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…

Thinking skills in history at Key Stage 2; encouraging metacognition

To encourage metacognition – some initial ideas of activities that promote thinking skills. You will find examples of these in…

20 effective enquiries in Key Stage 3 history

Most of these feature as Outstanding Lessons What can we learn about medieval minds from looking at these Doom Paintings?…

How to carry out an effective work sample in Key Stage 3 history

It is assumed that you will already have a few hunches about what you will find based on your informal…

How to interview pupils – The pupil voice: let the children speak

This article draws on the wisdom, insight and practical experience of my friend and colleague Ken Wilby who was the…

What to look for in outstanding history lessons: Your starter for 12

Lists such as these are only useful up to a point. They do highlight what is characteristically present in lessons…

Observing history lessons at KS3

Why bother? Aside from Performance Management, you will want to see your colleagues at work and for them to see…

Feeding back after a lesson observation at KS3

Teaching in front of colleagues who are sitting at the back of your own classroom is nerve-wracking enough. To know…

Interviewing pupils

Much has been written in recent years about the value of listening to the pupils’ voice, not least in terms…

Raising the profile of history at KS1

One of the main roles of subject leaders for history is to be a passionate advocate for the subject. The…

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…

What to look for when evaluating the quality of history in your school – KS2

Evaluating the quality of history in your school involves examining curriculum breadth, teaching effectiveness, pupil engagement, and progression in historical…

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….