Blog Archives | Keystage History

The state of primary history 25 years on

One of the drawbacks of being a historian is you just can’t help yourself when it comes to looking at historical documents. Yesterday,I came across my copy of HMI’s report on the state of history...

Take a new look at assessment in history in your school.

Now is the perfect time to get your assessment system for history in better shape. If colleagues know the criteria against which pupils’ work in history will be judged (and I don’t mean (effectively) literacy!) ...

Great new assessment task on women in Ancient Greece now live

Great new assessment task on women in Ancient Greece now live. It targets characteristic features and interpretations and comes along with a detailed mark scheme showing how pupils’ answers align with national...

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: " For teachers it is at KS3 where there is most flexibility. Stress the interconnections between Britain...

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 compulsory study. This means that in summer 2021, AQA GCSE History students will only have to...

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 see that pupils’ historical knowledge broadens...

Banality of OFSTED’s KS1 judgements in history. They don’t know what they are talking about. Stick to your guns.

Sometimes you just have to say it. What on earth do they expect? reading through a number of OFSTED reports where history was chosen as part of the deep dive inspections, I was hoping to...

KS2 Roman Empire KQ1 part 1 now ready for subscribers on request

Those of you following the Roman Empire planning will be pleased to know that we have now been able to plug the gap with part 1 of Key question 1 by finding an alternative image...

Great new activity on Florence Nightingale- Dear Producer

One of the great challenges of teaching KS1 history is to avoid the pitfall of turning history into just stories from the past. Of course we...

KS1 pupils’ work on Great Fire and Florence Nightingale assessed

You have told us that you need more help on assessment at KS1. So we have now gone beyond principles, suggestions, actual tasks and mark schemes to assessing actual pieces of work. You may already...

Gove’s reply to my letter criticising his inane proposals for NC history,sent via my MP

You might be interested in Gove's response to my criticism of the new NC proposals, sent via my local MP. He says that in recent years " the national curriculum has prescribed the teaching of...

Gove’s attacks on ‘infantilised’ history teaching: sign of desperate man

Gove ridiculous lampooning of a couple of Russell Tarr and the Historical Associations's suggested learning activities for history has all the hallmarks of someone far happier on the attack than defence. His unteachable KS2 and...

Fun anachronism-spotting activity set in 1796, for GCSE History of Medicine

Most anachronism activities used in schools are the rather naff ones put before Y7 pupils in an introduction to What is History. You know the sort of thing: Roman soldiers wearing wrist watches. This activity is...

2 fun facts for pupils studying Florence Nightingale at KS1 and 2 key learning points

Just thought these two fun facts might interest your pupils, building on infants' interest in animals rather than death rates from dysentery! So the two facts are: 1. As a child, Florence already showed an interest in...

How well do your pupils understand witchcraft in the early modern period?

Just being uploaded is short diagnostic set of questions (and answers!) to get a feel for how well pupils have grasped the key ideas and modern scholarship on this topic....

Time for sweeping change in history assessment at KS3, GCSE and A level is NOW.

When so much time has been spent on measuring pupils’ progress in KS3 using spurious data derived from blunt assessment tools, it is now time to place the emphasis where it should be focused- on...

Fantastic new zoomable maps of British and German trenches 1915-18

Every history teacher's dream, thanks to national Library of Scotland Find at http://maps.nls.uk/ww1/trenches/index.html...

Keeping up-to-date with your teaching of Victorian Britain at KS2

We often talk to children about the benefits that brought so many people into industrial towns in the first half of the nineteenth century. But we probably need to stress more, as a recent study...

Shock wave repercussions of changes to GCSE history for September 2013 now being felt

Schools are gradually coming to terms with the full implications of OFQUAL’s changes to GCSE history examinations which start in September. The first board to show its hand was OCR with its Modern World course’s...

Gove admits need to U-turn on history proposals

Listening doesn't come easy to Gove. He'd rather just pontificate about what he thinks is best for us, irrespective of what we believe. So when he has to backtrack he obviously puts this down to...

Is this really the end of the Tudors, Victorians and WW2 at Key Stage 2?

Aside from Ancient Egypt, these are the three best taught history topics in KS2 so it is madness to ditch them in favour of Gove's untested , unresourced and uneducated choices. The first,...

Rationale for teaching Benin (West Africa) c. AD 900-1300 as your non-Western society in the KS2 history National Curriculum for 2014

There are two principal reasons why I think Benin was included as one of only three optional non-Western societies. The first is the period covered. It is, very roughly, covering the same period of time as...

