History in the news - important topical issues including Primary curriculum changes

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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 Don’t even begin your chosen local topic unless…

10 things you must know about King Alfred before you teach about Saxons and Vikings at KS2

1. Was Alfred born to be king? An unlikely ruler for a start. Although he was the son of the…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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….

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…

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…

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…

Great blog on narrative v analytical writing at A level

If any of you are feeling that the A level history markschemes don’t make much sense you will draw consideable…

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…

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…

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…

Commemorating centenary of ending 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,…

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…

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…

Great short video on how Elizabeth I manipulated her image

Great video lasting just 6 mins during which an expert curator decodes the messages behind medals and miniatures. Really interesting….

GCSE History: Guide to planning and teaching Edexcel 9-1 GCSE

Lots of thinking has taken place to decide the best way to structure the new Edexcel 9-1 GCSE history course. The…

Gender issues when selecting your significant person to teach in history at KS1

There has always been a tendency towards gender stereotyping when selecting which ‘famous’ men and women to teach at KS1….

Great new read for your incoming Y7 pupils studying Battle of Hastings

You know how keen your Y7 pupils are when they arrive, so why not strike while the iron’s hot and…

Using living graphs in history at KS4 and 5: don’t let the activity replace the thinking and long-term recall

I have long been a fan of using living graphs, especially to help students appreciate extent and speed of change…

Teaching Anglo-Saxons: Alfred and the Danes at KS2

Many of you have kindly written to say how much your pupils have enjoyed the lesson where they have to…

New resource for teaching evacuation at KS2 using sources critically

If you are teaching about evacuation World War Two, possibly as part of our innovative Thematic unit ‘Beyond Face vale’…

Useful resource on Peterloo massacre KS3

Really useful short video on Peterloo , ‘Manchester’s Tiananmen square’. Presented as a graphic novel, the visuals are really clear…

Too many Cooks? Too pale, stale and male to be worth studying?

Australians are currently deep in debate about the enormous cost involved in yet another celebration of Cook’s voyages to Australia….

£2.2. million to be spent on time-saving curriculum materials in hist, geog and science

Sounds great doesn’t it. Even better when you realise that the money is to fund school-based initiatives rather than top-down…

Using History Hits as a starter at KS3 and GCSE

Nearly all of us have asked pupils to jot down 10 things about a topic as a useful starter to…

The best way to plan your history topic at KS1 and 2 for September

It may seem odd that I’m still peddling advice on how to plan a primary history topic when schools have…

What history skills should we be developing?

It is often helpful have a short list of key historical skills which is neither too daunting nor too convoluted….

Spanish Armada: 430th anniversary- great lessons to enjoy for KS2 and 3

Those of you teaching the Spanish Armada at KS2 or 3, will know that today is the 430th anniversary of…

Teaching Stone Age to Iron Age at KS2 : Building your confidence

This excellent website offers you a very short, reliable summary of all the key points you need to teach to…

Trump’s woeful ignorance of own country’s Cold War history

I know we shouldn’t be surprised when Trump commits another faux pas, but I can’t help admitting that my hackles…

Ignorant minister Nick Gibb says history teachers don’t use textbooks

Nick Gibb climbed on his hobby horse again this week and criticised teachers for not using textbooks more. The replacement…

Great new GCSE Crime and Punishment resource

Some of the world’s first police mugshots have been revealed showing criminals caught more than 150 years ago, including the…

Only 1 in 50 children can spot fake news-teach them history

According to a survey published today only 1 in 50 primary pupils have sharp enough critical skills to detect fake…

Excellent short video on Hardwick house for your enquiry on Tudor homes

Although designed for GCSE students i have watched the 3 minute video a number of times and its perfect for…

When outstanding is not outstanding

Ofsted’s director of corporate strategy, Luke Tryl, said yesterday: “What we can’t tell is if the levels of education in…

At last OFSTED is seeing sense with its lesson observations

For 7 of the most miserable years of my professional life, I had to carry out OFSTED inspections. Not because…

KS1 pupils’ work on Great Fire and Florence Nightingale assessed

You have told us that you need more help on assessment at KS1. So we have now gone beyond principles,…

How to get high quality written answers from your KS2 pupils

As we all know, developing pupils’ extended written answers requires structures preparation. Pupils need to develop their own thinking on…

Gove’s reply to my letter criticising his inane proposals for NC history,sent via my MP

You might be interested in Gove’s response to my criticism of the new NC proposals, sent via my local MP….

Gove’s attacks on ‘infantilised’ history teaching: sign of desperate man

Gove ridiculous lampooning of a couple of Russell Tarr and the Historical Associations’s suggested learning activities for history has all…

Top Tips for teaching….Stone Age to Iron Age

Stone Age to Iron Age The British Isles has been populated by humans for 750.000 years but only became an…

What have the Anglo-Saxons ever done for us? Some KS2 answers

If you asked Michael Wood what the Anglo-Saxons ever did for us he would give a very full and erudite…

History teachers take lead in helping pupils spot fake news

Learning to identify fake news online requires a set of skills and knowledge that help you evaluate information. You also…

Fun anachronism-spotting activity set in 1796, for GCSE History of Medicine

Most anachronism activities used in schools are the rather naff ones put before Y7 pupils in an introduction to What…

Outstanding new KS2 Tudor Britain planner now available

If any of you have been waiting for the new up-dated Tudor planner, you can now request it via email…

2 fun facts for pupils studying Florence Nightingale at KS1 and 2 key learning points

Just thought these two fun facts might interest your pupils, building on infants’ interest in animals rather than death rates…

5 quick ideas to help you to develop pupils’ genuine historical understanding at KS1 and 2

Try to develop a sense of adventure which motivates the pupils. The new lesson on Ancient Egypt has pupils planning…

Keystage History Blog – updates from Neil

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