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The statutory programmes of study and attainment targets for science at key stages 1 to 4.

Details

These programmes of study are issued by law; you must follow them unless there's a good reason not to.

These programmes of study apply to all schools maintained by the local authority in England. They came into force in September 2016 for pupils up to and including year 10. For pupils in year 11, they come into force from September 2017.

Schools are not required by law to teach the content indicated as being 'non-statutory'.

Short films of teachers and subject experts talking about the national curriculum and how to use it are also available.

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National curriculum in England: science programmes of study

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The statutory programmes of study and attainment targets for science at key stages 1 to 4.

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Finding the optimum: the science subject report

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Science helps us to answer our biggest questions and to meet our most basic needs: from explaining the deepest mysteries of the universe to the structure of elementary particles that form atoms. The findings of science have fundamentally shaped every aspect of our world. Science drives innovation, creating new knowledge to help us solve current and future problems. All young people are entitled to a high-quality science education, to the curiosity it engenders and the understanding and the opportunity it brings.

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The Association for Science Education (ASE)

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The Association for Science Education (ASE)

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The ASE's 2024 flagship Annual Conference takes place at the University of Northampton's Waterside Campus in January, from the 4th to the 6th...

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https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/239035/PRIMARY_national_curriculum_-_History.pdf

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https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/research-review-series-history/research-review-series-history#stages-education

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Introduction

The study of history can bring pupils into a rich dialogue with the past and with the traditions of historical enquiry. The past and changing accounts of the past have shaped the identities of diverse people, groups and nations. Through history, pupils come to understand their place in the world, and in the long story of human development. The study of history challenges pupils to make sense of the striking similarities and vast differences in human experiences across time and place.

School history also shows pupils how accounts of the past arise and are constructed. Pupils learn how evidence for a claim can be constituted and the conditions under which valid claims can be made. They learn how historians and others construct accounts about the past, building on and challenging or refining the work of others. Pupils learn how argument and debate can be underpinned by shared principles of enquiry, and how this can drive and test new knowledge and insight about shared pasts.

In this report, we have:

outlined the national context in relation to history

considered curriculum progression in history, pedagogy, assessment and the impact of school leaders' decisions on provision

summarised our review of research into factors that can affect quality of education in history

The review draws on a range of sources, including a programme of research from our Research and Evaluation team and our previous research, including the 'Education inspection framework: overview of research' and 'Principles behind Ofsted's research reviews and subject reports'. This is supported by research into history education, including the work of academics and professionals and also the published reflections and research of history teachers. Much of this work is on a small scale but is invaluable in understanding how history teachers have wrestled with the challenges of curriculum design in history and built on each other's work.

The research that underpins the education inspection framework ( EIF) highlights the impact of curriculum design on pupils' outcomes. In making judgements about the quality of education, inspection will consider the quality of curriculum design and its impact on pupils. This review focuses on how the work of practitioners and academics has considered quality in the distinctive context of history education. This review will inform our approach to considering the quality of subject education in schools. Our findings from research into practice in schools will be published as a later subject report.

National context

In England, pupils begin their formal history education at key stage 1. What children learn in the early years foundation stage ( EYFS) is crucial knowledge for them to build on in the future. The knowledge and vocabulary that children develop, particularly through the 'understanding the world' area of learning, enable them to access history content at key stage 1.

Schools are required to offer a broad and balanced curriculum to all pupils, as set out in the Education Act 2002 (for maintained schools) and the Academies Act 2010. This expectation is at the heart of the EIF.

All pupils are required to study history from key stage 1 to the end of key stage 3. In primary schools, pupils might study history for between 1 and 2 hours per fortnight. This time might be organised into 'blocks' where pupils study history for a number of weeks before studying another subject. In key stage 3, pupils are likely to study history for between 2 and 4 hours per fortnight. Although teachers have previously expressed concerns about the limited time given to history, particularly in primary schools, a 2019 survey suggested that these concerns have eased and that more schools may now be ensuring that the study of history is given adequate time in the curriculum.

Across these phases, the national curriculum sets out ambitious goals for history education in terms of broad substantive concepts that pupils should learn and disciplinary knowledge about how historical accounts are created. The national curriculum identifies broad areas of content that pupils should study. However, schools have significant freedom to design their own curriculum offer in history.

History remains a popular choice at both GCSE and A level, with a slight increase in entries for the June 2021 series at both stages. There are 278,880 provisional entries for GCSE history, and 41,585 entries for A-level history. Both of these figures represent a small increase on the previous year. Pupils who choose to study history at GCSE are likely to have at least 4 hours of history lessons per fortnight, although often they will have more history time than this. At A level, pupils are likely to have at least 8 hours of taught history lessons per fortnight.

Curriculum

Summary

Pupils make progress in history through building their knowledge of the past, and of how historians study the past and construct accounts. Teaching supports pupil progress by embedding frameworks of content and concepts that enable pupils to access future material. Abstract concepts are best learned through meaningful examples and repeated encounters in different contexts. There are a range of important considerations for curriculum designers to ensure a broad curriculum for all pupils.

Context: teachers as curriculum makers

Freedom in curriculum design

However, constructing a high-quality curriculum is a significant challenge. Across a history curriculum, curriculum designers and teachers must deploy a wide range of criteria when making content choices. The published work of history teachers suggests many ways of approaching these complex choices in order to achieve appropriate blends of content across a curriculum.

This review works on the basis that curriculum design is strongest when it reflects the range of considerations outlined below, rather than giving undue emphasis to any individual aspect of a high-quality history education.

Curriculum decisions occur at different levels

Curriculum decisions in history occur on many levels. Schools choose broad topics to teach in their history curriculum. Within these broad topics, teachers must select content from an extraordinary range of possible material to create 'planned routes' through particular topics.

However, teachers make further, equally important curriculum decisions through their emphasis on particular content within and across lessons. For example, in a lesson on religion in Anglo-Saxon England, a teacher may choose to give particular time and attention to teaching features of monasteries. They may also return to this content in future lessons to secure pupils' knowledge further (see 'Learning through meaningful examples and repeated encounters'). This kind of content emphasis is yet another curriculum decision that will significantly influence the curriculum content that pupils learn. Many of these decisions are made 'live' in any given lesson, usually without systematic planning or discussion with colleagues.

A high-quality curriculum requires careful decisions on all 3 of these levels:

topic choices

content choices

decisions on further detail and emphasis within the broad content selected

Also, teachers make additional 'live' curriculum decisions as they teach lessons. The micro-choices they make can add additional detail to their oral storytelling or to particular aspects of source material that they choose to explain and emphasise. This 'live' decision-making by individual teachers is likely to be better judged and managed when underlying rationales for content selection are fully understood and when teachers have had opportunities to regularly discuss content selection and its purposes, as well as the marriage of disciplinary and substantive content. Curriculum decisions require a sound rationale for content selection and emphasis. Studies of history teacher development show the importance of a culture of challenging debate around content choice for the renewal of strong history curriculums.

The rationale for curriculum decisions on all of these levels will be considered as part of our evaluation of the quality of subject education in history.

Based on the above, high-quality history education may have the following features

Teachers have regular opportunities to discuss content selection and its purposes, in order to support decisions about content selection and emphasis in teaching.

Securing pupils' progression in history through effective curriculum design

Pupils' progress through the curriculum depends at each stage on the range and depth of their existing knowledge and how secure it is in their minds. This knowledge is what allows pupils to understand and learn new material. Some knowledge is likely to be particularly important to future learning. Pupils are likely to benefit when curriculum design, teaching and assessment prioritise this knowledge.

Pupils are best able to learn this enabling knowledge when it is taught through repeated encounters with meaningful examples.

Progress in history

Pupils make progress in history by developing:

their knowledge about the past (this knowledge is often described as 'substantive knowledge')

their knowledge about how historians investigate the past, and how they construct historical claims, arguments and accounts (often described as 'disciplinary knowledge')

History teachers and history education researchers have long noted the complex interplay between substantive knowledge and disciplinary knowledge.[footnote 10] Deploying both substantive and disciplinary knowledge in combination is what gives pupils the capacity or skill to construct historical arguments or analyse sources. This is because knowledge of the past must be shaped by disciplinary approaches in order to become historical knowledge. Similarly, acquiring disciplinary knowledge is made purposeful and meaningful to pupils when it is related to particular historical problems where pupils have sufficient knowledge of the period, setting and topic to reason, to make inferences and to grasp the terms that others are using in any debate.

How the terms substantive and disciplinary knowledge have been understood

In offering these terms in a 2018 article, Counsell was showing how subjects such as history have been influenced by wider traditions, notably distinctions between 'syntactic' and 'substantive' knowledge developed by Schwab. Schwab used syntactic to denote big ideas about a discipline's structures, concepts and processes.[footnote 11] Counsell instead used the term 'disciplinary' because this (together with the term 'second-order' discussed below) reflects the more common usage among history teachers over the last 2 decades. Counsell also drew on much more recent work from the sociology of knowledge, especially Young's concern that pupils in school should learn that academic knowledge is provisional and revisable.

This provisional and revisable character has much in common with history teachers' longer-established traditions concerning construction of claims and evaluation of evidence.[footnote 12] History teachers' tradition of placing substantial emphasis on this disciplinary aspect of pupils' learning is particularly associated with the Schools Council History Project and its successors which, from the 1970s, sought to embed the methods and approaches of historical enquiry and argument into the teaching of history. Many history teachers have continued to build on this work by using their own practice to theorise new possibilities for various types of historical analysis and reflection in the classroom (see 'Developing disciplinary thinking through disciplinary concepts').

Ever since the disciplinary dimension of the subject found its way into common school practice, teachers have used their own practice to explore the relationship between substantive and disciplinary knowledge. For example, in 2014, drawing on many other history teachers' published works, Hammond explored this through a close analysis of pupils' essays. Hammond sought to explain what differentiated the strongest examples of historical argument from weaker ones. She suggested that pupils, when constructing historical arguments, were drawing on 'layers of knowledge' about the past.[footnote 13] Hammond was making this point in response to inadequacy of a typical approach at the time - drilling pupils in appropriate wording to meet examination requirements. Her argument was that this was missing out much more fundamental foundations that needed to have been laid long before and that did not resemble direct preparation for the final performance in an exam.

