keystage 2 students in a lessonWelcome to the section for teaching history at KS2 where you will find masses of advice on how to make history both fun and satisfyingly challenging. You will be helped to design and plan an exciting primary history curriculum and taking into account the difficult areas of assessment and progression and mindful of the new focus on curriculum within OFSTED’s framework.

This is a tricky process at Key Stage 2. It is easy to lose continuity if you are not careful. You will be shown which skills and concepts are best developed in which contexts along with examples of key questions that have proved most effective in deepening learning. You also will be helped to make the most of history’s contribution to the whole curriculum by being shown cutting edge practice in the areas of cross-curricular history planning, literacy, thinking skills and creativity.

The site also offers a unique set of detailed lesson plans and resources for about 150 lessons which have been judged as outstanding by OFSTED.  These cover all the major topics linked to an outstanding medium-term planner which expertly hows how to combine the most significant content  with the development of conceptual understanding.

You will see below that these resources are constantly being added to , thereby ensuring that you have not only the latest and best advise but also the highest quality learning materials for your pupils.

assessment and progression
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…

Read More
top 10 history teaching
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…

Read More
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…

Read More
top 10 history teaching
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…

Read More
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…

Read More
soldiers
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),…

Read More
time box
′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…

Read More
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…

Read More
black and british
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…

Read More
slave trade
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…

Read More
barrister
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…

Read More
What would your pupils say about getting better at history, when they leave your school?

Recently two university education departments carried out a broad-sweep survey of primary pupils’ experience of history at KS1 and 2…

Read More
6
6 signs to look for to show your pupils are becoming historically literate

1. Understanding how it is possible to know about the past Pupils show an understanding of how it is possible…

Read More
It’s time to think about the teaching of time at KS1 and 2

Time is probably the concept most fundamental to understanding history. This presents problems, of course, particularly with the youngest children….

Read More
planning
Scales of planning in primary history

Making sure you don’t leave out key things and don’t waste your time duplicating Planning can seem a real chore,…

Read More
5 things
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…

Read More
top 10 history teaching
10 top dos and don’ts of using knowledge organisers in primary history

Used well, knowledge organisers are a really powerful resource but it all depends on how they are used. However attractive…

Read More
top 10 history teaching
Top 10 things your KS2 pupils need to know – Early Islamic civilization

Top 10 things your KS2 pupils need to know, and remember, about Early Islamic civilization 1. 1000 years of extraordinary…

Read More
top 10 history teaching
Top 10 things your pupils need to know – Roman Britain

Top 10 things your pupils need to know about Roman Britain 1. Roman Britain was part of a huge empire…

Read More
keystage 2 history
I’m a new subject leader. How do I know if pupils are making the progress they should in history?

Getting a handle on progression is complicated. There are lots of superficially appealing lists of competencies that link to each…

Read More
7 searching questions for you to ask about your KS2 history curriculum

Every now and then it is worth just ensuring that your KS2 history curriculum is as robust as it should…

Read More
5 things
What should my Y6 pupils be able to do in history? The Big 5

By the end of Year 6, it is important that pupils not only build up good chronological knowledge, they also…

Read More
Vikings Illustration
KS2 Example Planner – Vikings Medium Term Planner

Here is a typical example of a medium term plan which exist for all main KS2 topics, in line with…

Read More
Ancient Egypt : a new Pompeii?

A few weeks ago, Egyptian archaeologists the discovery of a “lost city” of the pharaohs dating back some 3,400 years…

Read More
Interactive Timeline
Beyond Face Value – KQ1 – Henry VIII a question of interpretations. Could you spot Henry VIII in a police line-up?

This is a really fun lesson which shows children what is meant by historical interpretations in an engaging and accessible…

Read More
Elizabeth I portrait. Why was it rejected?
Beyond Face Value – KQ2 – Elizabeth I portraits – Why do Elizabeth I portraits mysteriously start showing her looking younger towards the end of her reign?

