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Historical Association - the UK national charity for history

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We support the teaching, learning and enjoyment of history. Join us to help inspire future generations and meet others who share an interest in the past.

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Discover how Oliver Cromwell rose from humble origins in Huntingdonshire to shape the history of the entire country

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BBC Sounds - You're Dead to Me - Available Episodes

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Listen to the latest episodes of You're Dead to Me on BBC Sounds

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Meet Mr. T Stuart (Mr T) is an experienced teacher and history specialist. He is an honorary fellow of the Historical Association, regularly featured writer in a number of publications and delivers training on various aspects of primary history teaching. He is a passionate believer in using children’s natural curiosity to engage them in lessons […]

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Ofsted have released the and third of their latest subject reports which use the research reviews as a lens to evaluate the curricula of schools they have inspected. This report explores and evaluates the state of history education in England. The findings are based on a relatively small sample of schools (50) but nevertheless provide some useful insights and frameworks for considering your own school's history provision.

I've tried to summarise some of the key points from the report and wanted to share them with other as, in the past, people have said they've found them useful. As always, these notes are my interpretation of the report but the arguments themselves come from Ofsted's own work. If I have misinterpreted or misrepresented any of the findings, please let me know. You can read the full report by clicking

This summary has taken me the longest to produce out of everything Ofsted have released so far. I've summarised all sections of the report, but if you're only looking at the headlines, the first part of this will probably be most useful to you. I have summarised both the primary and secondary sections of the report too, hence the summary's overall length.

The shortest summary I can make of the report is as follows:

Teachers and leaders should ensure be clear about what content should be learned and in what detail. These decisions should be based on ensuring pupils develop sufficient knowledge to access material they will encounter in the future. The curriculum should be sufficiently broad and deep to ensure this content is learned securely and so that teaching does not cause misconceptions or gaps in knowledge. Pupils need to be taught how historians construct historical knowledge. Leaders can support teachers and enable pupil success by making sure that content is specified in sufficient detail in addition to narrating the connections pupils should make between topics so that they develop a rich and sophisticated mental model of the many substantive and disciplinary historical concepts.

If you would like to support the work I do at the same time as downloading a high-quality PDF version of the visual summary, please visit my Gumroad page by clicking here. (I've included an additional PDF of the written notes and editable Microsoft Word version as a thank you for your support 🙏).

If you'd like to refresh your memory of the research review, for my summary.

Effective curricula focus on development of key concepts over time. They map out the detail of the knowledge - both the substantive and disciplinary- children should learn and the way in which this knowledge is connected.

When pupils knowledge becomes richer and more secure over time, they are more able to access a broad curriculum which increases in complexity. The quality of the earlier curriculum affects pupils' access and success with their later learning.

Effective curriculum planning involves basing curricular decisions on what pupils already know and understanding so that new content can build on what they already know. In addition, content is selected, emphasised and revisited to enable success with later learning.

There is variation in the quality of practice between schools. A lower quality of history education is provided when leaders fail to fully grasp the complexities of how pupils make progress in history.

Many schools have invested a significant amount of time into developing their history curriculum.

A lack of specificity and detail in what pupils should learn leads to a multitude of issues with curriculum design, teaching and assessment. An emphasis or focus on superficial understanding or approaches to answering historical questions leads to learning which is insecure, patchy and limits pupils' understanding.

It is important to focus on developing pupils' mental models and schemata rather than too narrowly focusing on recall of disconnected facts and dictionary definitions of concepts.

Leaders need to understand the nature of progress in history and not mistake generic features of lessons as evidence of high-quality teaching and learning.

Disciplinary knowledge is an area in which both primary and secondary schools have opportunities for development and improvement in developing pupils' understanding of how historians work.

It is important for schools to consider the range of lenses for studying history. Political history is most commonly taught in schools and coherence is mainly achieved. However, social, cultural and economic history is rarely taught with the same coherence. This can limit the conceptualisations pupils make about the past. Leaders should pay attention to how different aspects of history can be blended together to give a more holistic understanding of the past.

In most schools, leaders recognise the importance of pupils having secure knowledge of the narrative of key events they are studying. When done well, this enables pupils to secure knowledge of the topic and make sense of more challenging information.

In a few schools, teachers ensure that pupils have a strong grasp of the contextual factors which are related to the content they are studying.

The range and depth of teachers' knowledge, and the specification on curriculum plans of what pupils need to know, are both associated with how successfully teachers secure pupils' knowledge of contexts and narratives.

It is powerful for teachers to discuss the 'fingertip' knowledge pupils need to get the most from their teaching sequences.

When teachers are less secure about the connectedness of the events they are teaching and how they relate to the curriculum aims, pupils can struggle to learn new material.

In most schools, whole-school policies and decisions help teachers provide high-quality history education. Teachers typically find this helpful, especially when adaptations can be made to reflect the distinctive nature of history.

Leaders often support departments by providing significant time for developing and renewing the curriculum.

