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Target setting in history at Key Stage 2

With the emphasis that the Primary Strategy places on Assessment for Learning and the sharing of objectives, it would seem…

General advice regarding progression in history at Key Stage 2

A definitive paper explaining exactly what I think you should be doing in the realms of progression to help ensure…

Progression by strand in history at KS2: a key element of deep dives

One of the most important tasks that a history subject leader carries out is that of helping colleagues to build…

Everything you wanted to know about progression in history at KS2 but couldn’t find anywhere!

Progression in history at KS2: part of your preparation for an OFSTED history deep dive Planning for progression in history…

10 places to go to find out about your local area

1. Go to your library Your local library will nearly always have a local history section that can tell you…

MATs v Council-maintained? What does the evidence tell us about relative performance? May 2022

Council-maintained schools in England outperform academies in Ofsted rankings, according to analysis published on the day the government’s ambitions for…

A pupil response to KS2 assessment task on women in Ancient Greece

Karl is in Y5 and has been taught in a school where standards are high but progress is slightly below…

KS4 – Migration; Expulsion of the Jews 800 years ago : now a topical issue – May 2022

Those of you teaching about medieval England or the new thematic study on migration may for GCSE might like to…

Here’s one i made earlier – The DFE’s plans for a new model primary history curriculum – May 2022

The DfE have been trailing the idea of a model curriculum for history for a while now. They seem to…

Taking on history leadership: doing the right things – 10 key steps

Taking on subject leadership can be a daunting prospect, especially if it is your first. When there is so much…

What makes a history department outstanding?

The department is an 11-19 comprehensive school serving Hounslow. Approximately 80% of the students are from minority ethnic groups. The…

OFSTED’s judgements about historical concepts needs challenging

Most of us will question OFSTED’s judgment from time to time, not least because it is highly subjective. Maybe that…

Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee – KQ1 – Why are we celebrating Queen Elizabeth’s platinum jubilee this year?

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Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee – KQ2 – How do we know when and how Princess Elizabeth became Queen?

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Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee – KQ3 – How has life changed for the queen since her coronation?

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Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee – KQ4 – What important events have happened during the queen’s long reign? More suitable for older pupils

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Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee – KQ5 – What were other jubilees like in the past? Most suitable for older pupils

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Inclusive history curriculum – March 2022

So you will have a new “model history curriculum” by 2024 to equip you with the skills to lead lessons…

KS2 – Sharing the history learning journey with your pupils

An important part of planning your KS2 curriculum is being able to share the rationale with pupils and parents. So…

Example of School using learning journey format in history at KS1

In response to our launch of the KS2 learning journey in history, Matthew headteacher of Woodlands was inspired to create…

8 ways of improving the BAME dimension of your primary history curriculum

Bound as we all are,and not just as teachers, by the Equality Act, (not to mention our public sector duty),…

′100′ great ideas for teaching history at KS2

This section describes the best of the imaginative ideas I have seen work successfully in the teaching of history at…

Key points from OFSTED’s briefing on 2nd February 2022

Do leaders of a subject need to be specialists? In primary schools, particularly small ones, we know that staff wear…

Black and British – KQ1 – How shall we tell the story of the first Black Britons in Britain?

Pupils watch a brief introductory video for just 70 seconds, the point at which the film stops short of identifying…

Black and British – KQ2 – What part did Black people play in British life when they started to settle 500 years ago?

Focusing on four key documents, pupils have to work out what we can say about the role of Black people…

Black and British – KQ3 – What difference did the slave trade make to the experience of the Black people?

Having understood the nature of the transatlantic slave trade, and Britain’s role within it, pupils work in expert groups to…

Black and British – KQ4 – When so many Black people rushed to fight in the two world wars, why then is it only recently that their sacrifice has been properly recognised?

When so many Black people rushed to fight in the two world wars, why then is it only recently that…

Black and British – KQ5 – How did the arrival of the Empire Windrush change the way Black People were treated in Britain?

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Black and British – KQ6 – How far has life improved for Black people living in Britain in the last 60 years?

This active session asks pupils to create a physical fortunes graph to show the effects that changes in the law…

The Place of Knowledge In Primary History

The place of knowledge shows how substantive and disciplinary knowledge intertwine. They need to be seen together, a continuous interplay….

Seeing The Big Picture

Seeing the Big Picture encapsulates the essence of the subject showing how all the key aspects that make up the…

How Helpful Is The Theory Of Powerful Knowledge?

How helpful is the theory of powerful knowledge? summarises the reasons why knowledge is important: not just finger-tip knowledge that…

10 things OFSTED tend to comment on in primary history reports

I have just finished my analysis of all OFSTED’s primary history monitoring reports for the last 2 years. There has…

Columbus – KQ1 – Why do you think we still remember Christopher Columbus, even though he’s been dead for 500 years!

Pupils are in the role of history detectives. They are given 8 progressively revealing, mainly visual, clues in a controlled…

Columbus – KQ2 – How did Columbus become famous?

Pupils listen to an illustrated description of main episodes Columbus life which they then sequence from the jumbled images provided…

Columbus – KQ3 – What was Christopher Columbus’s motivation?

Driving at the heart of Columbus ‘ motivation, allows pupils to build on what they have already deduced about his…

Columbus – KQ4 – What was life like on board during such a long journey?

This question shifts the focus away from the actions of just one man and adds a colourful dimension to the…

Columbus – KQ5 – How have opinions of Columbus changed in the light of new evidence?

In this session the focus is squarely on helping pupils to grasp that people’s opinions of Columbus have changed in…

Columbus – KQ6 – How and why should we remember him?

Having seen the different ways in which Columbus achievements are still commemorated today, 500 years after his death, pupils have…

10 key messages about teaching significant people in KS1 history

The most important changes in the way we teach this aspect of the KS1 curriculum are: a. the need to link…

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

This multi-faceted session starts with students having to shape their understanding of the reasons for the building of the Berlin…

Common assessment tasks in history at KS1

It is often difficult knowing how to assess pupils’ historical thinking at KS1. Are we simply testing literacy and /or…

Judging pupils’ work in history at KS 1

This section of the site offers a few words of advice about assessing individual pieces of work and provides commentaries…

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Principles of good assessment in history at Key Stage 1

Assessment in Foundation subjects is not well-developed, and is nearly always found wanting in successive OFSTED reports. When assessment in…

Progression in history at Key Stage 1 by Skill / Concept

The problem Trying to secure progression within your Key Stage 1 history curriculum is not always as easy as it…

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?

By posing this enquiry question in a slightly paradoxical way, students are encouraged to go deeper in the explanation than…

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