Keystage history

Good practice, according to OFSTED

In a lesson on developments in farming and technology in the Iron Age, the teacher used a series of short…

10 step guide to strengthening your history teaching

1. Ensure all topics are linked and logically sequenced At the planning stage make sure all topics are carefully linked…

Amy Johnson knowledge organiser – KS1

You are learning about Amy Johnson because she was a very famous British pilot who flew her plane, called Jason,…

Toys old and new knowledge organiser – KS1

You are learning about old toys to help you to understand the difference between toys people played with in the…

Vikings – end of unit quiz – KS2

You’ve learned all about the amazing Viking world – from their brave voyages across the seas to their fascinating way…

Roman Britain – End of unit quiz – KS2

Congratulations on reaching the end of our Roman Britain unit! You’ve learned so much about how the Romans changed Britain,…

Strengths and weaknesses of 10 different approaches to local history at KS1 and 2

1. A general history of the community Advantages Can build a sense of place enhancing pupils’ awareness of how the…

Sequencing your KS2 history topics: are you doing it right?

Is there a right order for sequencing KS2 topics? Let’s start with a reality check. No research exists to show…

Stone Age to Iron Age end of unit Quiz – KS2

Now that you have completed your study of the Stone Age to Iron Age, it is time to assess your…

Moon landing – end of unit quiz – KS1

Welcome to the end of unit Moon landing quiz for KS1. You’ve learned so much about how astronauts traveled all…

Ancient Egypt – end of unit quiz

Congratulations on completing your unit on Ancient Egypt! Now that you’ve explored this incredible ancient civilization, it’s time to put…

What should I be doing?

OFSTED’s recent report ( 2023) highlighted the following 5 key messages about assessment in primary history. Over the next few…

Getting your priorities right at the start of the year – KS2

September is always a good time to think through what you should be doing as history leader now that you’ve…

Keystage history bulletin – September 2024

Welcome back to a new term, a new government and new academic year of exciting developments here at Keystage history….

Early Islamic civilisation knowledge organiser – KS2

You are studying this topic so that you realise that a thousand years ago Baghdad was the largest city in…

What are OFSTED saying about history in their 2024 reports?

It is not always easy to find detailed references to history in recent school reports despite the fact that history…

Keeping your teaching of Stonehenge up-to-date

Just when you thought you knew all there was to teach about Stonehenge suddenly a major discovery turns much of…

9 highly effective retrieval activities that really help history to stick ..and show real historical understanding too!

To prevent retrieval activities simply resembling a random fact pub quiz consider using the following , which I’m sure many…

8 retrieval tasks that really work in history

This list is by no means exhaustive nor is it linked to just one key stage. You can think of…

10 most important things a secondary history subject leader should always be doing…yes, always

No contrived acronym here or implied order of priority just making sure you do the right things as well as…

OFSTED’s focus on history deep dives 2024

From time to time, its worth reminding ourselves of what OFSTED chooses to comment on when reporting its findings from…

Ideas for assemblies on the Olympics: Dorando’s story

At both KS1 and KS2 it would be good to focus on one individual and see the extent to which…

Assessment in history at Key Stage 2 – your questions answered

What are the statutory requirements to assess history at KS2? There are no statutory requirements for end of Key Stage…

Ancient Egypt – SMART task – Puzzle corner: Mystery of the pyramids in the desert

This thinking skills task has been designed to encourage pupils to work out plausible answers to the puzzling question, one…

The mystery of why the pyramids were built in the desert is finally solved

Many of you teaching Ancient Egypt in depth as part of a broader topic on ancient civilizations will , no…

Using Tudor artefacts

Idea 1: Writing an expert caption: e.g. wooden trencher Present an object such as a wooden trencher as a mystery…

Using story books at KS1 to develop a sense of time

I have written on this topic before, but there are always new and fresh titles appearing that necessitate an update….

What historians do: handle with care

A synopsis of Margaret McMillan’s line of argument in the book The Uses and Abuses of History History, by giving…

Leading history: a year in the life of a primary history leader

September Ensure that relevant records about attainment in history have been passed to next year’s teacher. Re-issue long term skills…

Left luggage activity on the Titanic using artefacts provided by a Southampton Museum

Strategies for introducing and using historical artefacts at Key Stage 1

As a preliminary activity try using sheets of unused tissue paper. Challenge the class to pass the unfolded piece of…

Six step approach to structuring history lessons at KS1

Step 1: Teacher motivates pupils to want to learn and scopes the enquiry Hooking them in: eg. with a slow…

Case study: The importance of history to the curriculum – history policy at Vicarage Primary

History is all about people. The study of people of different types from different times and different places is the…

Amelia Earhart knowledge organiser – KS1

You are learning about Amelia because she was a very famous American woman who learned how to fly and then…

Teaching Olympic games in 2024

Are you planning to teach about the Olympic games which are coming to Paris in July 2024? If so you…

Looking for a change of Significant person at KS1 ? The Taylor Swift of her time – April 2024

You might be interested in a brand-new planner and lessons on Amelia Earhart which is now being uploaded. Why is…

Amelia Earhart – KQ1 – Why do we think that Amelia was famous?

This introductory session starts with firing pupils’ curiosity via a slow reveal in which pupils build a picture of her…

Amelia Earhart – KQ2 – What were the main events in Amelia’s life that shaped her ?

Having listened to an illustrated description of Amelia’s early life, pupils have to select suitable adjectives to describe her character…

Amelia Earhart – KQ3 – Why was Amelia so keen to fly when so few women at the time were interested?

A relatively short session exploring Amelia’s motivation starts with pupils drawing on their prior knowledge to consider why she took…

Amelia Earhart – KQ4 – What were the main ups and downs in Amelia’s life?

Using the living graph technique pupils sequence the events of Amelia’s flying career and then physically create points on a…

Amelia Earhart – KQ5 – How do we know so much about Amelia’s life when she lived so long ago?

In this session pupils get to work as history detectives matching clues within sources to statements historians have made about…

Amelia Earhart – KQ6 – What was Amelia’s greatest achievement and how should it be remembered?

Working towards the end goal of producing a book cover to encapsulate the key details of Amelia’s achievements, pupils learn,…

10 things you need to show OFSTED that you are doing your best to give children a high quality history education

Over the course of the last few months we have been fielding a number of questions from understandably anxious subject…

7 don’ts when it comes to OFSTED deep dives in primary history

1. DON’T assume that OFSTED has an expectation of what constitutes schemes of work: they don’t I mention this because…

Closing the circle: making sure you have an exciting, ‘fit for purpose’ learning product in your KS1 and 2 history topics

I have often thought that we don’t always invest as much time in considering the final product of a unit’s…

Keystage history

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