History teachers have continued to explore both the function of different forms of knowledge in pupils' historical analysis and ways of developing that knowledge. In 2017, Counsell summarised significant literature in this area and further refined the thinking about the role of knowledge in pupils' capacity to learn and do in history.[footnote 16] Counsell distilled this by describing knowledge as 'generative' (it supports pupils to generate and remember new knowledge; it is 'sticky').

Based on the above, high-quality history education may have the following features

Teaching and curriculum design reflect the relationship between substantive and disciplinary knowledge.

Teaching develops pupils' historical knowledge and their historical analysis simultaneously.

Prioritising content in the curriculum

Some content may have a particularly important role in pupils' future learning. By identifying and prioritising this content, curriculum design and teaching can support pupils' progress in history.

Generative knowledge and content emphasis

Teachers and curriculum designers may prioritise knowledge that they feel will have the greatest impact in supporting pupils to learn more in the future. Given the complex interactions between types of knowledge, identifying knowledge that will be particularly generative is unlikely to be simple. Counsell remarks that:[footnote 17]

teachers' planning challenge is not so much stacking up content in aggregate as anticipating how one layer of substantive knowledge will later accelerate another.

Despite this complexity, we highlight some principles below that history teachers have used successfully to guide their decisions about which content to prioritise.

Content that is prioritised is often referred to as 'core knowledge'. Core knowledge is the knowledge that, within a particular lesson or topic, curriculum designers and teachers deem most important for pupils to secure in their long-term memory. No particular content is innately or always 'core'. 'Core' is merely a status conferred on content by curriculum designers and teachers. These decisions focus curricular and pedagogical thinking and can support individual teachers in making better 'live' and ad hoc curricular decisions.

High-quality curriculum design is likely to be characterised by a strong and sophisticated rationale for emphasising particular content. This rationale will include the role of content in enabling future learning, while also balancing the considerations below regarding curriculum breadth and coherence.

Fingertip and residue knowledge

Teachers have found various ways of characterising the role that different types of knowledge play in relation to others. Counsell examined this, drawing on her own practice and that of others observed as a teacher educator, to create the distinction of 'fingertip' and 'residue' knowledge.[footnote 18]

'Fingertip' knowledge has an important role in current learning (usually for the duration of the immediate topic). The importance of memorising this knowledge may not extend beyond that topic.

Counsell also theorised that, over the longer duration, pupils' in-depth knowledge of topics may also leave a 'residue' of wider knowledge, such as a broad knowledge of the institutions of a period.[footnote 21] This residual knowledge may also include knowledge of substantive concepts or chronological knowledge. This knowledge is likely to be highly generative.

Based on the above, high-quality history education may have the following features

Teachers and curriculum designers identify knowledge that is particularly important to secure for all pupils.

Teaching develops the security of pupils' 'fingertip knowledge' of topics, in order to support historical analysis and argument.

Categories of generative knowledge in history

Pupils' progress in history is not so straightforward that this generative knowledge can be easily identified. However, there are some forms of knowledge that are worth considering. These are particularly likely to enable pupils' future learning. Two examples of this are:

'substantive concepts' (abstract concepts such as invasion, tax, trade, monarch or empire)

chronological knowledge (knowledge relating to broader developments and the features of historical periods)

Progress through substantive concepts

Planned, systematic encounters with substantive concepts in specific contexts are likely to be highly generative. A number of practitioners have explored how the ongoing development of an increasingly secure and sophisticated understanding of substantive concepts can support pupils' progress.[footnote 22]

Substantive concepts occur frequently

Many of these concepts feature regularly throughout the study of history in a range of contexts. As a result, they are particularly important to pupils' understanding of new material. A pupil might come across the terms 'invasion', 'monarch' or 'tax' in every year of school history. They will then be able to draw on their secure knowledge of these concepts repeatedly in a number of different contexts.[footnote 23] Pupils who do not have knowledge of these concepts will be less able to understand and learn new material. For instance, if a teacher tells pupils that 'the Saxon invasions took place across the fourth and fifth centuries, and Anglo-Saxons created competing kingdoms in England', a pupil who has no knowledge of the term 'invasion' (or 'kingdoms') will not be able to understand the meaning of this account. As a result, they will learn less about the Anglo-Saxons than a pupil who has this knowledge.

Abstract ideas are best learned through repeated encounters in specific, meaningful contexts (see 'Learning through meaningful examples and repeated encounters').

Substantive concepts must be historicised (put into a historic context or discipline)

Substantive concepts are not simply 'definitions' of important terms. They have particular meanings in different contexts. First, they have a particular meaning when used in the context of a historical narrative or argument. Second, they often have meanings that are specific to particular periods or places.

One example of this is 'revolution'. When historians use this term, it implies a judgement about the nature, pace or extent of change. Pupils require disciplinary knowledge to make sense of these judgements, which are not captured by simply knowing a definition of the term. These terms also mean different things to different people and meant different things at different times in the past (for example, who or what might be characterised as 'revolutionary' by different people at different times).

To learn about the past, pupils will often need knowledge of the particular meaning of some specific concepts in different time periods. For example, they might need to understand what 'socialist' specifically meant to people (even different groups of people) in Bismarck's Germany in order to learn accurately about aspects of the period. Bridges and Olivey have explored the importance of historical context in the learning of concepts.[footnote 24]

Balancing incidental and directed learning of substantive concepts

Often, a lack of security in one of these concepts is a barrier to pupils' comprehension of new material, and therefore limits the potential for further learning about both the wider context being studied and the concept itself.[footnote 25] Bridges and Palek, following the work of Hammond, reflected on the impact of pupils' security of conceptual knowledge on their ability to learn more complex material.[footnote 26] Left unchecked, these gaps in pupils' knowledge are amplified as this lack of enabling knowledge is compounded over time.[footnote 27] The importance of these concepts suggests that teaching should aim to explicitly develop knowledge of concepts that may be particularly important to support pupils to learn later content.[footnote 28]

This systematic approach, planning specific opportunities to develop knowledge of concepts, will work for a small number of particularly important concepts. However, it is not sufficient to secure knowledge of the vast range of concepts that pupils will need to understand at some point in their history education. Pupils will also have to learn many concepts incidentally, without explicit teaching or emphasis.[footnote 29]

To secure pupils' progress, a high-quality curriculum is likely to prioritise developing knowledge of concepts that will have the maximum impact on all pupils' capacity to learn the future curriculum. This might include:

pre-teaching or earlier encounters with concepts

assessments to check pupils' security with these concepts

intervention to address gaps or misconceptions

However, any direct teaching of substantive concepts should bear in mind the principles above (particularly the importance of learning through meaningful examples).

Curriculum design and teaching are likely to be most effective when they combine a systematic approach to some identified concepts with wide-ranging opportunities for incidental learning. They may also require specific support for some pupils to ensure that they develop the range of knowledge required to allow incidental learning (see 'Supporting pupils in history, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities').

Based on the above, high-quality history education may have the following features

Specific opportunities are planned for pupils to develop their knowledge of some particularly important substantive concepts.

The curriculum ensures that pupils regularly encounter a wide range of important substantive concepts.

Pupils have opportunities to read or hear appropriately challenging texts.

Chronological knowledge

Chronological knowledge is also highly generative. Understanding the broad characteristics of historical periods gives context to what pupils learn and can increase pupils' familiarity with new material. Securing overview knowledge of the past supports pupils to develop this knowledge into coherent narratives that are more memorable for them. Learning this chronological knowledge through meaningful examples is likely to be effective (see 'Learning through meaningful examples and repeated encounters').

Overview and depth

Banham suggested that teachers could develop pupils' understanding of 'the overview lurking in the depth'.[footnote 32] In Banham's example, by studying the reign of King John in detail, pupils were more able to develop their understanding of the broader features and institutions of the medieval period. Knowledge of these different scales appears to be mutually reinforcing.

Developing pupils' mental timeline

Cumulatively, pupils' knowledge of periods and events will form a network of knowledge that might be conceptualised as a 'mental timeline'. This is an example of a complex schema, which might include components such as:

broad characterisations of particular periods

understanding of general features of periods

knowledge of the chronological order of broad periods

knowledge of particular dates and events

knowledge of broad developments, links or themes across periods

A secure mental timeline makes pupils' existing historical knowledge more secure, and therefore makes new knowledge easier to learn. Dawson explored a range of approaches to teaching history that emphasised securing these different aspects of pupils' chronological knowledge.[footnote 33]

Understanding the broad features or characteristics of historical periods also establishes a meaningful context for what pupils will go on to learn. A pupil will be able to learn more readily about the Norman Conquest if they have prior knowledge of general patterns of trade, migration and political structures in the medieval period. Again, teaching these through meaningful examples is likely to be effective, although teachers may choose to emphasise broader features of periods to support memorisation of these.

When curriculum design does not take this chronological knowledge into consideration, pupils' understanding of the past is likely to be disconnected or episodic.[footnote 37] Pupils may know about events and periods in history but not the connections between places or times in the past. Alternatively, their knowledge might be disconnected from other frameworks, such as an understanding of the discipline of history. In both cases, individual parts of pupils' knowledge are likely to lack the meaning that can be conferred by relationship to other parts or broader frameworks. As well as lacking meaning, this knowledge would be less securely remembered and less easily recalled and drawn on in future learning.

Based on the above, high-quality history education may have the following features

Teaching and curriculum design secure pupils' chronological knowledge.

There are opportunities for pupils to study aspects of the past in overview and in depth.

Teaching helps pupils to develop coherent historical narratives and organising frameworks for their knowledge of the past.

The importance of context and repetition when learning new concepts

Summary

Meaningful examples and secure contexts make new information more familiar to pupils and therefore easier to learn. Contextual information in history reduces the abstraction of complex ideas and content. Pupils' prior knowledge also makes new information meaningful. Knowledge is generative, it enables future learning.

