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.

Adapting Keystage history lessons – FAQs

1. Why are lessons still called ‘outstanding’? I am often asked how the lessons section of the site should be…

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ancient greece knowledge organiser
Ancient Greece knowledge organiser – KS2

In your study of Ancient Greece you will learn how a civilization that flourished over 2500 years ago still influences…

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ancient egypt
Grasping the chronology nettle

Everyone knows that chronology is one of the key historical concepts pupils need to learn, and yet in very few…

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Running timebox – First and foremost

Why Timebox teams? First and foremost, Timebox Teams should be fun. Behind the serious intent of improving pupils’ chronological knowledge…

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Timebox - KS2 Pack
Timebox – KS2 Pack

Mention the teaching of chronology to most infant teachers and their eyes glaze over. Their experience is that it is…

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Roman Britain knowledge organiser – KS2

The arrival of the Romans to Britain and their occupation for over 350 years marks a turning point in the…

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stone age knowledge organiser
Stone Age to Iron Age knowledge organiser – KS2

The earliest known humans arrived in these lands around 900,000 years ago. During this time there were huge changes: the…

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Building vocabulary to help pupils’ historical understanding. My 100 top KS2 words

Word lists are all very well but do we carefully plan when words are acquired and then applied in a…

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Common assessment tasks in history at Key Stage 2

Many colleagues who have been sceptical about assessing history at Key Stage 2 have been won over by this simple…

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assessment and progression
Assessment for learning in Primary history

Assessment for Learning is much-vaunted and many-faceted.  If we break down what it means in its constituent parts, many of…

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keystage 2 history
Principles of good assessment in history at Key Stage 2

As OFSTED reports have pointed out for many years, assessment in history is not strong in most schools and the…

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Judging pupils’ work at Key Stage 2

Teachers’ failure to carry out any useful diagnostic, formative or summative assessment in history at Key Stage 2  has come…

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keystage 2 history
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…

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assessment and progression
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…

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assessment and progression
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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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),…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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empire windrush
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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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…

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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…

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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…

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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….

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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,…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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,…

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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….

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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