This powerful lesson on Tudor portraits as propaganda gives pupils the chance to appreciate that things aren’t always what they…

Read More
Children working in Victorian factorie
Beyond Face Value – KQ3 – So what were Victorian factory conditions really like? A Y6 study in provenance

In this lesson, pupils are shown 3 images of factory conditions from early/mid Victorian times. Using their knowledge of factory…

Read More
top 10 history teaching
10 Things to do to make your history teaching better at KS2

1. Teach through historical enquiries. Enquiries are the most effective subject pedagogy in history, not least because when well drafted,…

Read More
planner
Outstanding medium term planner for Ancient Civilizations: Egypt Y3

At one point in recent years, there were real fears that Ancient Egypt would be axed from the KS2 curriculum….

Read More
planner
Outstanding Scheme of Work for Stone Age to Iron Age

This scheme of work, judged outstanding by an OFSTED history inspector now links to all the fully-resourced outstanding lessons and…

Read More
planner
Planner for Britain at War: The Home Front 1939-45

The new detailed downloadable planner below has key questions, suggested activities, resources and assessments for teaching The Home Front in…

Read More
stoneage
Stone Age to Iron Age – KQ1 – Is it true to say that Stone Age man was just a simple hunter gatherer only interested in food and shelter?

This KS2 outstanding history lesson on the Stone Age revolves around the reveal of an object found at Star Carr…

Read More
Blitz spirit
Ideas for teaching the post-1066 thematic unit at Key Stage 2

Whatever you choose to study for your post-1066 thematic unit here are some pointers to help. 1. Try to make…

Read More
WW2 – KQ1 – Why did Britain have to go to war in 1939?

Pupils learn the sequence of events leading to the Second World war before a lively role-play debate in which they…

Read More
planner
Planning for teaching 1000 years of Crime and Punishment (KS2 Thematic Unit)

This post-1066 thematic unit has been produced to meet demand from KS2 teachers for a topic that is genuinely relevant…

Read More
planner
Planning for teaching Life in Tudor times at KS2

As you know, the requirement to study Life in Tudor Britain was mysteriously and inexplicably removed from the Key Stage…

Read More
planner
Outstanding Scheme of Work for teaching the Anglo Saxons

You’ll probably be thinking that there is an awful lot of pre-1066 British history in the KS2 curriculum with the…

Read More
saxon invasion
Anglo-Saxons – KQ1a – Why did the Saxons invade? Push or pull?

A fun thinking skills activity in which pupils infer from visual clues before moving on to analyse a range of…

Subscribers only: You need to be logged in to view this content in full. Please login or register
Read More
stoneage
Stone Age to Iron Age – KQ2 – How much did life change when man learned how to farm?

This session focuses on the concept of change and continuity. Pupils learn of the major changes that came in the…

Read More
stoneage
Stone Age to Iron Age – KQ2 additional information – Comparing life of hunter gathers with farmers

A simple idea to make the key differences as clear as possible, using just two central questions: how did they…

Read More
trial by comat
Crime and punishment – KQ1 – How do we know what punishment was like 800 years ago.

How were criminals punished 800 years ago, and how do we know? The story of the fox and the goose…

Read More
evacuating children
WW2 – KQ2a – Why was it necessary for children to be evacuated? Introductory task

Why was it necessary for children to be evacuated throughout the war, and what was the experience of evacuation really…

Read More
don't do it mother
WW2 – KQ2b – Evacuation enquiry – links with numeracy

This lesson comes towards the beginning of the topic after pupils have explored the nature and reasons for evacuation. I…

Read More
Teaching Life in Tudor Times for KS2

The world has gone mad! Gove has axed the Tudors from Key Stage 2 history. My advice. Carry on regardless….

Read More
robin hood
Crime and punishment – KQ2 – What does the legend of Robin Hood tell us about medieval justice?

In the following activities, KS2 pupils learn: a. that medieval justice was loaded in favour of the rich and powerful;…

Read More
Eric the Evacuee
WW2 – KQ2c – Extending the BBC website on Eric the evacuee

The BBC children’s history section has been in touch with the school asking for their help in extending their website…

Read More
portrait of henry viii
Life in Tudor Times – KQ1 – Henry VIII a question of interpretations. Could you spot Henry VIII in a police line-up?

This is a really fun lesson which shows children what is meant by historical interpretations in an engaging and accessible…

Read More
Anglo-Saxons map
Anglo-Saxons – KQ1b – Where did the early Anglo-Saxons live and how do we know? Bells and whistles

This ambitious but engaging lesson asks children to test some simple hypotheses about where the early Anglo-Saxons settled.  They start…

Read More