Learning through meaningful examples and repeated encounters

In one recent example from the work of history teachers, Olivey shares how he attempted to support pupils to build a more nuanced understanding of the concept of class. Olivey's approach was to focus on developing rich and complex knowledge of the period in order to give a meaningful context to this abstract idea.[footnote 40]

For example, through an encounter with the abstract concept 'kingdom':

Mercia was one of the Saxon kingdoms. It stretched from...

pupils may start to develop a schema for this concept, which may incorporate an idea like 'a kingdom is a geographical area'.

These early schemas, particularly for younger pupils, will be very simple and may not be entirely precise. Their role, however, is simply to enable future learning.[footnote 43] When the pupil encounters the concept again in a new context:

Offa ruled over his kingdom. He was very powerful

their prior knowledge supports them to assimilate new knowledge about the concept ('kingdoms are ruled over by powerful people').

Over time, through repeated encounters with meaningful examples in specific contexts, pupils will develop more secure and more sophisticated schema for such concepts.[footnote 44]

As pupils' knowledge of these concepts grows, so does their capacity to understand and learn more complex material.[footnote 45] In this way, pupils' learning (both in history-specific and wider contexts) is connected from their earliest education through all later stages. We discuss curriculum at specific school stages in 'Curriculum design at different stages of education'.

Memorisation and security of knowledge

Repeated encounters with concepts also increase the security of pupils' knowledge. Ensuring repeated encounters with important concepts is one way in which curriculum designers and teachers can prioritise content to support pupils' progress (see 'Prioritising content in the curriculum'). The importance of teaching for memory is explored in the 'Teaching for memory' section.

Knowledge is generative

Curriculum content increases in range, depth and complexity as pupils move through their history curriculum. At each stage, pupils need more, and more secure, knowledge in order to understand new material, assimilate it into their existing knowledge and mental frameworks, and learn and remember it long-term.[footnote 46]

As an example, the concept of 'taking power' has complex connotations, including specific connotations when used in historical narratives. If a pupil does not have enough prior knowledge, they will struggle to understand this concept (another way of saying that it will be abstract). This may hinder their ability to make sense of a statement like 'Saxons took power in England'. However, a pupil's understanding of similar historical events from previous topics (such as the Roman invasion of Britain) might ensure that the concept of 'taking power' has some meaning for them.

Knowledge connects in unseen, complex and unpredictable ways

A curriculum cannot guarantee the precise knowledge that pupils will acquire. However, curriculum design and teaching can significantly influence pupils' prior knowledge.

This can be done in 2 complementary ways:

The role of background content in developing pupils' knowledge and understanding

In some subjects, pupils must develop fluency and automaticity of recall in a number of specific components. In these subjects, the 'core' knowledge is very much the focus of teaching. In these subjects, it may be effective to reduce the demands on pupils' working memory by removing material that is not considered core content.

However, such an approach in history is likely to be counterproductive. Paradoxically, pupils often need to encounter lots of contextual or background material (sometimes referred to as 'hinterland') in order to make sense of, and learn, core knowledge. Counsell warns of the danger of reducing content to propositions and thereby rendering it less meaningful and less able to be learned.[footnote 54] This relates directly to a number of the principles explored above but has broad implications for curriculum design and teaching. We explore these implications here.

For example, a Year 5 lesson on the Saxon conversion to Christianity might be designed to secure understanding about the concept of monastery and some overview details of changes to Saxon kingship. Yet, in the lesson, pupils may be exposed to a wide range of other information about the period that is not directly teaching them this core content and that teachers do not intend for pupils to recall securely or directly. This hinterland might include information about Hilda, the abbess of Whitby, and the church council that met at her abbey and the complex debates about the date of Easter. It may include information about monks travelling across the north of England, braving long and dangerous journeys. It may include a long description of the physical appearance of Holy Island and the land bridge that disappears under the tides. Pupils may see these locations on a map and hear about the North Sea and Scandinavia. They may be told the story of Augustine and Aethelbert in rich detail, going far beyond the core knowledge identified. They may be told that the version of the story we have was actually written later by a monk called Bede. They may learn about Queen Bertha and Augustine preaching in Kent. They may learn about King Aethelbert's gifts to Augustine, and how Augustine was able to set up a school and library at Canterbury with books sent from Rome by the Pope.

There are a number of reasons why teachers may choose to include such a range of background details in such a lesson, but chief among them is the fact that this extra detail is likely to help, not hinder, pupils' learning of the core knowledge.

This rich background develops pupils' understanding in the following ways:

Hinterland information provides meaningful examples and secure contexts for learning

Pupils learn abstract and complex ideas through meaningful examples (see 'Learning through meaningful examples and repeated encounters'). In the example above, the rich imagery of the monastery on Holy Island supports pupils, through meaningful examples, to make sense of the power and wealth of the church. Through the details of life at the monastery, pupils might learn about religious devotion in the early medieval period. Descriptions of journeys build pupils' sense of scale, connectedness and travel in the past. The idea that the Pope sent books from Rome gives pupils access to the complex relationship between the Pope and the peripheries of Christendom. All of these details make the more abstract new information more likely to be meaningful for pupils.

Hinterland information can connect and organise information into coherent narratives

New information is easier to comprehend and remember when organised as a story.[footnote 55] Stories provide an organising framework for knowledge. They also give familiarity to the unfamiliar through features that are grounded in pupils' lived experience and their knowledge from reading more widely - features such as agents, causation and conflict. In stories, the connections between parts, and between parts and the whole, are often clear - this connects potentially disparate or abstract ideas into a coherent whole. Stories exemplify complex and abstract ideas in meaningful, human-scale ways.

The use of stories in history is not straightforward. Over time, pupils will need to develop an understanding of how historical claims and arguments, implicit and explicit, shape historical narratives. However, stories may be an effective way of organising new or complex content for pupils.

Hinterland information can develop familiarity or initial schemata for later learning

In the example above, those fascinating details about the monastery on Holy Island might establish an early schema for monasticism that will be the crucial focus of a later topic. The role of the Pope might be incidental to the immediate focus of this lesson but of central importance to a Year 8 topic on the Reformation. Vivid descriptions of trade in the African port of Adulis or a typical Viking journey to Constantinople, in Years 4 or 5, might make a profound difference to pupils' access to vocabulary or comparable stories in Year 6 when pupils examine migration or trade in other settings.

As discussed previously, even the most basic schema for a concept may have enormous power in enabling pupils' comprehension. Even brief encounters with this hinterland in earlier topics might actually therefore be essential to pupils' capacity to make sense of future learning.[footnote 56]

Hinterland information can broaden curriculum content and demonstrate the diversity of past experiences

In the example above, pupils might well be able to learn the identified core knowledge about Saxon religion without ever learning about Hilda of Whitby. However, this content might begin to establish an understanding of the complex role of women in medieval religion and politics or the geographical diversity of the country and therefore broaden pupils' understanding of the past.

Securing progression in disciplinary knowledge

Summary

Curriculum design and teaching should ensure that pupils progress in their disciplinary knowledge. Pupils learn about how historians study the past and construct accounts through specific examples. They need secure substantive knowledge about relevant historical contexts in order to make sense of this. Generic or reductive approaches to teaching disciplinary knowledge are likely to encourage misconceptions for pupils.

Disciplinary knowledge in history

Disciplinary knowledge is knowledge of how historians investigate the past, and how they construct historical claims, arguments and accounts. For ease, we use the term 'historical enquiry' to refer to the complex tools, methods and assumptions that historians draw on. It is important to note that 'historical enquiry' describes the way that historians approach the study of the past. It should not be confused with the use of 'enquiry' to describe a pedagogical approach (such as 'enquiry learning').

Developing pupils' disciplinary knowledge is not fundamentally different to developing their substantive knowledge of the past. However, it comes with added complexities that might be considered in curriculum design and teaching. The literature suggests the importance of careful sequencing, including developing secure substantive knowledge of topics to support pupils' learning of disciplinary knowledge in these specific contexts. Another common consideration is the role of historical scholarship in shaping approaches to disciplinary knowledge.

This knowledge of historical enquiry frames what pupils learn about the past, supporting them to consider the status of historical claims. It enables them to place their historical knowledge in a broad context. It helps to insulate pupils from the potential harm of a narrow or distorted view of the past by exploring how historical narratives are constructed. It introduces pupils to the subtle and sophisticated disciplinary conventions that bind and govern historical claims and accounts. Chapman captures the essence of this when he describes how the disciplinary traditions of history ensure that:[footnote 57]

historians are expected to make their assumptions, concepts and methods explicit, so that they can be critically assessed by an academic community of practice and to present arguments for interpretive decisions that they make.

Because the literature recommends a number of specific approaches to teaching particular aspects of disciplinary knowledge, we summarise these approaches below, alongside the recommendations regarding curriculum design.

Complexities in developing pupils' disciplinary knowledge

Common misconceptions and learning disciplinary knowledge

The nature of historical enquiry - for example that it is concerned with constructing accounts - is highly complex. Moving pupils closer to this complex understanding, and countering these potential misconceptions, requires pupils to gain increasingly sophisticated knowledge over time, through meaningful examples that accurately represent the complex nature of historical enquiry.

The interplay between substantive and disciplinary knowledge

The distinction between substantive and disciplinary knowledge may be useful for some aspects of curriculum design and teaching. However, these are closely related. In fact, each is meaningless without the other.

It is through disciplinary methods, approaches and assumptions that pupils are able to construct substantive knowledge of the past. Although these disciplinary aspects may not always be explicitly taught, they underpin any knowledge of the past that is taught to pupils.

