Local Study

The importance of local history for developing a sense of place and identity is emphasised by the National Curriculum. The local landscape and buildings can often reveal a great deal about the use of land and the type of people who lived there in the past. Buildings and landscape can reveal how long a heritage the place has had. Monuments and local heritage or parish records can highlight individual local heroes or provide a window into the lives of ordinary local people in times gone by. How similar or different were their lives? Often, the local picture can also help to reveal the national or international picture.

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  • Engaging places with KS2

    Article

    Engaging Pupils: An A Level student describes her experience of collaborative working with Key Stage 2.When the students at Thamesview Vocational Centre found out we were working with the local junior school, Riverview Primary, we were quite surprised. We had been working on the Engaging Places project which was a...

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  • England's Past For Everyone

    Article

    England's Past for Everyone was a local history project run by the Victoria County History. Volunteers throughout the country worked alongside authors and researchers to produce a whole range of new resources. From a series of books to learning resources for schools, it sought to bring local history to life.  The EPE project was...

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  • English Heritage and Historical Association Local Heritage Project

    Article

    One year ago (2011), the south eastern branch of English Heritage and the Historical Association came together to see what we could do better in partnership. The outcome was the Local Heritage Partnership Project. The vision was to work together to provide access to and inspiration to carry out local...

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  • Exploring empire, artefacts and local history

    Article

    This article introduces us to the Colonial Countryside Project. Many of the sites we visit, especially the great country houses and stately homes, have long been visited by children. They are often fascinated by both the buildings and the history associated with them. However, there is a growing recognition that...

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  • Exploring the Rollright Stones as part of your Stone Age to Iron Age study

    Article

    Those teaching the Stone Age to Iron Age will be aware that the range of sources can be seen as rather narrow largely because of the absence of written records. It often means resorting to artefacts and monuments. This article explores one stone site and how it can be used as...

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  • Exploring the history of our place with very young children

    Article

    Karin Doull considers how we can develop historical thinking in the Early Years in this article about locality and place. Karin offers helpful suggestions for developing historical vocabulary and assessing understanding. How can we seek to encourage Foundation Stage children to engage with historical thinking and processes? What appears to...

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  • From Home to the Front: World War I

    Article

    Events which encapsulate family, community, national and global history provide rich opportunities for engaging children. Some of these draw on positive memories associated with past events: the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, how people responded to the first flight to the moon, the Millennium celebrations. Yet it is perhaps gruelling...

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  • History in the Urban Environment

    Article

    Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated. A study of the local environment can make a vital contribution to children's sense of identity, their sense of place and the community in which they live. More importantly, a local study can enable children...

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  • How can citizenship education contribute to effective local history?

    Article

    Please note: This article pre-dates the current National Curriculum and some content and links may be outdated. Citizenship education in primary schools asks children to dig deeply into issues, to gain skills to become advocates and champions for the views of themselves and others and to be confident to take action on...

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  • How can we make effective use of the census in the primary history classroom?

    Article

    If there is a list of sources that teachers are likely to be familiar with, it is almost certain that the census will be included. In part this is because this is something that we all participate directly in anyway so it has a personal resonance. It can hold a...

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  • How local history can bridge the gap...

    Article

    A year on from the 2021 Development Matters and it is now much clearer how the changes in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum, with its emphasis on the role of communities, place, space and histories, has provided greater support for teachers and children to make the transition from the Understanding the...

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  • How significant is the tragic story of the SS Mendi?

    Article

    Historical anniversaries and events are often in the news, commemorated locally and nationally. I have found that getting the children involved in topics relating to these can really help them feel the importance of their learning, help them to appreciate the past and feel a sense of responsibility – a...

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  • How to make a toy museum

    Article

    Making a museum in your setting or classroom is easy and children can learn all kinds of historical skills as well as developing their mark making and writing. Tees Valley Museums are a consortium of seven venues across the Tees Valley. Together they have created online support to develop a museum...

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  • ICT and Local History

    Article

    Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated. It is the year 3002 AD. The spaceship hovers over the surface of the earth, locked in to the spot where the Bolham time capsule is buried. One thousand years ago the fifteen 9 and 10...

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  • Incorporating Fieldwork into Your History Curriculum

    Article

    Fieldwork might fit in to almost any British unit you study - is there a Stone Age burial, or Iron Age Hill fort nearby to investigate? A Roman villa or Viking settlement? Can place names tell us about the local area?At Key Stage One the area around the school is...

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  • Incorporating local history into a scheme of work

    Article

    This unit is not itself a scheme of work, but instead suggests ways local history might meaningfully be incorporated into a Scheme of Work. It is not meant to be prescriptive, but to suggest ideas, areas and tools that should help teachers make a study of local history meaningful. See...

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  • Insights from a year of leading the development of a ‘knowledge-rich curriculum’

    Article

    Raynville Primary School serves a highly disadvantaged area of West Leeds and we work hard to provide our children with the best opportunities to learn and enjoy their time with us. One jewel in the crown of our school’s curriculum is children’s historical learning as part of a knowledge-rich curriculum....

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  • Introducing history at Key Stage 1: a view from the classroom

    Article

    Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated. ‘What are we doing this for?’ I was asked this question as we entered the churchyard to look at the local War memorial. The curiosity and directness of a six year old child is guaranteed...

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  • Introducing local history: the Fusehill Workhouse Project

    Article

    Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated. Master and Mistress of the Workhouse refused to talk to any of us as she was adamant that nothing she could remember would be very interesting! Of course disappointments like this have to be accepted and...

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  • Key Stage 1 local history through fresh eyes

    Article

    Upon approaching this article on teaching the local history component of the National Curriculum for Key Stage 1 I decided to focus on one school, to look at what they normally deliver, and to put forward suggestions that could be used to enhance their existing unit of study. I visited Pencoys...

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