French Revolution-what do the 1793 playing cards tell us?

Interesting new lesson on using 12 colourful playing cards to encourage students to work out what mattered most to the revolutionaries in 1793. Having had the analysis of one card modelled for them , students...

GCSE History of medicine: What was the most important medical advance in the last 200 years

Recently a sample of 11,000 doctors was asked to name the most important medical advance in the last 200 years.The results make interesting reading. What an cracking activity it would make to ask students to...

Understanding the new GCSE history 9-1 grading system

If you would like to find out more about the new grading system and its rationale then visit http://www.ocr.org.uk/blog/view/grading-the-new-gcses which explains how the grading system has been adapted to allow for more differentiation of grades at middle...

10 most significant battles of World War One

Staff from the Imperial War Museums have just published their list of the 10 most significant battles of the First World War. Why not try to predict them in your department and then discuss what...

Using simple ‘how plausible’ strategy for high-intensity thinking from KS2 to A level

Sometimes the simplest ideas have the most impact, probably because we don’t over-complicate. Looking for a way of getting students to think for themselves, rather than slavishly follow the ideas listed in the textbook, I...

What OFSTED says about primary history: 3 things you need to know

OFSTED's views on primary history are difficult to find. The last Lead Inspector for history offered these three opinions before he left OFSTED, never to be replaced. A. Too often in primary schools, history is submerged...

Top 5 features of expert history teaching at KS1

Top five features of expert teaching at KS1

The key is challenge. Only by you setting high expectations will you be able to lift pupils’ aspirations so they don’t just settle for the best they...

Defenders of the new history curriculum have their say: a dozen dons can’t be wrong?

In this morning's Times, supported by a front page and leader aticle, a dozen dons have come out of the woodwork to have their say in support of Gove's lunatic proposals. Let's break down what...

Launch of new website www.keystagehistory.co.uk

Hi, Just a short note to say that a new website is being launched this week for teachers of history at KS3 and 4. I have authored hundreds of pages of advice on all current issues facing history...

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The state of primary history 25 years on

Take a new look at assessment in history in your school.

Great new assessment task on women in Ancient Greece now live

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

Changes for the 2021 GCSE History examination announced by AQA today

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

Banality of OFSTED’s KS1 judgements in history. They don’t know what they are talking about. Stick to your guns.

KS2 Roman Empire KQ1 part 1 now ready for subscribers on request

Great new activity on Florence Nightingale- Dear Producer

KS1 pupils’ work on Great Fire and Florence Nightingale assessed

Gove’s reply to my letter criticising his inane proposals for NC history,sent via my MP

Gove’s attacks on ‘infantilised’ history teaching: sign of desperate man

Fun anachronism-spotting activity set in 1796, for GCSE History of Medicine

2 fun facts for pupils studying Florence Nightingale at KS1 and 2 key learning points

How well do your pupils understand witchcraft in the early modern period?

Time for sweeping change in history assessment at KS3, GCSE and A level is NOW.

Fantastic new zoomable maps of British and German trenches 1915-18

Keeping up-to-date with your teaching of Victorian Britain at KS2

Shock wave repercussions of changes to GCSE history for September 2013 now being felt

Gove admits need to U-turn on history proposals

Is this really the end of the Tudors, Victorians and WW2 at Key Stage 2?

Rationale for teaching Benin (West Africa) c. AD 900-1300 as your non-Western society in the KS2 history National Curriculum for 2014

French Revolution-what do the 1793 playing cards tell us?

GCSE History of medicine: What was the most important medical advance in the last 200 years

Understanding the new GCSE history 9-1 grading system

10 most significant battles of World War One

Using simple ‘how plausible’ strategy for high-intensity thinking from KS2 to A level

What OFSTED says about primary history: 3 things you need to know

Top 5 features of expert history teaching at KS1

Defenders of the new history curriculum have their say: a dozen dons can’t be wrong?

Launch of new website www.keystagehistory.co.uk

Useful links

Recent Posts

Outstanding Lessons: Key Stage 1

Using artefacts to help children’s historical understanding at Key Stage 1

Berlin Wall – If relations between the superpowers were improving in the late 50s, why was the Berlin wall built in 1961? A Bone in the throat

Migration – If England was the safest place in Europe for Jews to live in Henry II’s reign, why then did Edward I expel them just 100 years later?

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