Substantive aspects of the past also shape these disciplinary tools, approaches and assumptions. Particular sources of evidence, or types of sources, are available to historians of particular times and places. These shape the methods, approaches and assumptions of historians in ways that are specific to particular contexts. If a medieval historian decides to attend to the question of what the experience of education was like for medieval noblewomen, it is meaningless to describe this decision as 'disciplinary' or 'substantive'. The historians' disciplinary tools, methods and assumptions (including about the kinds of things that are of interest in history) are interacting with their in-depth understanding of this particular context to frame an enquiry about the past.

This complex interaction between disciplinary and substantive knowledge highlights one way in which teaching disciplinary knowledge might be particularly complex. Pupils must have secure and detailed prior knowledge of at least 2 different domains - the specific substantive context or topic and the relevant disciplinary knowledge - to understand and learn more complex disciplinary knowledge.

Some principles for developing pupils' disciplinary knowledge

Avoiding generic approaches

One way in which teaching may encourage misconceptions is through 'generic' or 'one-size-fits-all' disciplinary approaches. Because the disciplinary approach is always shaped by the substantive context, it is often inaccurate or misleading to teach pupils that historical enquiry can be reduced to simple rules, tricks or heuristics. For example, if pupils are taught to use a heuristic such as the '5Ws' (who, what, when, where, why) to consider any historical source, they are likely to develop misconceptions about the complex relationship between sources, evidence and historical claims and accounts.

Pupils will learn about historical enquiry most effectively through specific examples of how historians have approached this in particular contexts. This will balance pupils' understanding of some of the commonalities in historical enquiry across contexts with knowledge of the distinctiveness of historical enquiry in particular contexts.

The importance of secure substantive knowledge

Pupils' capacity to learn and use disciplinary knowledge, including in the construction of their own historical arguments and accounts, is highly dependent on the depth and security of their substantive knowledge of the period or events being analysed.

For example, if pupils do not understand enough about the events they have studied to construct reasonable claims about causation, then they may shape their arguments in other ways and therefore develop misconceptions. They may, for example, claim that the assassination of Franz Ferdinand was the most important cause of the First World War because it was the closest in time to the outbreak of the events they have studied or because they have more secure knowledge of this specific event than of other aspects of the topic. In doing this, they are using analytical tools that are not appropriate in the disciplinary context. As a result, pupils may build misconceptions into their schema for how historians form arguments about causation. For this reason, practitioners commonly recommend careful attention to developing pupils' breadth and depth of substantive knowledge to enable them to construct historical arguments or accounts.[footnote 61]

Developing disciplinary knowledge over time

Bradshaw also suggests the importance of pupils' substantive knowledge in supporting their historical analysis.[footnote 63] A secure understanding of a specific substantive context and secure, relevant disciplinary knowledge support pupils to construct arguments and accounts that, in some ways, reflect the work of professional historians (at a developmentally appropriate level). For example, pupils in Year 9 might construct a causal argument about the causes of the outbreak of the First World War by drawing on a rich and secure understanding of these events and an understanding of how historians select, shape and present causal arguments. Pupils in Year 5 might draw on knowledge of the Anglo-Saxon period and their knowledge of how historians make claims about the past to assess some claims about the period from a range of evidence.

Without enough knowledge, pupils may make guesses or fill in gaps with their own 'everyday thinking' (see 'Common misconceptions and learning disciplinary knowledge'). Without teachers' support, these guesses could create or reinforce misconceptions about historical enquiry.

Conway explicitly sought to identify pupils' misconceptions at the start of a topic on historical significance. He found that these could be a barrier to pupils' historical analysis and aimed to address these in his teaching.[footnote 64] This suggests that opportunities for pupils to 'do' history must be carefully planned and sequenced to ensure that pupils have appropriately secure knowledge. In the earlier stages of pupils' education, teachers may focus on teaching them about aspects of disciplinary knowledge in order to prepare them to construct their own arguments and accounts in future.

Stanford explores the complexity of progression in disciplinary knowledge.[footnote 65] Reflecting on his own practice in relation to developing pupils' causal arguments, he theorises that the underlying 'causal models' that might be used to present a reasonable account of particular events differ in complexity. Stanford uses the helpful metaphor of 'moving parts', of which some causal problems may have more or fewer than others. As a result, teachers and curriculum designers may need to take account of these differing levels of complexity so that pupils build on their existing understanding to make sense of increasingly complex causation problems and arguments.

The relationship between school and academic history

Much of the practice detailed in 'Developing disciplinary thinking through disciplinary concepts' offers powerful ways of framing abstract disciplinary concepts for pupils. Woodcock gave one example of teaching the language of historical analysis explicitly.[footnote 67] Using diagrams, models or metaphors can also support pupils to shape knowledge into forms of historical analysis and argument because analogies support pupils to understand complex ideas.[footnote 68] In her study, Foster gave an example of using a 'road map' to support pupils to express complex ideas about change and continuity.[footnote 69]

Enquiry questions

Enquiry questions are a sophisticated device for shaping curriculum content. High-quality enquiry questions organise historical content to enable pupils to develop disciplinary and substantive knowledge simultaneously, with their understanding of each supporting the other. In a 2000 article, Riley explored how enquiry questions can powerfully shape historical learning.[footnote 70] Disciplinary enquiry questions give meaning to historical content and support pupils to engage with that content with disciplinary rigour. They also allow teachers to clearly signpost forms of historical analysis or aspects of the past that teachers want pupils to think and argue about.

Enquiry questions are a curricular tool to organise content. They should not be confused with the term 'enquiry', which is used to describe pedagogical approaches (such as 'enquiry learning'). Using enquiry questions does not imply any preference of pedagogical approach.

Enquiry questions usually focus on a particular area of disciplinary knowledge. They are likely to be most effective when applied across a series of lessons. This allows pupils to develop the depth and breadth of knowledge they need to think and argue about the question. Pupils are then able to adapt and develop their judgements as their understanding deepens across a series of lessons. The impact of this iterative process has been suggested by a number of history teachers reflecting on their own enquiry planning.[footnote 71]

Developing disciplinary thinking through disciplinary concepts

The main second-order concepts in common use by history teachers in England, and which figure in England's national curriculum for history,[footnote 76] are:

cause

consequence

change and continuity

similarity and difference

historical significance

sources and evidence

historical interpretations

Cause

The work of history teachers on causal argument is rich and evolving rapidly as history teachers work together to raise standards by reflecting on historical scholarship itself, especially new and diverse works by current scholars. Stanford, for example, challenged history teachers' over-use of certain causation questions, such as 'Why did William win the Battle of Hastings?', suggesting that such questions are not only out-of-step with recent historical scholarship but also do not fit into a logical progression from simpler to more complex causal arguments across the key stage.[footnote 83]

Many history teachers are using changing trends in historical scholarship to update their practice around teaching historical causation. Holliss, for example, drew on Clark's 'Sleepwalkers', a study of the causes of the First World War that amounts to a major challenge to the common Year 9 practice of rehearsing 4 long-term causes of the war (militarism, nationalism, imperialism and alliances).[footnote 84] The teaching of disciplinary knowledge is less likely to be formulaic, to be reductive or to develop misconceptions when curriculum designers and teachers maintain a strong link to the work of academic historians.

In order to build effective causal arguments, pupils require secure substantive knowledge of the event or process before seeking to explain the causes of the event or process (see 'The importance of secure substantive knowledge').[footnote 85] Without this, pupils' own causal judgements will be ill-informed or might encourage misconceptions about the discipline. An effective causation enquiry is likely to develop rich and secure substantive knowledge of the specific event or process across a series of lessons. This allows pupils to think about the overarching enquiry question in more complex ways (see 'Enquiry questions').

decision-making simulations to overcome the common misconception that historical events were inevitable

activities that explore the nature of causal relationships to support pupils to understand causes as relationships between events, developments or states of affairs

Consequence

Enquiry questions that explore a problem to do with the consequences of an event or development are less common in history teachers' practice in England than enquiry questions on causation. Much less has been written by history teachers about consequences, but this has begun to grow in recent years. The Historical Association has recently summarised practice in this area and provided advice.[footnote 89]

For pupils to discern, summarise, characterise or classify consequences of an event or development is very challenging. This is unlikely to be worthwhile or successful unless pupils are working with broad, secure knowledge of pertinent developments in the period. They might prepare for this analysis of consequence by formulating simple hypotheses about the likely impact of a major event.[footnote 90] Pupils might then be given the opportunity to test those hypotheses as they gain further knowledge. Later, they can reflect back on secure knowledge about a period and attempt to discern and classify different types of consequences. For example, pupils in Year 5 who have studied both the Byzantine empire and the Islamic empire across their earlier key stage 2 work can reflect back on the consequences of growing trade for the spread of religion in the eastern Mediterranean, North Africa or the Middle East.

It is particularly important that teachers do not try to create enquiry questions that require pupils to solve a problem of a causation and a problem of consequences at the same time. Pupils are more likely to practise a type of argument effectively when they stay focused on thinking and arguing about one thing at a time. They either need to be thinking and arguing about the causes of an event or development (in which case, the event or development is taken as a given while pupils question, rearrange, characterise and classify information that might be deemed causes) or they need to be tackling the much more open-ended question of the consequences of that event or development.[footnote 93]

Change and continuity

The second-order concept of change and continuity relates to historical analysis of the pace, nature and extent of change, or characterisation of a process of change. Questions in which pupils think and argue about change are often questions that naturally think and argue about continuity at the same time. The question 'how much change did the Norman Conquest bring?' is an example of a change and continuity enquiry that requires pupils to reflect on whether change or continuity best characterise comparisons of Anglo-Saxon and Norman England.

