Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated Museums are memory boxes. They contain artefacts that tell stories about people in the past. The creation of a class museum is a simple and effective way of bringing the past to life through investigation,...

Ideally when teaching history, teachers will look to deliver projects that will engage and motivate, hopefully making the hard work of being creative stimulating and rewarding, based upon questioning, enquiry, investigation of sources and reaching conclusions grounded in the evidence.Ancient Egypt is one of those history topics which, because it...

The passing of Harry Patch - the last World War I veteran - in the summer of 2009 is a fitting starting point for children in Key Stage 2 (7-11 year-olds) to begin to tackle some of the issues of the First World War. Many classes already study the Second...

The new (2014) Primary History National Curriculum is finally upon us. The first thing you might notice is that the level descriptions have gone. These were first introduced in 1995 and became the mainstay for assessing pupil progression and attainment in Key Stages 1, 2 and 3 across schools in...

Jo Barkham reviews 'Asha in the Attic' written by Gill Howell and illustrated by Alan Marks.

Jo Barkham reviews the book 'A Day in the Life of a Victorian Child', written by Penelope Harnett.

Jo Barkham reviews the book 'What Babies Used to Wear', written by Anne Witherington and Bobbie Neate.

Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated. Editorial comment: The in-service course had focused on how to read information texts in a stimulating, engaging and intellectually rewarding way, and how to take Bruner's concept of transforming information from one mode to another...

Personal biographies I often ask groups to collect and record their own personal chronologies. They are asked to bring in evidence to tell the stories of their own lives or of the life of a relative, which they will then weave into a ‘photo book' story. The photo books become...

Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content and links may be outdated. The innovative use of visual images as communication mode and stimulus to writing is provided by Jan, a teacher on one of the Nuffield courses. Children, and adults, have trouble in making effective...

"Henry the 4th ascended the throne of England much to his own satisfaction in the year 1399, after having prevailed on his cousin & predecessor Richard the 2nd to resign it to him, & to retire for the rest of his Life to Pomfret Castle, where he happened to be...

Please note: this article pre-dates the current National Curriculum and some content and references are outdated. With primary history contributing to writing, some research by Sandra Dunsmuir and Peter Blatchford into pupils aged 4-7 has relevance to history teaching. The findings were published in the "British Journal of Educational Psychology", edition...

Editorial note: The role of ICT in the Digital Age is a major, perhaps even, the major factor, in enhancing creativity in the learning and teaching of history. This paper illuminates another dimension of ICT in the Digital Age and creativity. It shows how a teacher's creativity  has produced a...

Creativity now plays a central role in the English National Curriculum. Pupils ‘Doing History' can draw upon and develop their creativity, grounded in the historical record. Hilary Cooper has produced the first book on History & Creativity and guest edited a recent edition of Primary History, PH 63, on History and...

Please note: This article pre-dates the current National Curriculum and some content and references may be outdated. If you are considering studying someone other than Florence Nightingale you have two basic options. You can either choose a local character who would be more relevant to the children, or you could study someone who...

Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated. What impact did the Saxon invaders have? Our Year 4 class were puzzling over the picture of the Roman town forum at the height of the Roman Empire, one A3 picture per pair of pupils. To...

Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated. Editorial comment: Pupil reading of written and printed texts is a central element in their ‘Doing History'. As such, it is one of numerous integrated pedagogic activities that combine to make up a lesson, a series...

Diogenes: WHITHER CREATIVITY?! A consideration of the article Creativity and the Primary Curriculum In June 2010 the journal Primary Headship included an article entitled Creativity and the Primary Curriculum which endeavoured to pull together a range of positions as to where the curriculum might be going in the immediate future. These...

Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated. Everyone loves a story - especially a story well told. To encourage learning all primary teachers should consider the creative art of telling a story, as well as developing a variety of ways of interacting through...

The current focus on a knowledge-rich curriculum, in which the intent and impact should be clearly identified, has seen many subject leaders scrutinising and reworking the history curriculum within their contexts. As part of this, specific vocabulary, be it conceptual or otherwise, has been highlighted, and word lists are appearing...