Keystage history

What is history? – Key stage 2

In the classrooms of some non-specialist Key Stage 2 teachers, history is still presented as the story of the past….

What would OFSTED say about history in your school? What needs to improve? A sample recent report gives an insight

After identifying a number of positive features of the history curriculum and history teaching the OFSTED inspector carrying out a…

Don’t led OFSTED’s unrealistic expectations of you grind you down until they’ve given you the detailed training guidance help you need and deserve.

So you didn’t study history yourself beyond the age of 14, you have been leading the subject for just two…

Titanic – KQ1 – Launching the Titanic enquiry, drawing on pupils’ prior knowledge

What do we already know about the Titanic and what can we work out from a picture? This lesson’s activities…

Teaching Scott of the Antarctic to Key Stage 1

Those of you who are thinking that this choice of famous person seems to presage a return to an Our Island…

KS1 Medium Term Planner – Man’s First Moon Landing Y2

The current history curriculum at KS1 asks schools to provide a little more coherence in their choice of famous people…

Titanic – KQ2 – What was so special about life on the Titanic?

What was so special about life on board the Titanic? and was it the same for everyone? In this enquiry…

Titanic – KQ3 – How could the unsinkable Titanic sink?

This Y2 lesson takes pupils understanding beyond that of knowing what happened to the Titanic to work out why it…

Moon Landing – KQ1 – Has man ever been to the moon and how can we know for sure?

Varied introduction to the Moon Landing topic with pupils actively involved in sequencing, speculating and then the killer activity called…

KS1 History Planner for Scott of the Antarctic topic

Medium term planning and planner for Scott of the Antarctic KS1 This topic has been designed for Term 3 of…

Grace Darling – KQ1 – Setting up the enquiry – What did Grace do that made her famous …and why is she remembered today?

This is the first lesson on an enquiry into Grace Darling: what she did, and why she was famous. The…

Titanic – KQ4 – How should we film the sinking of the Titanic?

Stephen Spielberg has asked for a historically accurate poster for a new film he is planning on the sinking of…

Scott of the Antarctic – KQ1 – Who on earth is this famous person?

This fun first lesson on Scott of the Antarctic using the slow reveal technique of an iconic image to enable…

Grace Darling – KQ2 – Why did Grace Darling act in the way she did?

An active lesson in which pupils generate adjectives and then use a Diamond-4 ranking activity, followed by hot seating, to…

Moon Landing – KQ2 – Why did the astronauts risk their lives going to the moon?

This session for KS1 children comprises three distinct activities. Activity 1 – Story telling Activity 2 – Diamond 4 Activity…

Moon Landing – KQ3 – How were they able to get to the moon and back safely?

This lesson focuses on how the astronauts were able to get to the moon and back safely. There are 2…

Scott of the Antarctic – KQ2 – How did Scott get to the South Pole and what happened then?

You can use this task on Scott’s journey to the South Pole in a number of ways: as a simple…

Grace Darling – KQ3 – Did Grace Darling really carry out the brave rescue on her own?

This Year 1 lesson on historical interpretations starts with a stark comparison of 2 images of the rescue showing very…

Scott of the Antarctic – KQ2b -Scott of the Antarctic: From sequencing to Living graph Key question

This activity enabled children to see how certain events had a positive or a negative effect on Scott’s expedition to…

Moon Landing – KQ4 – What did they do on the moon?

This lesson uses differentiated resources as a starting point to help children access the detail of man’s first steps on…

Scott of the Antarctic – KQ3 -Why did Scott risk his life going to the South Pole?

The concept of an intrepid explorer may not be completely alien to even the youngest children as the media does…

Grace Darling – KQ4 – How do we know about Grace Darling’s actions which happened so long ago?

There are two distinct elements to this session. Firstly, pupils develop a sense of period and of evidence by thinking…

Titanic – KQ5 – Why weren’t more people saved from the Titanic?

In this problem-solving activity, pupils have to speculate, using a stimulus image and then evaluate a range of given reasons…

Moon Landing – KQ5 – Would you take the Golden Ticket and travel to the moon?

This lesson follows on from lessons introducing the reasons why men first went to the moon, what they did when…

Grace Darling – KQ5 – How did sea rescue improve as a result of Grace Darling’s story?

This session comprises 2 principal activities: matching descriptions of lifeboats to time periods to deepen pupils’ sense of change, continuity…

Titanic – KQ6 – What are the best ways of stopping disasters such as the sinking of the Titanic ever happening again?

