Keystage history

Roman Britain – Supporting KQ1 – Julius Caesar and the invasions of Britain. Why did he come?

Julius Caesar and the invasions of Britain. Why did he come? Exploring human motivation. When Julius Caesar invaded in successive…

Roman Britain – KQ2 part 1 – Should the Celts take on the Romans? A reconstruction relay.

The Roman Army This highly active, boy friendly activity has proved extremely popular in schools and has led to some…

Beyond Face Value – KQ5 – Were the evacuees as happy as they were shown?

Two great tasks which together make up Key Question 5 of the Britain at War medium term plan, Why is…

Victorian Britain – KQ1 – What were the main changes that took place during this time?

Motivating introductory lessons which , from the outset, challenges pupils to compare two images of the same place from the…

Victorian Britain – KQ2 – Children working in Victorian factories: was it as bad as they tell us?

This lesson is designed for Y5/6 pupils who already have a little knowledge of industrial change but have not yet…

Victorian Britain – KQ3 – 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 a lesson with an apparent contradiction is a good way of engaging pupils interest. This ‘history mystery’ makes excellent…

Is this what Dickens' London looked like?

Victorian Britain – KQ3a – What the Dickens was life like in the Victorian cities?

This lesson makes extremely good use of a technique called creative tension. Pupils listen, with their eyes closed, to a…

How did people feel about the coming of the railway?

Victorian Britain – KQ4 – Victorian railways: winners and losers. A thinking skills activity leading to a role play

This active thinking skills lesson asks pupils to consider the likely effect of the coming of the railways on different…

Victorian Britian – KQ5a – Going to school in Victorian times: can pupils write a paragraph for a KS1 textbook using photographs alone? SMART TASK Y3-5

This activity puts pupils in the role as researchers for a new book on Victorian schools. They have been commissioned…

Victorian Britain – KQ5b – Victorian poor and the workhouse; what does Martha’s story tell us?

NB This is an additional lesson that does not appear on the planner. This topic couldn’t be more relevant to…

Victorian Britain – KQ5c – Climbing boys enquiry – SMART TASK

This enquiry falls into five parts: A selection of four related enquiry tasks which encourage pupils to explore and then…

Victorian Britain – KQ6 – The Victorian Era: Dark Age or Golden Age?

This is the concluding lesson on the Victorians. It starts with a plate and a poster commemorating the achievements of…

What can you do at KS3 to make your history curriculum more representative?

In a recent article for the Historical Association ( HA news- Autumn 2020) Jake Subryan Richards offers his advice: ”…

12 things you need to know about the Mayan civilization before you teach it at KS2

1. The Mayan settlements were among the largest anywhere in the world in year 1000 In the year 1000 settlements…

Full sample recent primary history report January 2020

Pupils in your school thoroughly enjoy learning history. They like the enquiry-based approach you take to learning in the history…

Beyond Face Value – KQ6 – The Blitz. What was photographer Fred’s clever way of beating the censors?

In this fascinating lesson pupils learn how photographers avoided the censors they saw in KQ5 and how the government used…

Plotting your pupils journey in history learning across the school

Just came across this visual depiction of the history curriculum at Springfield School in Hackney and thought I’d bring it…

Terror of the Tramp: Why did vagrancy become such an important issue in Elizabethan England?

GCSE lesson in which students work through a range of differentiated clues to work out 8 reasons which help answer…

How close to World War Three has the world come since 1945. A Year 9 enquiry.

Just as the United Nations is marking its 75th anniversary, so the world peace it was set up to maintain…

OFSTED’s view of deep dives in history

Recently Matthew Purves , the Deputy Director for Schools, set out OFSTED’s latest thinking on deep dives in primary schools….

Report on leadership of primary history 2020

One of the key features underpinning the high quality of history learning was that history has a high status throughout the school, recognised…

Analysis of OFSTED reports November 2019- February 2020, with my commentary

Analysis of OFSTED reports November 2019-February 2020, with my commentary By trawling through the most recent pre-Covid reports from November…

Meeting 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…

Deep dive issues: progression and assessment in primary history

One of the features of deep dive subject inspections is that the two hardest areas of a primary history leader’s…

OFSTED’s early EIF (2019) primary history deep dives

What do the first 3 months’ of reports tell us? Although there is even less detail in the new shorter…

What do deep dive OFSTED inspections look like for history?