Enquiry questions are likely to be most effective when they clearly get pupils thinking and arguing about one aspect of change or continuity in a historical period.[footnote 96]

A range of approaches are likely to support pupils to understand aspects of change and continuity analysis, including:

teaching historical language for expressing ideas about change

using metaphor

using visual representations of change or models to represent abstract ideas about change[footnote 97]

Teaching may directly address common misconceptions about historical change, such as a tendency to see change as a discrete series of events rather than as a process. Fielding found that some of her pupils' thinking about change was limited by this misconception.[footnote 98] Again, the indirect or direct use of historical scholarship in lessons or to inform planning can help to ensure that historical enquiry is represented accurately and in all of its complexity (see 'The relationship between school and academic history'). Hackett gave one example of this in a teaching sequence about the Norman Conquest.[footnote 99] Hackett also suggested the importance of secure knowledge of the substantive context in order for pupils to develop accurate disciplinary knowledge about change and continuity or to construct their own arguments.[footnote 100]

Similarity and difference

The second-order concept of similarity and difference relates to historical analysis of the extent and type of difference between people, groups, experiences or places in the same historical period.[footnote 101] A question such as 'how similar were women's experiences of the War of the Roses?' would encourage analysis of similarity and difference.

Learning about similarity and difference often involves detecting and analysing generalisations. A number of history teachers have supported pupils to carefully test the adequacy of generalisations.[footnote 102] Generalisations are powerful tools of historical description, but, as well as developing fluent recognition of such terms, pupils must also explore their limitations in capturing the complexity and diversity of past societies or lived experiences. An effective curriculum develops pupils' understanding of how historians approach similarity and difference in their analyses over time.

Pupils' knowledge can be developed by teaching about similarity and difference on different scales, including through individual stories. This allows pupils to challenge generalisations and develop an increasingly complex understanding of the past. Card gave one example of how she used a single image, and the related individual stories, to get pupils thinking about and challenging generalisations.[footnote 103] Again, pupils need secure substantive knowledge to make reasonable judgements about the appropriateness of generalisations (see 'The importance of secure substantive knowledge').

Historical significance

The second-order concept of historical significance focuses on how and why historical events, trends and individuals are ascribed historical significance. A question such as 'Why has the abolition of the slave trade in 1807 been the focus of so much historical attention?' would encourage pupils to think about historical significance. Davies argued for the importance of pupils also learning about historical silence, which is the counterpoint of historical significance.[footnote 106]

It is a common misconception that significance is an inherent property of an event or phenomenon, rather than something that is ascribed by historians and others. Significance is best described as a 'meta-concept' - it stands in relation to historical content and disciplinary traditions. The complexities of this mean that pupils must, as with all second-order concepts, build up their understanding of historical significance over time through specific contexts.

Sources and evidence

Pupils need to learn how historians use sources as evidence to construct, challenge or test claims about the past. A question such as 'why is it hard for historians to reconstruct the lives of people in the Indus Valley civilisations?' would encourage a focus on disciplinary knowledge relating to sources and evidence.

The Historical Association summarised history teachers' approaches to teaching about sources and evidence as part of their 'What's the wisdom on' series.[footnote 109]

Pupils commonly hold misconceptions about sources and evidence. Effective curriculum design rests on clarity about sources and evidence and how these relate to historical enquiry and historical claims. Pupils must learn that historical sources provide evidence in relation to specific questions. One common misconception among pupils is that 'bias' in a source is necessarily bad and means that a source is not useful. This needs to be countered by showing pupils that a source can only be deemed useful or reliable for a particular question. Bias might render a source extremely useful for discerning attitudes, beliefs or assumptions.

During the 1980s, many history teachers noted the problem of work with sources falling into this trap, alongside other problems of work with sources becoming formulaic, decontextualised and unconnected with historical knowledge. In 1993, Lang produced a study which became a classic, showing the dangers of assuming that bias renders a source useless. The fact that, 20 years later, history teachers, such as Hinks, were still writing about the problem of pupils sliding into unwarranted assumptions about bias shows that this remains a significant challenge against which teachers need to be on their guard.[footnote 110] Historical approaches to sources and evidence cannot be reduced to simplistic heuristics (see 'Avoiding generic approaches').

Some common approaches to teaching about sources and evidence are very likely to develop misconceptions. For example, explicitly teaching pupils to spot bias without showing the value of that bias or to make judgements about the inherent reliability of a particular source is likely to encourage these misconceptions. Any teaching approach that encourages pupils to make 'claims greater than the evidence will bear' is likely to encourage misconceptions about the relationship between claims and evidence.[footnote 111] This might include forming judgements from short or decontextualised source extracts or from a limited range of source material.

It is important that pupils can study rich anthologies of sources so that they can see how historians use source collections. It is also important to avoid studying only small snippets of sources (such as those that might appear in GCSE examinations) and instead study longer extracts and whole texts. Similarly, pupils need to study diverse non-textual sources such as music, oral tradition, folksong or photography. Chapman has noted that the study of archaeological remains can be particularly powerful in teaching pupils that sources need to be interrogated with particular questions in mind. Chapman has provided many carefully structured and practical accounts of the reasoning processes involved in building pupils' concepts of evidence.[footnote 114]

Pupils should study sources with a rich and detailed knowledge of the context in which they were produced (see 'The importance of secure substantive knowledge'). Ormond has emphasised the importance of this contextual knowledge in enabling pupils to analyse visual sources.[footnote 115] Additionally, Sellin explored the relationship between contextual knowledge and source analysis, and argued that pupils need detailed factual knowledge to answer questions about sources effectively.[footnote 116] This is one reason why pupils cannot develop their knowledge about sources and evidence through activities that focus on teaching generic approaches to sources, including using GCSE-style source questions in key stage 3. When drawing inferences from sources, pupils will draw on their knowledge of the context that a source refers to. If pupils lack contextual knowledge, then they may develop misconceptions about the period or sources being studied.

Again, accurate disciplinary understanding is most likely to be developed when teaching is underpinned by knowledge of how academic historians use sources to establish evidence for claims and to produce accounts. Massey offered one example of her Year 12 pupils directly engaging with the work of historian Orlando Figes to learn about his use of sources.[footnote 117]

In summary, across each key stage, teachers need to attend to the range of sources to which pupils are exposed, ensuring that these are diverse in type and historical setting. They need to attend to the enquiry questions used, from time to time, to focus pupils' attention on particular evidential problems. At key stage 3 and earlier, they should avoid practising GCSE questions on sources. Such questions and their mark schemes are not designed to build or measure progress in any type of disciplinary thinking, including thinking about evidence. The Historical Association provided a thorough overview of developments in teaching about sources and evidence. This included comments on research and practical approaches that history teachers have tried out and extensively debated for their value in shaping pupils' thinking in this area.[footnote 118]

Historical interpretations

The study of historical interpretations relates to an understanding of how and why different accounts of the past are constructed. A question such as 'why do historians disagree about the causes of the Cold War?' would focus on disciplinary knowledge relating to historical interpretations. Experience of working with a wide range of interpretations, and examining their construction, audience, purpose and form, can support pupils with other aspects of disciplinary thinking, for example by teaching them about the relationships between sources, evidence, context and interpretations. The Historical Association has summarised the evolution of history teachers' approaches to teaching about historical interpretations as part of their 'What's the wisdom on' series.[footnote 119]

Too often, schools label an enquiry an 'interpretations' enquiry purely because they are referring to a debate or inviting pupils to reach a judgement (such as whether or not King John was a failure, or 'how bloody was Mary?'). Such work does not match the national curriculum's focus on a study of interpretations. Pupils are only helped to build their disciplinary knowledge in this area of interpretations when they study specific interpretations, when they focus on their construction and origin and when they gain detailed knowledge of that interpretation itself. They will be producing interpretations in the course of other work - such as building causal arguments or analysing source material. In order to tackle interpretations, pupils must go beyond this. They must study specific interpretations by others. This study will, of course, further inform their own interpretative work.

Moreover, to engage critically with historical interpretations, pupils require secure substantive knowledge of 2 contexts - the events or period described in the interpretation, and the context in which the interpretation was constructed.[footnote 122] For example, to learn about how interpretations of the British Empire have changed over time, pupils would need secure knowledge of the aspects of the British Empire that are being interpreted, and also of the contexts in which these later interpretations were produced.

Based on the above, high-quality history education may have the following features

Curriculum design and teaching are informed by knowledge of the rich traditions and complex methods and assumptions of academic history.

Teaching identifies and addresses potential misconceptions about historical enquiry.

Teaching and curriculum design accurately represent the complexity of academic history and avoid simplistic or reductive approaches to disciplinary knowledge that might encourage misconceptions.

The curriculum is designed to develop the depth and complexity of pupils' disciplinary understanding over time through meaningful examples.

The curriculum introduces pupils to diverse interpretations, not only academic ones, but also popular and public forms of history, so that pupils understand fully the complex social processes that cause certain stories to be told about the past and others not to be told.

Substantive and disciplinary learning are carefully integrated, strengthening each other rather than being taught in isolation.

Ensuring the breadth of the cumulative curriculum offer

Summary

Curriculum design should ensure that pupils learn about a range of historical periods, fields, places and societies. Curriculum design should also ensure the diversity of people, groups and experiences that pupils study.

Breadth: studying a range of historical periods

The importance of secure chronological knowledge is outlined in 'Chronological knowledge'. Any gaps in pupils' mental timeline of the past might be a barrier to future learning or comprehension. This points to the importance of pupils developing secure knowledge of a range of historical periods. Given the mutually reinforcing nature of historical knowledge in overview and depth, pupils can benefit from a curriculum that allows them to study the past on different timescales.

Distinctive learning opportunities in particular periods

Different periods of time and contrasting settings can contribute to pupils' understanding of certain recurring concepts (such as nation, institution, stability, prosperity, resistance or organised religion) in distinctive ways. Each period of historical time might contribute something unique to pupils' understanding of the past. Pupils who do not study the medieval period, for example, will not have the opportunity to learn in such a germane context about concepts such as the institutional power of the church, the development of towns and civic organisation or the logistics of medieval warfare. Primary school pupils who do not gain a sufficiently thorough understanding of trade, government and empire in the earliest civilisations will be less well placed to make sense of these terms in later civilisations and societies and to discern important contrasts. This is true even when different contexts might seem superficially to offer the same opportunities to learn about a particular concept or idea. These concepts carry different meanings in different periods and for different people and groups.

