Keystage history

Assessment for Learning: 5 core strategies that work

Helps teachers to collect information about pupils’ achievement in order to adjust teaching to meet pupils’ learning needs more fully, through the implementation of five core strategies 5 core strategies…

A six step approach to history lessons

Step 1: Teacher motivates pupils to want to learn and scopes the enquiry Hooking them in: eg. with a slow reveal Making it real, exciting, a job that needs doing,…

10 questions which we should ask when planning historical enquiries at KS2

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Progression in historical interpretations at Key Stage 2 – How the past is represented and interpreted in different ways, and to give reasons for this

Beginning of Key Stage Children can identify differences between versions of the same event e.g. the video gives a different view to what we have just read e.g. version of…

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…

What inspectors report on in deep dive history inspections: a recent example with my commentary from 2020

What the inspectors said Commentary Pupils in your school thoroughly enjoy learning history. They like the enquiry-based approach you take to learning in the history curriculum, as they learn…

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 is worth reminding ourselves of the key indicators that inspectors…

Using timelines in history at Key Stage 2

Timelines in school may be individual timelines or made collaboratively with different groups working on separate theme within a study unit. They may be made of single sheet of paper…

Thinking 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…

Improving history in your primary school: a short cameo of a success story

So what does effective leadership of primary history look like? A case study When Lara took over as history subject leader 3 years ago this was her first whole-school role….

Florence Nightingale and her legacy – 200 years since her birth, on 12 May 1820

Historians have praised Florence Nightingale on the 200th anniversary of her birth, and said her legacy has “never been more relevant” amid the coronavirus pandemic. Staff at the Florence Nightingale…

Using quadrants to answers exam questions at GCSE and A level

Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best. Faced with an exam question such as How far do you agree with the view that, in the years 1933–39, the New Deal…

GCSE history: Answering the question set , not the one they would prefer to answer.

Many of you teaching GCSE will be familiar with the issue. Your students answer the question they think the examiner will ask and the one they’ve prepared for., not the…

Teaching Toys to Key Stage 1

Toys is an obvious topic to select for infants. Not only is it appealing , at least initially, it is also one where you can find a good range of…

KS1 Medium term planner: Toys through time (Term 1 or 2 of Y1)

This is one of the earliest topics to be taught at EYFS/KS1 following on from Myself. As we know this topic (preferably after Christmas) can engage children’s senses, fire their…

Historical Association survey of secondary history provision 2019- few surprises and some disappointing statistics

Last week saw the publication of the annual survey into secondary history produced by the Historical Association. Obviously reflecting the views of members of the Association and representing less than…

Toys – KQ1 – What are our toys like today?

Because the topic is aimed at children beginning key stage 1, it is a good idea to spend more time covering this key question in order to establish a sound…

Key ideas in primary history

When we are teaching 11 subjects it is often difficult to catch the essence of each. If we’re not careful we can simply deliver the scheme of work very professionally…

Toys – 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…

Great learning activity: Prove it! See examples for Scott of the Antarctic, Man on the Moon, Tudor theatre, Grace Darling, Louis Braille

One of the most effective learning activities which you will find in a small number of the outstanding lessons is one called Prove It! Staff and children love it. Pupils…

Remembering VE Day

In these difficult times when schools are not in session it will not be possible to commemorate the ending of the Second World War with our primary-age children in the…

Creating your own timelines at KS2: one school’s recent find.

Charley Chanter of HertfordHeath primary school has just brought this Timeline making package to my attention He wrote:.I have been looking into some resources for our chronology/timebox units and came…

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…

At last a way forward with KS2 assessment for history that will work for my school

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,…

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,…

Teaching American West at Key Stage 4

Schools have been teaching the American West as part of the SHP course for over 30 years. I introduced it myself in the first department I led. There have been…

Teaching the History of Medicine

As you all know, the trick with teaching this course is to marry a strong contextual knowledge with an understanding of the various factors that had a positive and a…

We learn by being excited not by being told; abiding principle of Keystage history

I get a lot of enquiries about Keystage history, largely from teachers who want to know what to expect from the site,prior to purchasing a subscription. Most of the site’s…

Are you teaching the right things about Mary Seacole to your children? 10 things to be sure to teach

Are you teaching the right things about Mary Seacole to your children? 10 things to be sure to teach: 1. Mary was not a nurse as pupils would understand the…

More thoughts on primary history OFSTED deep dives

Recently Matthew Purves, the Deputy Director for Schools, set out OFSTED latest thinking on deep dives in primary schools. He makes reference a number of times to what that means…

KS1 Medium term planner: The sinking of the Titanic Y2

This topic provides an exciting addition to the usual famous events taught at KS1. Not only is there a clear, compelling narrative that pupils can relate to, it also offers…

Did you know there were over 1000 Roman sites in England and Wales?

The numerous discoveries of Roman finds, often by private metal detectors, have revealed more than 1,000 Roman sites in England and Wales, often in places where archaeologists were not looking….

Teaching about Roman villas at KS2- some new finds in Gloucestershire. Should the housing development now go ahead – arguments for and against?

Those of you teaching about Roman villas at KS2, maybe even using the outstanding lesson on this website, Is this another Roman Villa ( KQ4 part 2), will be interested…

OFSTED using frighteningly slender evidence to judge history at KS1 and 2

According to today’s Guradian report an eight-year-old boy was meeting the Ofsted inspector for the first time. “What do you remember learning in history?” she asked, tapping on her iPad. It…

What is history? – Key stage 2

In the classrooms of some non-specialist Key Stage 2 teachers, history is still presented as the story of the past. It is enjoyed as story full of colour, fascination, action…

What would OFSTED say about history in your school? What needs to improve? A sample recent report gives an insight

After identifying a number of positive features of the history curriculum and history teaching the OFSTED inspector carrying out a deep dive inspection in December 2019 wrote the following: You…

Don’t led OFSTED’s unrealistic expectations of you grind you down until they’ve given you the detailed training guidance help you need and deserve.

So you didn’t study history yourself beyond the age of 14, you have been leading the subject for just two terms , you have never taught it at KS1, you…

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Written by Neil Thompson