As reported in The Times, yesterday marked the Coronation of Elizabeth I, 460 years ago. It was cold and wet in London on January 15, 1559, with flurries of snow, and yet crowds braved the chill to cheer on the 25-year-old queen as...
Opinion
Using role play area when teaching Castles at KS1
There are at least 6 ways you can help young children make sense of the past using your role play area.
1.Colourful Costumes.
Having a range of costumes enhances the experience of...
Dos and Don’t of concluding your history lesson
Dos and Don’ts of concluding your history lessons
When the National Strategies were all the rage over a decade ago now, a lot of attention was paid in the Foundation subjects to lesson starters and what were known as plenaries. As with...
What does good leadership of history look like at KS 1 and 2?
A recent report from a history HMI to a primary school reveals what they are looking for :
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One of the key features underpinning the high quality of history learning this was that history has a high status throughout the school, recognised by the headteacher. The...
Keeping up-to-date with your teaching of the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings at KS2- dealing with fake news
Subject knowledge is vital for any KS2 teacher. You can rely on this website to provide not only the background knowledge you need but also the key learning activities that develop historical understanding. One of the main lessons to be learned as pupils progress through...
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GCSE Medicine and World War One. How did a weapon of war ( mustard gas) lead to a blood cancer treatment?
Fascinating short article looking at war as a factor in medical advances. Those who suffered most from mustard gas attacks at Ypres in 1917 were found to have low white blood cell count.The vital link to the world of chemotherapy treatment today. The reason...
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In many schools primary history curriculum found wanting by OFSTED
Seven of the 33 primaries schools visited by the inspectorate under phase 3 of its curriculum study, published today, had a “complete absence” of curriculum design in humanities. History came in for considerable criticism:
“History was also less well organised and implemented in a number of...
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OFSTED rails against gimmicks rather than getting basics right
Top 10 Command words when your primary history activities
As well as listing and describing, what other forms of command words can we use to make sure that pupils' thinking is likely to be historical?
It may be helpful to ask yourself , When did I last ask my pupils to? I have added an example...
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Teaching Toys at KS1- new lessons arriving soon
When the site was launched 10 years ago, our focus was on exemplifiying best practice in the harder-to-teach areas of the National Curriculum. At that stage schools had been teaching the topic of Toys quite successfully and few teachers were asking for new resources or...
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New find reveals Roman relationship with the Celts
What does a good KS3 history assessment portfolio look like?
Rarely do we get a chance to look at how things are done in other countries. For that reason I thought that you might like to see how the Australian system have tried to exemplify national standards through annotated examples of work covering different...
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How can I raise standards in learning in history in my primary school? Doing the right things.
One of the hardest jobs for a history subject leader in primary schools is to build up a clear idea of what it is that makes the biggest impact on standards in history. All subject leaders I know work hard and want to do their...
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7 ways to ensure that your history curriculm is 2019-ready
There has been a lot of coverage recently of OFSTED’s intention to focus more on the quality , range and impact of the curriculum, rather than simply looking at data. Sean Harford recently talked of the 3 Is: Intent, Implementation, Impact. You need to get...
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So, are we getting the emphasis right in our teaching of the Peterloo massacre at KS3?
The Peterloo massacre is one of the best-documented events in British history and now the subject of Mike Leigh’s recent film, which has brought it to more people’s attention. The Historical Association site has a short podcast interview with Mike himself in which he discusses...
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Moon Landing story book to use with Year 2
Those of you teaching Man's First Moonlanding at KS1 but like to know that there is a cute fiction title you might want to use called They Raced to the Moon, written by F.J.Beerling and published by Fairyfaye at £5.99. It deals with serious issues...
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Great school secondary history website at Thomas Tallis
GCSE Medicine and First World War
Getting the level of difficulty of your history work just right.
We all know that pupils' minds wander. Some brave researchers claim that this happens, on average, as much as 50% of the time for the majority of pupils. What can you do to stop it? Mostly pupils' attention to learn is driven by 2 things:...
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How did they build their Bronze Age huts? A great short animation for KS2 pupils
15 Keystagehistory favourites
Many of you are kind enough to tell us when the lessons you have taught using our material and approaches, which you have adapted to your own circumstances, have gone down a storm. Here are just some of your favourites so you can see that...
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Making your Y9 key questions harder than those for Y7
With OFSTED's renewed focus on the curriculum many schools are re-examining the quality of their Ks3 curriculum, mostly written without knowledge of what GCSE course would follow. Few schools have gone back and re-written their 2014 KS3 courses in the light of their GCSE choices,...
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Great class story to use with Ancient Egypt at KS2
A few years ago when I was working closely with the staff at Belleville school in South London, we discussed the sort of texts you might like to use when teaching Ancient Egypt at KS2. I was keen to recommend Maat’s feather a story of...
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9 ways to ensure that your local history topic is successful at KS1 and 2
9 ways to ensure that your local history topic is successful
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- Don’t even begin your chosen local topic unless you are sure that there are enough suitable resources.
- Local history , of all the topics, should be the most child-centred. You and your colleagues should...
10 things you must know about King Alfred before you teach about Saxons and Vikings at KS2
- Was Alfred born to be king? An unlikely ruler for a start. Although he was the son of the king of Wessex, Æthelwulf, who had himself inflicted a famous defeat on Viking forces at the Battle of Aclea in 851, Alfred was the youngest of...
Assessment in history at KS3 revisited-yet again!
KS3 assessment revisited.
