leading historyLeading history at key Stage 2 is far from easy. Not only do you have the difficulty of designing that ensures continuity and progression, you also have the issue of teachers seeing history as ‘doing the Tudors’ rather than building up pupils’ understanding of historical concepts and processes. In this section you will find detailed advice on leading history, ranging from promulgating a vision for history and developing your colleagues, to raising attainment.

As you look at each section, you need to remind yourself of what is manageable in the time you have been given to lead the subject. For that reason you might want to look particularly carefully at the section called prioritising. In addition to clarifying the difference between a ‘leader’ and a ‘manager’, you will also need to distinguish between the urgent and the important. When there is so much to do with just the ‘here and now,’ in terms of getting planning and resourcing together, it is easy to lose sight of the future. And yet planning for the future is one of the most important things a subject leader can do. With such a rapid turnover of subject leaders for history, many schools find themselves starting a new regime with a ‘cold engine’ because no-one has taken stock before and pointed out what improvements need to be effected.

So along with advice on creating an appropriate curriculum, on improving teaching and learning and on monitoring provision and standards, there are sections on staff development and on ‘safeguarding the future’. The last two are often neglected in schools, so it is often the case that no-one really knows the true health of the subject. By using the self-evaluation grids provided, you will soon get a feel for how well history is being led. I suggest that you try to colour code where you feel you are, using the four-columns provided.

In the best primary schools, leaders really lead. The curriculum is well mapped out; standards and the progress that pupils are expected to make over the primary years are clear; teachers are well supported with ideas and resources for teaching; and there is a practical assessment system in place. The leaders monitor well what is happening in their subject. Above all, the best are confident in their knowledge of history and pass this confidence on to their colleagues. A short quotation from the OFSTED report entitled History in the Balance gives a flavour of what good leaders should be doing, whatever their length of service.

“The new subject leader has made a good start in bringing clear direction for the subject in the school and developing good plans for further development. She has worked extremely hard, with the good support of other colleagues, to raise achievement and standards in history. This is beginning to impact positively on key aspects of planning and teaching. Subject self-evaluation is good. The school accurately identifies and exemplifies its many strengths and areas for development.”

OFSTED also pull no punches about the state of history at Key Stage 2, and you would do well to heed their warnings.

“An area of particular concern is Key Stage 2, where too much history teaching and learning lacks progression and rigour. This is serious because this key stage constitutes the largest single part of the National Curriculum.

In primary schools, especially at Key Stage 2, the curriculum is demanding, yet few teachers are specialists and so find it difficult to develop the subject over four years with appropriate progression. Limits to what is possible on initial teacher training (ITT) courses for post-graduates and in induction years for newly qualified teachers, together with the lack of easily accessible continuing professional development, exacerbate the problem”.

leading
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…

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Keeping up-to-date with developments in primary history – February 2023

Every few years, the Primary wing of the Historical Association carry out a survey of primary schools to see what…

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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…

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5 key tasks for the history subject leader

Being a history subject leader can often be daunting, especially if you have received very little training and have no…

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10 things history leaders need to know about the new OFSTED 2019 Framework

10 things you need to know about leading history 1. Show you are teaching history You will have to show…

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top 10 history teaching
Top 10 tasks for effective history subject leaders

We all need reminding of what our core purposes are from time to time as we get caught up in…

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Forward planning in history at Key Stage 2

This section ties in with the others on prioritising and monitoring and the message is basically the same.  You need…

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keystage 2 history
Prioritising your work as history leader

When there is so little non-contact time to lead history, it is crucial that you spend your time wisely. This…

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monitoring
Monitoring in history at Key Stage 2

You will, at some stage, need to monitor standards and the quality of learning in history.  The quality of teaching…

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data
Using data to improve history teaching and learning at Key Stage 2

Given that there is no subject-specific data on history at Key Stage 2 this might seem a strange inclusion on…

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Raising attainment in history at Key Stage 2

The prospect of raising attainment across the whole key stage is quite daunting, especially when you consider how little non-contact…

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keystage 2 history
Self-evaluation in history at Key Stage 2

With the emphasis of school improvement and OFSTED inspection now firmly placed on self-evaluation this has become one of the…

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leading
Developing your staff at key stage 1

Nearly all teachers enjoy teaching history and will want to improve the quality of their own teaching so that children…

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leading
Policy and vision in Key Stage 2 history

Having seen so many Key Stage 2 history policies that nobody on the staff ever refers to,  it seemed pretty…

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