Pupils also need thoroughness in curriculum content over time if they are to be given the best chance to understand new and more complex material. This requires coherence on various scales and across differing contexts and timescales. For example, the national curriculum requires pupils to learn how British institutions, politics and government changed during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Year 9 pupils are much more likely to understand and take in new material on campaigns to reform British political or social systems and the significance of actual reforms carried out (such as extensions to the franchise or changes in nineteenth-century public health) if they already have secure knowledge of how Parliament and representation, as well as popular and oligarchical expectations and attitudes concerning poverty or health, evolved in earlier centuries.

Rata demonstrates how multi-faceted and rich content selection needs to be for pupils to be able to grasp a complex and contested term such as 'liberal democracy', requiring pupils to see it evolve as an idea, to see it working in its operations and to understand its variance across different contexts. The same would be true for phenomena such as empire, colonialism, civil rights or taxation systems. Selection of content and its coherence in memorable, diverse narratives can play a vital role in enabling later understanding.[footnote 123]

Breadth: studying a range of historical places and societies

A geographically broad curriculum explores local histories and the regional diversity of the British Isles, as well as the study of other places and societies beyond the British Isles. It also develops pupils' understanding of the interconnectedness of developments in different places; for example, how trade relationships connected parts of the medieval world, and how developments in one part of the world affect another.

It also allows pupils to engage with the past on different geographical scales, from local and regional to national and global perspectives. Like balancing overview and depth, balancing geographical scales is a powerful curricular tool. Pupils can examine the rich context of a particular place and the broader historical context. Through this, they strengthen and deepen their understanding of developments on both scales.

Breadth: studying a range of historical fields of enquiry

The national curriculum makes it clear that pupils should learn about different fields of historical enquiry, such as political, economic and social history.[footnote 133]

Learning about each of these fields offers pupils unique opportunities to learn about particular events or circumstances, concepts and disciplinary approaches. Evidence that such learning is having an impact can be found in pupils' secure (precise, fluent and flexible) use of a growing vocabulary of general and technical terms. For example, pupils can learn a wide vocabulary of terms through studying political history, such as taxation, consent, representation, patronage, Parliament, representation, faction or factionalism. Political history narratives also form one common organising framework for knowledge of the past (through chronological arrangements of political or national events or through ways that periods are classified, such as 'Elizabethan England'). Knowledge of political developments and features in these periods gives pupils crucial context for studying other aspects of the past.

Similarly, studying social and cultural history may develop pupils' knowledge of a range of other, equally important, substantive areas such as poverty, household structures and practices, material culture, leisure and work. Social and cultural history are also likely to develop pupils' sense of 'period', which assists with chronological security. Economic, religious and military history also offer unique opportunities to develop understanding of recurring terms (from 'military strategy' to 'fiscal policy', from 'religious toleration' to 'religious devotional practices') as well as the expectation in pupils that these terms constantly shift their meaning in diverse contexts.

Methodological approaches and schools of historical thought

As part of the development of pupils' disciplinary knowledge, the curriculum may also consider broader methodological approaches and schools of historical thought. This might include analytical frameworks and historical models such as feminist or postmodern historiographies, or historiographical traditions and approaches from beyond Europe. Whitburn, Hussain and Mohamud explored ways of widening pupils experience of historiographical approaches in a sequence of lessons that drew on African oral history traditions.[footnote 139]

Diversity and representativeness

The national curriculum highlights the importance of teaching pupils about the diversity of the past:[footnote 140]

History helps pupils to understand the complexity of people's lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups, as well as their own identity and the challenges of their time.

The work of history teachers also suggests that attending to diversity in curriculum design enhances pupils' understanding of the past. Ford and Kennett highlighted the importance of pupils learning about the richness of the past to overcome sweeping generalisations or misconceptions.[footnote 143] Individual stories, case studies and family or local histories enable pupils to identify, challenge and move beyond generalisations and to consider similarity and difference in experiences.

History teachers have shared many examples of how stories have enhanced pupils' understanding of historical periods.[footnote 144] Pupils' learning is likely to be most effective when these stories are connected to overview knowledge of the past (see 'Chronological knowledge'). It is also important that representations of individuals or groups avoid tokenism. Boyd, offering fresh theorisation about the place of women's history in the school curriculum, outlined and illustrated her own model for considering how representations of people and groups can be integrated into the curriculum in her account of integrating women's history into a study of Norman England.[footnote 145]

Another rationale that Priggs highlights from the work of history teachers relates curriculum content to pupils' identity and experiences. In this view, curriculum content should also be designed so that pupils 'see themselves' in their history curriculum. Traille emphasised how curriculum content and teaching can influence pupils' sense of belonging and their motivation. From a qualitative research study into the experiences of Black pupils whose only experience of Black history was the transatlantic slave trade, Traille reported that these pupils experienced feelings of alienation and apathy.[footnote 149] The Royal Historical Society has also provided evidence that pupils are less likely to pursue history as a school subject beyond compulsory study if they feel that the content of the curriculum is narrow or omits or under-represents groups with which they identify.[footnote 150] However, curriculum designers should also be careful to avoid unintentionally narrowing the curriculum based on any pre-conceived ideas of what certain groups of children might need, which could lead to a narrow curriculum.[footnote 151] Furthermore, Traille has argued for the important role of the history curriculum in supporting pupils to understand their shared past.[footnote 152]

Based on the above, high-quality history education may have the following features

The curriculum develops pupils' understanding of a range of historical time periods. This is not done by rushing through them in outline, but through careful interplay of depth and overview studies.

Pupils study the past through a range of different timescales, including in overview and depth.

Pupils learn about a wide range of places, societies and cultures in the past.

Pupils build a coherent and thorough knowledge of British history. Studies of each time period are informed and strengthened by multiple reference points in other time periods.

Pupils learn about a range of fields of historical enquiry, for example social, political, economic and cultural history.

Disciplinary learning is responsive to and consistent with significant shifts in historical scholarship.

The curriculum and teaching reflect the complexity and diversity of the past and explore a range of different individual and group experiences.

Curriculum designers avoid negative representations of groups by considering the cumulative representation of groups across the curriculum.

Curriculum designers avoid unintentionally narrowing the curriculum based on any pre-conceived ideas of what certain groups of children might need.

The curriculum prepares pupils for life in modern Britain by developing pupils' understanding of the role, contribution and importance of different groups of people.

The curriculum supports pupils to contextualise their own experience and identity within the history of their local community, Britain and the world.

Curriculum design at different stages of education

Summary

The EIF applies to education at all stages, from the early years to key stage 5. Similarly, the findings in this review are relevant to history education at all stages. However, this section looks briefly at how these findings might be viewed in the context of particular stages of pupils' education.

Developing early historical knowledge

Children are born with amazing capacities to learn. Children will begin to build knowledge of important concepts and ideas from a young age, and will continue to build on these foundations throughout their education. Early teaching should allow children to encounter important concepts and ideas in an age-appropriate way.

Children learn about the past throughout their education, and their understanding of new material about the past will be profoundly influenced by both their general vocabulary and their knowledge of historical concepts (see 'Progress through substantive concepts').[footnote 153] This suggests that an effective curriculum for younger children might develop their knowledge of a few concepts that are particularly important in their future learning in history. Children do not initially need comprehensive or complex knowledge of concepts. Early familiarity with these concepts will allow children to access more demanding content in future.[footnote 154]

Given how important meaningful examples are in supporting learning of new material (see 'Learning through meaningful examples and repeated encounters'), it is likely that connecting new concepts to a familiar context (such as family or local history) will support children's early development of concept knowledge, a view shared by Harnett.[footnote 155] The power of stories to support children to access unfamiliar content is also well established. This might include fictional stories that can develop knowledge of concepts (such as 'monarch' or 'government') even when these are not tied to specific historical contexts.[footnote 156] As in later stages, individual stories and rich hinterland content may establish a more meaningful context for children to learn new material, something that Townsend has explored in key stage 1.[footnote 157]

Effective teaching at this stage can also begin to develop children's chronological knowledge. Concepts such as 'the past' are highly abstract for young children. As such, knowledge of chronological concepts must be developed through repeated encounters with meaningful examples in familiar contexts.[footnote 158] Again, important progress can be made by children developing early schemata for concepts such as 'past' or 'ancient' and knowledge of some chronological markers, as this knowledge will be highly generative in future (see 'Chronological knowledge').[footnote 159]

History at key stages 2 and 3

From key stage 2, pupils should experience a broad history curriculum. The national curriculum for history outlines the breadth of historical knowledge pupils might learn across key stages 2 and 3.[footnote 160] The outlined content is consistent with many of the principles explored above. However, even in maintained schools, which follow the national curriculum, curriculum designers and teachers have significant control over the curriculum that is taught to pupils. This includes:

the depth of historical detail studied by pupils

the extent to which teaching and the curriculum develop coherent narratives for pupils

the way in which content is framed

Pupils from key stage 2 will also begin to learn disciplinary knowledge. Although the national curriculum requires pupils to learn about the second-order concepts, it does not specify how these should be approached or what pupils should know at the end of key stage 2. Curriculum designers and teachers need to think carefully about the principles outlined in 'Securing progression in disciplinary knowledge' in the context of primary-age pupils, including:

the likelihood of pupil misconceptions

the need for secure substantive knowledge

the importance of pupils developing disciplinary knowledge through specific, meaningful examples that represent academic history accurately

Ultimately, the history curriculum should ensure that pupils progress towards constructing their own historical arguments and accounts. However, the extent of pupils' prior knowledge needs to be taken into account so that disciplinary knowledge can build meaningfully on what pupils already know. This may mean that younger pupils will benefit from specific examples of how historians investigate the past and construct accounts. Teachers should carefully support pupils when they construct their own historical arguments, as doing this with limited knowledge can lead to misconceptions.

Where primary schools have a thematic or topic-based structure, it is important that history-specific curriculum goals are given appropriate emphasis within this. This is likely to involve planning for, and assessing, pupils' historical knowledge. To develop disciplinary knowledge, pupils need opportunities to learn about the past through the lens of the discipline. This could include building knowledge towards answering carefully designed enquiry questions that reflect the kinds of questions historians ask and so introduce pupils to disciplinary traditions.

