Using Sources

It is important to use a wide range of sources such as pictures, artefacts, music and sights. Children will use these to build up their enquiry thought and processes and to build up their understanding of past.

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  • Using inventories in Key Stage 2 history

    Article

    Continuing the focus on using historical sources, this article by Clare Lally introduces us to the use of historical inventories. Using examples from the Tudor period, Clare considers how inventories can be used to explore diversity of experience between rich and poor. At every stage of historical enquiry, from primary...

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  • What’s important about...? Sources and evidence

    Article

    In this timely article, Ailsa Fidler and Chris Russell explore the use of sources and evidence in the teaching of primary history. Referring to Ofsted’s history subject report (July 2023), Ailsa and Chris explore how sources can be used effectively in the classroom and how children’s understanding of the role...

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  • Using some more unusual sources in the primary classroom

    Article

    In this article Tim Lomas illustrates how it is valid and creative to go beyond some of the most popular sources used by primary history teachers. He looks at a number of historical enquiries and questions that might be considered as a theme and some sources that might be used....

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  • Significant anniversaries: the infamous Beeching Report 1963

    Article

    March 2023 sees the anniversary of a report that had profound significance on social history and which affected many parts of the United Kingdom. There is every chance that it had an effect close to your school especially if you are in a more rural or coastal area. The Beeching...

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  • What’s in your pocket, Peg?

    Article

    What’s in your pocket, Peg? is a story book about Jersey which experienced German occupation throughout most of World War II. We wanted to create a book that appealed to children across different primary age groups, helping them to imagine the first-hand life experiences of a child alive at that time. The...

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  • Using oral history in the classroom

    Multipage Article

    The Oral History Society has kindly agreed to produce two new films aimed at history teachers who are new to carrying out or using oral histories either in their teaching or with students. These two films will equip teachers with the essential tools and knowledge for using and devising effective...

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  • Artefacts in the neighbourhood

    Article

    Alf Wilkinson uses an everyday object found near you – a post box – to develop your children’s history skills. Look carefully at the picture. It is a familiar object in the neighbourhood. It is a postbox – there will be one (or more) near you. Go out and look...

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  • School war memorials as the subject for enquiry-based learning

    Article

    A visit to a local war memorial to coincide with Remembrance Day leaves a lasting legacy. Every year, groups of primary school children visit a war memorial in their town and village or local church, and increasingly benefit from educational visits to sites of remembrance such as the National Memorial...

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  • Back to basics: using maps in primary history

    Article

    Maps tend to be more associated with geography but they have always been vital to history. This article focuses on the way maps have evolved in history, what they provide for the historian and ways in which they can be used when teaching primary history. A chronological account of the...

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  • How museum collections make ancient Egypt, and the people who lived there, real

    Article

    It’s a safe bet that ancient Egypt is one of the most exciting topics on the primary history curriculum. But that can come with misunderstandings of a complex 3,000-year-long history and an accomplished group of people, embedded by the sensationalised, gory, and othering approach often shown when ancient Egypt features...

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  • What’s in a road? Local history at Early Years and Key Stage 1

    Article

    One of the many amazing things about History is that it can be found in everything; even the smallest or most mundane objects can provide an insight into how life has changed or provide a greater understanding of a different period in time. Late October last year as the light...

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  • Exploring the past through active enquiry

    Article

    Story and enquiry – that’s what I think of when considering history. The stories of events and people pull you into the past and stories generate a curiosity that encourages exploration. ‘Finding out’ is central to what we do in history. Our early-years classrooms must provide vibrant and challenging environments...

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  • Think like an archaeologist!

    Article

    Since the great brick-built cities of Mohenjodaro and Harappa were first excavated in the early twentieth century, other large and thousands of small sites have been discovered. Clay was the raw material (bricks) for Indus architecture and everyday objects. Pottery was produced in industrial quantities on the foot wheel, an...

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  • The Great Exhibition of 1851: teaching a significant event at Key Stage 1

    Article

    The Great Exhibition allows pupils to consider the impact of a particular event. The exhibition provides a means to look at Britain’s wider role in the world and social and technical developments such as the impact of the railways. Pupils can explore a variety of sources, consider the substantive concepts...

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  • How an atlas and a very old map can help us make sense of the ancient Greeks

    Article

    The ancient Greeks were a maritime people – they travelled and traded vast distances by sea, but rarely left sight of land. They were also a very divided nation. Separate city states fiercely guarded their independence, only uniting [sometimes!] to fight against a common enemy like the Persians. The Greeks all...

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  • Ten texts for the Platinum Jubilee

    Article

    With the Platinum Jubilee approaching later this year and celebrations planned for June 2022, here is a round-up of ten fiction and non-fiction books which will help you plan and find resources for your school celebrations...

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  • Back to basics: using artefacts in the classroom

    Article

    While most teachers recognise the importance of artefacts in history education, knowing how to use them effectively can often prove more challenging. This article suggests ways to investigate historical objects and provides a framework to support children’s observations. Why use artefacts?  Artefacts are simply any object used by people in...

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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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  • Teaching primary history through concepts

    Article

    Teaching history in schools is quite new (it’s only been in the National Curriculum for English state schools since 1991), but the discipline of history as a subject is very ancient. Thinking and writing in a recognisably historical way can be traced back to the ancient Greeks. Herodotus, an ancient...

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  • Primary History summer resource 2021: Using historical sources

    Article

    This year's free summer resource for primary members looks at using historical sources with primary pupils. Introducing children to sources is an important part of understanding the disciplinary nature of history. One of the key ideas we need to get pupils to understand is that history is based on sources, which...

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