Keystage history

Independent learning in post-16 history

This section focuses mainly on ways of helping students become more effective independent leaners. The crucial role of the Student…

Time for sweeping change in history assessment at KS3, GCSE and A level is NOW.

When so much time has been spent on measuring pupils’ progress in KS3 using spurious data derived from blunt assessment…

Famous people at KS1- new resources from BBC

Over the last few weeks I have been approached by several companies bidding for the contract to produce animated films…

Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole SMART TASK

Who said it? / Who am I? This simple task encourages children to spot the differences between Florence Nightingale and…

Teaching USA 1900-1990 to Key Stage 4

The first batch of lessons focuses on four examination favourites but each adds a different subtle twist that lifts the…

Teaching international relations 1945-1990

This section, dominated by the Cold War focuses mainly on teaching its origins, its main crises and the reason why…

Did everyone benefit equally from life in the USA in the 1920s? A market place activity. SMART TASK KS4

This activity is great for getting students off their feet and talking to every other students in the class –…

Using artefacts to teach history at Key Stage 4

It may be some time since you last used artefacts in your GCSE teaching, but their appearance in Key Stage…

Using ICT and film at Key Stage 4

At first sight you might be slightly surprised to see film and ICT bundled together. Ten years ago they most…

Teaching chronology at Key Stage 4

The advent of the new GCSE history specifications for first teaching in September 2016 has forced us to consider how…

Interpretations in GCSE history at Key Stage 4

Having worked so hard to develop pupils understanding of historical interpretations at Key Stage 3, many history teachers feel short-changed…

Teaching historical enquiry at Key Stage 4

Some of the best GCSE lessons I have ever seen have been enquiry-led where students have been given a little…

Fit for purpose teaching strategies at Key Stage 4

This section has highlighted a number of issues relating to GCSE teaching that you might identify with and be interested…

The teaching process in history at Key Stage 4

With so much emphasis placed on the three-part lesson, due largely to the National Strategy, it is tempting to follow…

Long-term planning at Key Stage 4

Planning for the legacy GCSE history specifications I have featured only a few models from the existing specifications, concentrating instead…

Medium term planning at Key Stage 4

What should go into a good medium term plan at key Stage 4? 1. Key questions, not just the overarching question…

Short-term planning in Key Stage 4 history

My view about short-term planning at KS4 is simple; keep it short. If you are following a detailed medium-term plan,…

Thinking skills at Key Stage 4

With a firm foundation of thinking skills now laid at Key Stage 3, thanks in part to the National Strategy,…

History and numeracy at Key Stage 4

With so much else to focus on in GCSE history you would be pardoned for thinking that this is not…

History and literacy at Key Stage 4

What OFSTED said they were looking for in history lessons when reviewing literacy across the curriculum when they last published…

Citizenship at Key Stage 4

Am I alone in feeling the pitiful irony of history not being a compulsory subject at Key Stage 4, whereas…

Curriculum models at KS4

As most courses are a blend of SHP and Modern World and there will be at least two new topics…

Curriculum rationale for history at KS4

Choice of specification and order of teaching You will all been settled into your new GCSE course.If you’re thinking of…

’50’ imaginative learning activities for Key Stage 4

We all know that the learning experience for students at Key Stage 4 could be more varied in some schools….

LESSON IDEA: Edward IV was more successful as a king in his second reign than his first’. How far do you agree with this view?’

Activities 1. Introductory. Brainstorm Edward’s achievements and failures. 2. Provide students with cards for them to place on a spectrum…

Keeping up-to-date with your teaching of Victorian Britain at KS2

We often talk to children about the benefits that brought so many people into industrial towns in the first half…

The learning process in history at KS 1

Given that this site specialises in giving practical support to busy teachers and subject leaders, you may be surprised to…

Push or Pull? What were the real reasons why the Saxons invaded? SMART TAKS KS2

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

Expert advice on local history at KS1 and KS2 by OFSTED lead inspector

Ex-subject lead for history at OFSTED has recently written this very helpful booklet for English Heritage. A great place to start…

Gove admits need to U-turn on history proposals

Listening doesn’t come easy to Gove. He’d rather just pontificate about what he thinks is best for us, irrespective of…

Guidance Non Western Civilisations: Teaching Islam/Maya/Benin

This new topic is perhaps one of the most demanding in the Key Stage 2 curriculum. Admittedly Benin and Maya…

Assessing students’ work

Answering judgement type question at AS level Typical stems for questions which call for students to make and to justify…

Something about an ostrich – the assassination of Franz Ferdinand as a mystery to be solved

Pupils are fed information, asked to formulate their theories on who was killed, who did it, how, why and when….

Did the number of deaths on the Western Front in World War One have any effect on the numbers joining up?

This superb lesson was the original idea of the history team at Toynbee School, near Southampton, and specifically the work…

Smart Task: Infant Mortality – Key Stage 3

Puzzle corner: SMART thinking skills task on why so many infants continued to die before their first birthday at a…

Dore print used to interrogate his reliability. Pupils put you in the hot seat as Dore

Did London really look like this in 1870? Your chance to test the evidence

Pupils are shown an engraving produced by Gustav Dore in 1872. It is the one you often find in KS3…

What’s the truth behind the Suffragette derby of 1913?

This lesson is always popular. By adding newsreel footage and facsimile artefacts to the usual array of photographs and documentary…

Did the Factory Act of 1833 make any difference at all? An enquiry

This lesson starts with a review of problems for factory workers in the 1830s before looking at the legislation. Were…

The Peterloo enquiry; who was to blame?

The ‘Peterloo massacre’ was one of the defining events of its age. You could almost draw parallels with Amritsar, Sharpeville…

Why did Bolshevism survive in Russia between 1917 and 1924? SMART TASK AS-A2

This task asks students to investigate the perplexing question as to why the Bolshevik regime was able to survive from…

Why was Hitler able to consolidate his position in power between January 1933 and August 1934? Smart Task KS4

This smart task works as a starter. Students are given 7 reasons why Hitler came to power. In just 5…

How far did life really change when William the Conqueror became king after the Battle of Hastings? SMART TASK KS3

Pupils have to design a set of stamps to show the 5 biggest changes introduced by William the Conqueror after…

Is this really the end of the Tudors, Victorians and WW2 at Key Stage 2?

Aside from Ancient Egypt, these are the three best taught history topics in KS2 so it is madness to ditch…

Rationale for teaching Benin (West Africa) c. AD 900-1300 as your non-Western society in the KS2 history National Curriculum for 2014

There are two principal reasons why I think Benin was included as one of only three optional non-Western societies. The…

Keystage history

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