At key stage 3, pupils may benefit from more time to study history. This, combined with their prior knowledge, will enable them to learn and understand progressively greater complexity both in the past itself and in changing traditions of historical enquiry.

History at GCSE and A level

Courses of study at GCSE or A level will follow examination board guidance, which specifies content to be taught in some detail. Despite this, curriculum designers and history teachers continue to have significant control over their curriculum. For example, while schools cannot influence the breadth of content stipulated on an examination specification, they can greatly influence the breadth of the curriculum taught to pupils through decisions about the way this content is taught and contextualised.

Pupils' capacity to learn, and to construct their own historical arguments, will continue to depend in large part on the range, security and sophistication of their historical knowledge (see 'Knowledge connects in unseen, complex and unpredictable ways').

It is likely that pupils will be best prepared for the demands of GCSE and A-level study by beginning these courses with a wide-ranging and secure knowledge of the past.[footnote 161] Because of how knowledge interacts in history, this is likely to be more effective than narrow or direct preparation for examination requirements in earlier stages. It also ensures that the curriculum is appropriately broad.

Effective teaching at GCSE and A level prioritises developing wide-ranging and secure knowledge for all pupils, which they can readily deploy to answer historical questions. It is likely to place greater emphasis on this than on pupils' knowledge of examination practice or question types. Focusing too much on examination preparation is likely to narrow a school's curriculum.

As pupils advance in their study of history, they will develop increasingly wide-ranging and secure knowledge of the past. This enables pupils to engage with greater complexity in their learning, including in their development of disciplinary knowledge. However, this may require careful curriculum design to frame specified content in ways that enable pupils to develop their disciplinary knowledge. Foster and Goudie gave an example of how they crafted enquiry questions for a GCSE unit on Nazi Germany with reference to the work of academic historians.[footnote 162]

The range and security of A-level students' existing knowledge, and the depth and security of their knowledge of historical contexts studied at A level, are likely to enable these pupils to develop sophisticated disciplinary knowledge. This may include explicit teaching about the features and conventions of historical writing and the nature of historical argument combined with opportunities to read a range of genuine academic scholarship. A number of history teachers have shared approaches to teaching A-level students through the use of historical scholarship.[footnote 163]

Effective teaching in history

Summary

Effective teaching ensures that pupils retain knowledge they have learned in the long term. This is supported by opportunities to revisit and practise with prior knowledge. Pupils are more likely to retain knowledge when they have engaged analytically with the content they study. Teachers can support learning through clear exposition, which takes into account what pupils already know and understand.

Teaching approaches and activities

Disciplinary knowledge in history is highly distinctive and is likely to require distinctive teaching approaches, as summarised in 'Securing progression in disciplinary knowledge'.

However, wider educational research offers a strong basis for a range of effective teaching approaches in history. These are often reflected in the published work of history teachers.

Teaching for memory

Evidence suggests that teachers can support pupils' long-term learning by drawing attention to particularly important terms and expressions, precise phenomena and broader frameworks in their teaching.[footnote 164] Teachers may need to require pupils to repeat challenging terms and practise them repeatedly with multiple variations so that pupils become confident and flexible in their use of these. Practising these terms will also help pupils to secure their mental frameworks of chronology or location. This thoroughness, combined with careful curriculum decisions about prioritising content, is likely to be effective in ensuring that all pupils are included in subsequent learning. New material and interesting debates will be more accessible and meaningful if no pupils are struggling with a term such as consensus or with recalling the date of the Great Reform Act.

Clear exposition that considers pupils' prior knowledge

Teachers' exposition is likely to be most effective when it is clear and carefully designed to account for pupils' existing knowledge.[footnote 168] Given the complex relationship between knowledge and comprehension in history (see 'Knowledge connects in unseen, complex and unpredictable ways'), it may be difficult for teachers to consider all the potential barriers to comprehension for pupils.

This may suggest the importance of securing particularly generative knowledge for all pupils (see 'Prioritising content in the curriculum') to support comprehension, as well as general efforts to reduce the use of vocabulary and concepts that are unfamiliar to pupils. However, this must be balanced by an awareness of the particular role of background material in history (see 'The role of background content in developing pupils' knowledge and understanding') and the need to provide opportunities for incidental learning of concepts (see 'Balancing incidental and explicit learning of substantive concepts').

Narrative and story

As discussed above, storytelling is a powerful vehicle for learning.[footnote 169] It is likely that historical stories are an effective way of teaching new content in history. Stories are likely to be particularly effective when teachers draw pupils' attention to particularly important content within them.

Developing pupils' knowledge of historical contexts

Pupils' learning within a topic is heavily supported by their knowledge of the historical context. Dawson highlighted the importance of pupils' 'sense of period' and Hill suggested approaches to 'world-building' to develop a rich knowledge of past places and societies. Both authors share a range of approaches to developing pupils' knowledge of a historical context, including the use of visuals, maps and aspects of material culture.[footnote 170]

Teaching chronological knowledge

Reading extended texts

Extended texts are likely to be a common feature of history lessons. Summaries of texts might be a useful tool for contextualising reading and supporting comprehension. Background knowledge is likely to be a major influence on pupils' capacity to read and understand a text and so using texts effectively will depend on pupils' knowledge.[footnote 172] This knowledge might include general vocabulary, knowledge of history-specific content and also knowledge of disciplinary conventions, including historical writing genres.

Supporting pupils in history, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities

There is a lack of specific research on pupils with special educational needs and/or disability ( SEND) and history education. However, the findings above provide some suggestions regarding effective support for pupils with SEND. Curriculum designers should take these into consideration alongside their knowledge of the individual needs of pupils.

All pupils are entitled to a broad history curriculum. Any adaptations made to support pupils' learning in history usually should not be to the overall curriculum content but rather to how the content is taught. In the case of pupils with the most complex learning needs, there may be occasions when it is appropriate to modify the curriculum. However, this will be the exception.

Ensuring that all pupils otherwise encounter the same content is particularly important given the role that hinterland information has in facilitating learning in history (see 'The role of background content in developing pupils' knowledge and understanding'). This suggests that significantly reducing content or complexity for some pupils might in fact limit their access to content or limit their ability to learn. It is likely that pupils will benefit most from support that combines extra attention to securing the most generative knowledge (see 'Prioritising content in the curriculum'), while ensuring that all pupils are able to learn about events and periods in a rich context and through meaningful examples.

Assessment in history

Summary

Using a range of assessment approaches will most likely ensure that assessment captures the range of knowledge that pupils need. It will also address the various purposes of assessment in history. Formative assessment should allow teachers to draw valid inferences about what pupils know.

Formative assessment

Given the importance of pupils' knowledge in enabling progress, formative assessment is likely to be most effective when it prioritises assessing the range and security of pupils' historical knowledge.

Assessment design requires decisions about what content to prioritise. Assessment is most likely to be impactful when it focuses on important content - content that is highly generative or can most significantly limit progress when pupils lack security (see 'Prioritising content in the curriculum'). This might include knowledge of important substantive concepts and chronological knowledge, as well as the 'fingertip' knowledge required in a particular topic.[footnote 177] Brown and Burnham shared examples of how they designed assessments to suit these different purposes.[footnote 178]

To be effective, formative assessment must allow teachers to draw valid inferences about pupils' knowledge that they can act on. Formative assessment is effective when teachers subsequently address gaps or misconceptions that the assessment identified.[footnote 179] These inferences are clearer when assessment checks knowledge of specific components and allows teachers to identify specific misconceptions or knowledge gaps.

External examinations, such as GCSEs, are summative assessments designed to assess pupils' broad knowledge at a particular moment in their study. They do not provide a good model for formative assessment. They are not designed to allow teachers to identify specific gaps in pupils' knowledge nor to show broadening understanding in disciplinary ideas such as evidence or various forms of historical argument.

Summative assessment

Summative assessment identifies whether specific curriculum goals have been achieved. Effective assessment is carefully designed to avoid distorting the curriculum through a pressure to 'teach to the test'. This is important for 2 reasons:

First, a curriculum must attend to a range of broad aims, only some of which can be easily assessed. As such, 'teaching to the test' might encourage curriculum narrowing by distracting from, or even disincentivising, careful attention to these broader aims.

Second, pupils' knowledge often manifests indirectly (see 'Knowledge connects in unseen, complex and unpredictable ways'). Pupils' performance in a summative examination will be the result of complex layers of knowledge developed cumulatively across many years of study. A narrow focus on examination content in earlier stages of learning is likely to be self-defeating, as it distracts from the importance of this wider knowledge and therefore limits pupils' capacity to learn and remember later content.

For the reasons above, it is likely that an undue focus on preparation for GCSE examination questions in key stage 3 study will result in a lower-quality curriculum that does not develop the breadth of knowledge that pupils need either for these examinations or to meet wider aims, such as those outlined in the national curriculum for history.[footnote 180]

Assessing disciplinary knowledge

Teachers can assess a fair amount of disciplinary knowledge through the same approaches they use to assess substantive knowledge. They might assess, for example, pupils' knowledge of sources of evidence used by historians for a particular enquiry or their knowledge of particular historical interpretations.

Pupils' disciplinary knowledge can also be assessed by their response to outcome tasks, such as writing an essay in response to a historical question. These tasks are a powerful learning tool: they require pupils to connect and transform knowledge to form arguments. This develops pupils' substantive knowledge of a period but also their disciplinary knowledge of how arguments are constructed and communicated.

However, if these tasks are used as a form of assessment, then it must be recognised that they are a very complex composite - that is, they draw, directly and indirectly, on pupils' knowledge of a very wide range of components (see 'Knowledge connects in unseen, complex and unpredictable ways'). It can be very difficult, for example, to unpick the relative role of disciplinary knowledge, substantive knowledge of the immediate topic and wider contextual knowledge in the quality of a pupils' response. This makes it much more difficult to draw valid inferences from these types of assessment. As a result, these assessments might be most effective when balanced with a range of other assessment approaches.