What does a new deep dive 2019 inspection look like for history? Basically, there are 6 areas that the history…

Intent, Implementation, Impact to be more representative of the BAME in secondary history

Intent What do you want your students in your school to know by the end of KS3? Why is this…

What does INTENT actually mean for primary history in the new OFSTED Framework for 2019? Building blocks and the Big Picture

What does INTENT actually mean for primary history in the new OFSTED Framework for 2019? Building blocks and the Big…

10 things history leaders need to know about the OFSTED 2019 Framework

10 things you need to know about leading history and the 2019 OFSTED framework You will have to show that you are…

Indian Mutiny/rebellion of 1857

This lesson is aimed at Y9/GCSE students. It addresses three principal aspects of history teaching: How to be thoughtful and…

Smart task Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole: Who said it? / Who am I?

This simple task encourages children to spot the differences between Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole. With a large A4 image…

British Empire – How can we infer so much about the empire from a study of just one map and the person who created it?

This session starts by looking at the information to be gleaned from a well-known 1886 map of the empire and …

Richard I: Lionheart or loser should we keep his statue – SMART TASK

This short task puts pupils in the role of spin doctors who have to ‘big up’ the reputation of Richard…

Changes for the 2021 GCSE History examination announced by AQA today

AQA GCSE History (8145) Students entering for GCSE History exams next summer will have a choice of studies with one…

Medium Term Planner for Thematic unit Beyond Face Value Year 6

This end-of-key stage unit fulfils the post-1066 thematic requirement of the National Curriculum, but it does so in a particularly…

What does good leadership of history look like at KS 1 and 2 according to recent OFSTED deep dive reports

My analysis of all the recent ‘pre-Covid19 ‘ reports reveals the following comments about primary history leadership, both positive and…

Post-1066 thematic unit for KS2; Beyond Face Value is now complete- full planner ready . Lessons launched soon

Those of you who have patiently waited for us to clear the copyright for the post-1066 thematic unit linking the…

What is primary history? Have a look at this ‘at a glance’ diagram which encapsulates the essence of the subject

The accompanying diagram attempts to display all the main elements of developing your pupils’ historical understanding, in one place. You’ll…

Spectacular Bronze Age finds

Article: BBC Detectorist ‘shaking with happiness’ after Bronze Age find Among the items found this week in Peebles in Scotland…

Benin – KQ1 – Why do YOU think we should study Benin in KS2 history? SMART TASK

After setting Benin in its context of place and time, pupils tour a gallery of images which give them hints…

Benin – KQ2 – What sort of place was Benin 500 to 1,000 years ago? SMART TASK

Here pupils are introduced to the idea of a society from a distant time about which very little evidence remains….

Benin – KQ3 – What can we tell about Benin society at this time from the images and artefacts that have survived?

Using evidence to study Benin This lesson revolves round four principal activities: Fastest Finger First; Mining for meaning, using an…

Benin – KQ4 – What changes took place when the European settlers started trading? Case study of one of the Benin bronzes

The first part of this session revolves around the encounter between indigenous Benin people and the European traders. It then…

Benin – KQ5 – Why did the Victorians get involved in Benin and what were the effects on the Benin people? SMART TASK

Following an intriguing slow reveal of an interesting Victorian photograph showing the capture of the Oda’s palace in Benin, pupils…

Benin – KQ6 – Should the Benin Bronzes be returned? SMART TASK

This lesson is guaranteed to provoke a lively debate. Armed with all the contextual knowledge they need, and stimulated by…

Linking your early civilizations at KS2

There is a real and present danger in KS2 of failing to make links between topics. If we are not…

Wizards and scientists:changing views of Stonehenge. History as interpretations and a constant conversation between past and present

One of the harder parts of teaching history at Ks2 is to explain to pupils that history is a construct,…

Keystage history

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