenges, responding to pupils’ diverse needs, and overcoming potential barriers to learning and assessment for individuals and groups. Below are…
Read MoreHow to teach Ancient Greece to Key Stage 2
To all intents and purposes, the ancient Greek planning and all the outstanding lessons fit just as perfectly with the current curriculum as well as the existing one. The only…
Read MoreUsing a Victorian census to discover what life was like 100 years ago
There are 4 separate ways of approaching this topic, each becoming increasingly more ambitious. Stage 1 is featured below. Stages 2-4 are to follow, though draft material is available to…
Read MoreVictorian Cities
If life was so hard for families in the towns why did so many leave the countryside and move to the towns in Victorian times? – a history mystery Starting…
Read MoreCreativity in History at Key Stages 1 and 2
This best place to start with developing your thinking on creativity in history is to think in terms of: Teaching approaches Learning activities Learning outcomes Learning environment Just a few…
Read MoreWhat do we mean by thinking skills in history at Key Stage 2?
Why we need thinking skills Historical narrative, explanation, role-play, TV programmes etc can give children the information, or they can find it out for themselves, but how do they understand…
Read MoreNumeracy and history at Key Stage 2
History is full of opportunities to enhance pupils’ grasp of numeracy. We don’t have to contrive examples. We do, however, need to appreciate what different historical contexts can offer and…
Read MoreOpportunities for Citizenship Education in Key Stage 2 History
This section covers two main aspects: the ways of thinking that support citizenship education and the knowledge of past situations which helps children make sense of the present. People talk…
Read MoreDesigning your curriculum for history at Key Stage 2
With the current National Curriculum for history, schools have had to make some major changes to the structure as well as content of their curriculum. Now, you not only need…
Read MoreRationale for how you teach your KS2 curriculum history
When planning your history, it is really important that you spend some time establishing a strong rationale for your choice and sequencing of history topics. This is increasingly being looked…
Read MoreHow well do you and your KS2 pupils know the Stone Age to Iron Age topic?
A brief set of diagnostic questions to set your Y3 pupils towards the end of the Stone Age to Iron Age topic to check on their understanding of the key…
Read MoreHistory for pupils with EAL in Key Stages 1 and 2
Most of you will be well-versed in strategies for helping children with EAL access other subjects in the curriculum and will not need detailed guidance on general issues. To help…
Read MoreDeveloping your staff
Nearly all teachers enjoy teaching history and will want to improve the quality of their own teaching so that children can make better progress. However, the demanding task of improving…
Read MorePrimary History: Teaching From Stone Age to Iron Age
Although not widely taught before it was introduced into the Ks2 curriculum for 2014, this new area of study has the potential to be one of the most exciting to…
Read MoreVikings – KQ5 – What can we learn about Viking settlement from a study of place-name endings?
Viking place name evidence A very active session in which pupils apply their knowledge of Viking place name endings to look for settlement patterns, using maps of Lincolnshire and the…
Read MoreVikings – KQ6 – Raiders or settlers: how should we remember the Vikings?
Differing views of the Vikings Fun concluding lesson in which pupils produce a balanced, illustrated Zig-Zag book to please a Scandinavian publisher, having looked at differing views of the Vikings….
Read MorePrimary History: Teaching Benin
When teaching this unit, you are advised to use the medium-term planner in the planning section which links the learning strategies directly to specific well-chosen objectives which are pitched at the…
Read MorePrimary History: Teaching Early Islam/Baghdad c.900
All the lessons featured below flow from the detailed medium-term planner. Each has been chosen to help pupils not only to learn about this magnificent society in its Golden Age…
Read MoreEarly Islamic civilization – KQ6 – Which of the early Islamic achievements has most effect on our lives today?
Key Question 6 consists of 2 Smart Tasks. Following a brief overview of the impact of early Islamic achievements on our world today, pupils work on two discrete tasks. Firstly…
Read MoreHistory Teaching Smart Tasks for Key Stage 2
This section of the site look at smart tasks: short enquiry-led thinking skills activities. Unlike the outstanding lessons section, they do not attempt to offer a lesson plan but do…
Read MoreKS2 Quick Quiz on the Vikings
This exit task is a quick way of working out whether the key messages of your teaching about the Vikings have been understood and is best done towards the end…
Read MoreHistory and literacy – Making sense of a letter from Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn
Pupils are given a copy of a letter from Henry to Anne Boleyn. It appears, at first glance to be impossibly hard to read – so many old-fashioned words, such…
Read MoreAssessment of interpretations of Boudicca
Below is an account of an assessment task on Boudicca , with downloadable resources, just one of many assessed tasks on the site. You will find at least one for…
Read MoreTeaching Life in Britain 1930-1945 at Key Stage 2
Inexplicably axed by Michael Gove from the curriculum, my advice is to carry on teaching this highly successful unit focusing on the Home Front. You can shave time from other…
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Expert-created KS2 history resources for Years 3–6, including complete lesson plans, PowerPoints, medium-term plans, assessment tasks, quizzes and knowledge organisers.





