When teachers are required to devote significant time to marking work, this reduces the time they have available to focus on curriculum design and its impact on pupils learning. Generally, such requirements are being appropriately reduced.

It is less effective when leaders require teachers to use pedagogical approaches regardless of whether they are appropriate for history teaching and learning. Often, approaches to teaching and assessment are distorted due to leaders' focus on preparation for KS4 exams.

Most quality assurance focuses on surface level features rather than reflecting more rigorous scrutiny and evaluation of the curriculum design, teaching and assessment.

If you would like to support the work I do at the same time as downloading a high-quality PDF version of the visual summary, please visit my Gumroad page by clicking here. (I've included an additional PDF of the written notes and editable Microsoft Word version as a thank you for your support 🙏).

If not, click the link below.

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A Summary of Ofsted's History Subject Report: Rich Encounters with the Past

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A summary of the 2023 report by Ofsted into history education in England.

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Free teacher classroom resources suitable for use in history lessons with primary school children at Key Stage 2 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and at 1st and 2nd Level in Scotland. The content is organised as i) British History: Collections; ii) British History: Specific topics; iii) World History: Collections; iv) World History: Specific topics.

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Free primary resources for teaching history school lessons to 7-11-year-olds.

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Free teacher classroom resources suitable for use in history lessons with primary school children at Key Stage 1 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and at 1st Level in Scotland.

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Free teacher classroom resources suitable for use in history lessons with primary school children at Key Stage 1 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and at 1st Level in Scotland.

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Early Years Guidance- Development Matters

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Early Years Guidance- Development Matters

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Stuart Boydell, published 22nd November 2021

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In the Early Years Foundation Stage children begin to learn that as they grow up they are increasingly able to do more things for themselves independently. This emerging knowledge and understanding can be used to explore crucial early historical skills.

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give them context to the world we live in

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For knowledge of how things have changed over time

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To understand the process of change

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Give children context of the past and the wider world

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To help children understand the past and how we got to where we are today

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Giving them an understanding of why the world is the way it is today

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To understand how we got to where we are and how far we can go

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Educate them about the past, key landmarks and events that have shaped our world today

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To inspire curiosity about the past

To understand the diversity of society and challenges of time

Equip students with ability to develop perspective and judgement

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So they can understand the history of their local area and how it’s changed

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To give kids an understanding of the history of Britain and the wider world

Understand how to use historical enquiry skills

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We have wonderfully straight roads in some parts of the country

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Aiding pupils in understanding Britain’s past and if the wider world

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Gain knowledge and understanding of Britains past and that of the wider world.

Pupils should be inspired to know more about the past

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To give children context into the world we live in and see why things are like they are today

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To give children a chronological narrative of key events in history and how they shaped the world today

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To give children an understanding on the way the world develops.

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Make children critical consumers of sources

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evaluation skills, including critically evaluating events and how things could be different

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evaluation skills, including critically evaluating events and how things could be different

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To understand the history or Britain and the wider world

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Hadrians wall

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They invaded twice

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To understand cause and effect in the past and how it has impacted countries, cultures, races and religions and how it links to present day

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city of bath

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Numerals

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Ceaser

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They established york as Eboracum

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Changed a lot of infrastructure

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Aqueducts

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Claudius invasion

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romans ve celts

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Verulaniums

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Julius caesar led the first invasion

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Battle formations w/ shield (did an activity on it I think)

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Emperor Constantine the great was crowned in York

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AD/BC vs CE/BCE and what they mean

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Julius Caesar=invader

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Britain already fractured

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It took nearly a century after the invasion for Britain to become part of the Roman Empire 

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It took nearly a century after the invasion for Britain to become part of the Roman Empire 

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Caesar did not establish lasting control or leave a Roman presence in Britain.

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Caesar did not establish lasting control or leave a Roman presence in Britain.

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10-12k troops 55BCE vs 37k 54BCE

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Roman Empire not extended to Britain until 43AD

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Capital at time of Roman Empire coming to Britain was Colchester

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Make the topic relatable to your class

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That vikings helmets didn’t have horns

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Visual timelines that you can adapt as you learn new topics.

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Involve pupils in knowledge organisers, across subjects - love the idea

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Writing opportunity isn’t a historical skill

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Make sure to adapt planning to suit your cohort

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Applicable the related to your own class

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children have to relate to what is being taught

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choose significant individuals who are representative of children in the cohort

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Starting off a topic with the chronology so they can see where it fits

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Viking helmets didn’t have horns

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Base each lesson around a source and ensure the children know where the source has come from and what it can tell us about the time period.

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Involving topic across other subjects to consolidate knowledge

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Make it meaningful - ensure it’s something that they can relate to or have experience/knowledge around (can’t understand about promenades if they haven’t been to the seaside)

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DO NOT focus on largely irrelevant info - what the Romans wore etc. - in History. Look at the actual history and make sure curriculum objectives are being taught.

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That romans are not from Romania

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That what is taught can be adapted