Pupils are employed as safety advisers to the UK and US governments in the aftermath of the sinking of the…

Moon Landing – KQ6 – Commemorating the Moon Landing

How do you think we should remember the first man on the moon on July 21st 1969? What symbol could…

Scott of the Antarctic – KQ4 – How do we know what happened on Scott’s last journey? A KS1 smart task

Pupils have already studied Scott’s last journey and have turned a series of events into first a living graph and…

Grace Darling – KQ6 – How should we remember Grace Darling?

This last key question of 6 on the medium-term planning, focuses on her legacy and why we should commemorate her….

Scott of the Antarctic – KQ5 – Why did he not get to the South Pole first?

In this lesson in the teaching sequence on Scott as a famous person, or as part of a more integrated…

Toys – KQ3 – How can we tell these toys are old?

This smart task complements the existing lesson on the site using ICT . Rather than re-write the whole lesson this…

The top 10 things you need to know about chronology at KS2, but were afraid to ask.

The top 10 things you need to know about chronology at KS2, but were afraid to ask. 1. There is…

Toys – KQ4 – What sorts of toys did our grandparents play with and how do we know?

Optional question: What toys did our grandparents get as Christmas presents when they were your age? Start with a discussion…

Toys – KQ5 – Who played with these toys in the past? and how can we know?

This is particularly suitable as an extension question for the older/ higher attaining pupils in KS1 if you are teaching…

Toys – KQ6 – How can we set up our own toy museum?

This final KS1 lesson on the Toys topic cements children’s understanding of old and new in an interesting way. Activity…

OFSTED and assessment of primary history in the EIF for 2019

OFSTED and assessment in primary history One of the features of deep dive subject inspections is that the two hardest…

Planner for teaching early Islamic civilization at KS2

For many schools this is new topic and one to be taught with particular sensitivity in the 21st century. Try…

What does OFSTED really think about 2 year KS3 history courses?

More than half of schools now run lengthened Key Stage 4 history courses, effectively shortening Key Stage 3 to cater…

Sample page from outstanding website produced by Warwickshire's Leamington Spa Art Gallery and Museum

Toys old and new: Sorting and setting

This lesson draws on some excellent resources you may not have come across, produced by museums in Bedfordshire and Warwickshire. …

OFSTED’s report on teaching of Toys-outstanding lesson

When the inspector entered, the pupils were sitting on the carpet around the teacher. She was gently exploring whether they…

What does INTENT actually mean for history in the new OFSTED Framework for 2019? Building blocks and the Big Picture

Nothing could be simpler: intent is everything up to the point at which teaching happens in the classroom. It is…

Teaching the Iron Age at KS2: are you teaching the right things?

In a recent article in Primary History by Karen Doull of the Historical Association adumbrated a list of the ‘Ten…

5 things primary history subject leaders should be doing next term

It obviously makes no sense to ordain a calendar of must-do tasks that all primary history leaders should be following….

Roman Britain – KQ2 part 2 – Boudicca’s rebellion: from sequencing to living graph

This KS2 lesson on Roman Britain uses the idea of a living graph to see the ups and downs of…

Time to drop insanity of a 3 year GCSE history course

Of all the phases of history education pupils now go through, KS4 is by far the least appealing. So why…

Making a human living graph in the playground to show the highs and lows of Boudicca's revolt

Roman Britain – KQ2 part 2 additional information – Boudica’s rebellion: from sequencing to living graph

The focus on the dramatic story of Boudica is a good opportunity to help pupils to understand why things happen…

Roman Britain – KQ2 part 2 additional information – Making sure you are teaching Boudica in the right way.

Let’s start with the name. Boudica is the correct spelling, not Boudicea. Boudica means ‘victory’. Her chariots were light, springy,…

Roman Britain – KQ2 part 3 – What image do we have of Boudica today?

Key Stage 2 pupils find Boudica fascinating so this is a good context for exploring the tricky ideas of historical…

Roman Britain – KQ3 – How were the Romans able to keep control over such a vast empire?

This lesson offers considerable variety in terms of learning approaches. Pupils work in tug-of-war teams to represent the differently weighted…

What do the new 2019 OFSTED Framework reports say about history in primary schools?

Even though we are only a month into term, OFSTED has been busy publishing its reports from the second week…

Keystage history

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