Recently Sally Burnham and Geraint Brown revisited their earlier seminal paper on assessment now 10 years old and published their findings in Teaching History. In their article they attempted to offer a list of do’s and don’ts. I thought it would be helpful...
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Using stories in history at KS3 and 4 as well as primary classes
Daniel Willingham and other have long made the case for the use of story in history teaching at all keystages not just in primary history classes . And its easy to see why:
Stories are more interesting
Stories are easier to comprehend
Stories are easier to remember
Our minds...
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Teaching Early Islam at KS2
A recent article in the Historical Association’s magazine Primary History suggested that subject leaders need to ensure that the following aspects are covered:
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- as with other important civilisations, the water and fertile land were key to success;
- Caliph Al-Mansur set up his capital there which...
Making sure your KS2 pupils know the real reasons for the Mayan collpase: latest research
The Maya's apparently sudden decline in the 9th century AD has long been a subject for historical debate.
Now scientists have found evidence which appears to confirm the theory that the large-scale abandonment of Maya city states was precipitated by a massive drought which swept across Mexico in about 900 AD.
A team...
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Weaknesses in primary history 2018: how does your school shape up?
With the weakening of the history inspectorate at OFSTED we don't see the detailed surveys that used to guide schools in working out areas to improve. the sheer scale of the surveys made them useful. How else can schools measure themsleves against any notional national...
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Top 10 Command words for primary history activities
A simple way of ensuring that your pupils are thinking historically is to focus their activities using key command words. Too many tasks at KS1 and 2 involve narrating and describing, What other forms of command words can we use to make sure that the...
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OFSTED looking for clear progression models in history
Central to much of the discussion in OFSTED about focussing more on subjects and the curriculum is the issue of progression.
In a recent discussion paper OFSTED wrote that:
The progression model in schools was generally less clear for subjects such as music, art, geography and history.
It...
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Final KS1 lesson on Scott of the Antarctic nearly ready
Those of you who have taken up the rewarding challege of teaching Scott of the Antarctic as a significant person at KS1 will be pleased to know that the final lesson in our 6-enquiry planner is almost ready. It features 3 great activities:
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- Using a...
Powerful personal memories of Remembrance Day
As we all remembered the fallen yesterday, I had particular reason to think of family loss. In the Great War no less than 8 sons from my great-grandfather's family of 14 volunteered and served. This is a record for their home town of Londonderry. Only...
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Great ways of developing students’ understanding of provenance at GCSE and A level
Useful resource on looking at impact of Elizabeth I’s religious policy on Catholics and Protestants
https://onebighistorydepartment.wordpress.com/2018/11/07/free-religion-in-elizabethan-england-macro-inspired-by-a-recent-teaching-history-article...
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How did the Viking fleets keep afloat on their voyages?
The unsurprising answer is TAR. The Vikings knew how to produce it on an industrial scale, making batches of 200-300 litres, ten times the amount normally made at that time. Viking ships needed 500 litres of tar -EACH! And they had hundreds of ships in...
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10 useful retrieval practice strategies for GCSE history
10 low impact activities to do less of – or stop altogether.
Tom Sherrington's list is well worth a look. I bet there are some of the practices that he includes that you would dearly love to jettison-if only you were allowed....
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Helping students to remember who’s who in history at GCSE and A level
Another masterly piece of advice from Ian Dawson one of the great pioneers of enquiry-based teaching in the UK over the last 30 years....
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Great blog on narrative v analytical writing at A level
Has Mary Beard got it right about TV history?
Mary Beard has sparked controversy yet again , this time about the way history is portrayed on TV. Too many actors swanning around in sheets.Too much focus on the sumptuous visuals and too little on the historical arguments. Too many slick CGI reconstructions which take...
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Teaching Mary Anning as a significant person at KS1
Many of you will know that I have been trying to wean schools off teaching JUST Florence Nightingale, and have encouraged teachers to look at female pioneers. AS we all know,KS1 pupils are fascinated by dinosaurs and fossils. Mary Anning was the most famous fossil...
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New explanation as to why Mayan civilization collapsed- my KS2 kids can do better
Below is a recent short explanation as to why the Mayan civilization collapsed. I think that KS2 pupils can do better, with the right stimulus. This comes in the form of our outstanding lesson.https://www.keystagehistory.co.uk/keystage-2/why-did-the-mayan-empire-decline/
The website lesson's blurb goes like this:When there are apparently 88 competing...
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7 best ways to make sure that your history curriculum is OFSTED 2019-ready
There has been a lot of coverage recently of OFSTED’s intention to focus more on the quality, range and impact of the curriculum, rather than simply looking at data. Sean Harford recently talked of the 3 Is: Intent, Implementation, Impact. You need to get behind...
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Commemorating centenary of end ing of World War One: Using fiction to teach about remembrance at KS1 and 2
Fiction provides opportunities for children to explore what life might have been like for people living during the war and, as Megan Brownrigg from Strauss House Productions suggests, may help children understand the effects of war. She draws attention to the work of author Hilary...
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Interesting article on why history matters
Have a look at Richard Harris article on why history matters....
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Why Learn History (When It’s Already on Your Phone)
Why Learn History (When It's Already on Your Phone). Sam Wineburg's just-published book in which he makes it clear that the current hand-wringing over U.S. students' ignorance of history is nothing new. It's a concern that stretches back to at least the early part of the...
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KS3 history assessment advice
How good is your teaching and learning policy?
So primary schools and secondary history departments are happy to vaunt their teaching and learning policies. I applaud the fact that they have investaed time and deep thought into creating one. But what matters of course is that the principles espoused are the right ones. Here...
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