Formulaic or generic 'skills ladders' or assessment criteria do not capture the important interplay between these different layers of knowledge. Because of this, their use may encourage misconceptions or make it more difficult for teachers to identify important gaps in pupils' knowledge.

Systems at subject/school level

Research highlights a small number of important school- or subject-level features that are likely to influence the quality of education in history.

A crucial factor in the quality of history education that can be influenced at the school and subject level is the knowledge of curriculum designers and teachers.[footnote 187] This consists of:

content knowledge (knowledge of history)

pedagogical content knowledge (knowledge of approaches to teaching history)

Based on the above, high-quality history education may have the following features

Adequate curriculum time is given to history to enable teachers to deliver a broad history curriculum that develops secure knowledge for pupils.

Senior leaders assure themselves of the quality and breadth of the history curriculum. They understand how pupils progress in history, which allows them to support and challenge decisions at a subject level.

Leaders are aware of and mitigate against the potential downsides of whole-school policies and their impact on the ability of teachers and departments to deliver a high-quality history education.

Teachers and curriculum designers have secure and wide-ranging knowledge of the past, of academic history and of how to teach history to pupils. This is likely to be supported by high-quality, subject-specific professional development.

Conclusion

Effective curriculum design and teaching require balancing a number of competing priorities. What emerge clearly from this review are the scale and complexity of this task for the individual teacher, leader or school.

However, schools are not islands. Curriculum design in individual schools is supported by the research, theory and experience of academics, tutors and practising history teachers.

This review has highlighted the depth and sophistication of the existing and ongoing discourse of these professionals. Much of this thinking is readily available to teachers and curriculum designers due to the work of subject associations, the wide range of high-quality subject conferences and the generosity of many professionals across a range of platforms. This thinking will help to shape the way we look at subject education in schools in preparation for our forthcoming subject report. We hope that this research review may also draw attention to the richness of thinking among history educational professionals and offer further ideas, challenge and support to all those who are engaged in the crucial work of building pupils' knowledge and love of history.

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The study of history can bring pupils into a rich dialogue with the past and with the traditions of historical enquiry. The past and changing accounts of the past have shaped the identities of diverse people, groups and nations. Through history, pupils come to understand their place in the world, and in the long story of human development.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUX4-aL-oQU&list=PLLq-zBnUkspPdslDqP1pwcYY0DBlGVbgl&index=5

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NEYH region curriculum webinar series: languages and history (primary)

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https://www.history.org.uk/primary/categories/curriculum

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Curriculum / Primary / Historical Association

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See our Primary curriculum schemes of work and our Home learning resource hub.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqR51lzUF1Q&t=1547s

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This review explores the literature relating to the field of geography education. Its purpose is to identify the nature of high-quality geography education in schools. We review pedagogical approaches, assessment practices and the impact whole-school policies and systems have on geography education.

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A webinar from the East of England region - geography curriculum

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GA Publishers' AwardsThe GA Publishers' Awards recognise resources that make a significant contribution to geography education. All entries must be received by 8 December 2023.GA Publishers' AwardsGeography Quality MarksEngage in the Geography Quality Marks and benefit from an impactful process of development.Find out about Quality Marks hereWorldWise local quizAre you interested in arranging a WorldWise [...]

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https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/teaching-resources/teaching-history/

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History is an incredibly valuable subject to learn, it builds enquiry skills, fuels the imagination and helps children feel a sense of self in a wider context.

But some may not feel confident in teaching history to their children or pupils. With thousands of years to cover, it can be hard to know where to start.

We have gathered together advice from teachers, education experts and historians on how to approach history as a subject. They share their hints and tips for how to convey a sense of time, how to interrogate sources and where to look for support on the different topics on the curriculum.

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We have gathered together advice from teachers, education experts and historians on how to approach history as a subject. They share their hints and tips for how to convey a sense of time, how to interrogate sources and where to look for support on the different topics on the curriculum.

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Science and Engineering Education Research and Innovation Hub (SEERIH)

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Science and Engineering Education Research and Innovation Hub (SEERIH)

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Do your pupils know and understand all the different ways to answer their scientific questions?

Downloads

Explore the five scientific enquiry types and create a classroom display with these posters, click each circle to download individual posters:

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Download the poster resources set for the classroom, showing the different scientific enquiry types, and discover how to visually engage children in science.

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Questions to ask regarding the science curriculum

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Questions to ask regarding the science curriculum

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Primary Science Teaching Trust - Enquiry Approaches

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Primary Science Teaching Trust - Enquiry Approaches

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PSTT has designed the following symbols (for consistency in their own resources) that could be displayed in your classroom or staffroom to help introduce different types of enquiry approaches to science learning.

These symbols are ©Primary Science Teaching Trust 2019 but may be freely used by teachers in schools for educational purposes, subject to the source being credited.

When using symbols, please do not:

Re-scale or warp, shear or otherwise alter or distort the proportions of any original artwork

Add any visual effects to the symbols (e.g. shadows)

Alter the colours

Change the symbols' orientation

Add any text to the symbol

Add gradations

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Enquiry Approaches - Primary Science Teaching Trust

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Definitions and examples of different types of scientific enquiry.

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Primary Science Teaching Trust - Enquiry Skills

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Primary Science Teaching Trust - Enquiry Skills

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PSTT has designed the following symbols (for consistency in their own resources) that could be displayed in your classroom to help children identify and recall the particular science skills they are using in their science investigations.

These symbols are ©Primary Science Teaching Trust 2019 but may be freely used by teachers in schools for educational purposes, subject to the source being credited.

When using symbols, please do not:

Re-scale or warp, shear or otherwise alter or distort the proportions of any original artwork

Add any visual effects to symbols (e.g. shadows)

Alter the colours

Change the symbols' orientation

Add any text to the symbol

Add gradations

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Enquiry Skills - Primary Science Teaching Trust

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Learn essential scientific skills with PSTT's Enquiry Skills resource. Download definitions, examples, and symbols for ages 5-12.

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10 Key Issues with Children's Learning in Primary Science

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10 Key Issues with Children's Learning in Primary Science

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10 Key Issues with Children's Learning in Primary Science A University of Manchester SEERIH & Ogden Trust report, in partnership with Science Across the City. Report

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A Response to the Ofsted Research Review (March 2022)

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A Response to the Ofsted Research Review (March 2022)

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Useful resources to support planning in science

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Useful resources to support planning in science

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"An excellent resource that can be used at a school level and subject teacher level. The science resources and content matrices offer clear support for moderation with a significant number of free resources over several years."

Welcome to

PLAN primary science resources support the planning and assessment of the
Science National Curriculum in England

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PLAN primary science resources support teachers in primary schools to plan and assess the science National Curriculum for England. The resources also support the moderation of assessment and include CPD materials for use by subject leaders.

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A range of curriculum resources for teaching and learning, as well as 'How to guides' to help you encourage and develop physics at your school.

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The Ogden Trust - Promoting the teaching and learning of physics

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This section includes a range of curriculum resources for teaching and learning, as well as How to guides to help you encourage and develop physics at your school. Use the filters to help find the resources you are looking for.

The Ogden Trust resources have been evaluated by The Association for Science Education (ASE) - the foremost body for science education across the UK - and they have been awarded the ASE Green Tick.

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The Ogden Trust: resources to support physics

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This section includes a range of curriculum resources for teaching and learning, as well as How to guides to help you encourage and develop physics at your school. Use the filters to help find the resources you are looking for.

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Teacher Assessment in Primary Science (TAPS)

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Teacher Assessment in Primary Science (TAPS)

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The Teacher Assessment in Primary Science (TAPS) project is based at Bath Spa University and funded by the Primary Science Teaching Trust (PSTT). TAPS aims to develop support for a valid, reliable and manageable system of primary school science assessment which will have a positive impact on children’s learning.

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The PSTT advises teachers to refer to either the CLEAPSS website or SSERC website for up to date health and safety information when planning practical activities for children.

The PSTT is not liable for the actions or activities of any reader or anyone else who uses the information in these resource pages or the associated classroom materials. The PSTT assumes no liability with regard to injuries or damage to property that may occur as a result of using the information contained in these resources. The PSTT recommends that a full risk assessment is carried out before undertaking in the classroom any of the practical investigations contained in the resources.

All materials are ©Primary Science Teaching Trust (PSTT) and are freely available to download and share for educational purposes. Whilst educators are free to adapt the resources to suit their own needs, acknowledgement of copyright on all original materials must be included. Rights to images included in the resource have been purchased for PSTT use only - as such, these images may only be used as part of this resource and may not copied into or used in other materials.

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Guidance and resources to support teaching and assessment.

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STEM Learning: Best Evidence Science Teaching (BEST)

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STEM Learning: Best Evidence Science Teaching (BEST)

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Best Evidence Science Teaching for primary school science (Primary BEST) is a new collection of research evidence-informed teaching and learning resources, for children age 7-11.

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The best teaching draws on the best evidence.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5oNnPqqjiw&list=UULFgzLz6CzszzDS1xZIf3ZqzQ&index=9

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GeogLive 4 Ofsted The View from Here 29 9 21 EYPPC from the GA

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·       https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1007446/6.7534_DfE_Development_Matters_Report_and_illustrations_web__2_.pdf

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https://www.geography.org.uk/Journal-Issue/5ef704cb-da04-441a-9776-af350dff9b1d

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https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/mapzone/

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Variety of games, and homework help for children about mapping and geography.

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https://www.rgs.org/schools/teaching-resources/primary-fieldwork/

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Royal Geographical Society - Primary fieldwork

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Questions to ensure and assure Geography

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Questions to ensure and assure Geography

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Ensuring and Assuring Primary Geography Questions for Senior Leaders

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https://www.field-studies-council.org/primary-resources/

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Primary Resources – Field Studies Council

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Primary Teacher Resources From 6 to 10 June 2022 we took part in National Fieldwork Week, with the Geographical Association. Download our KS2 teacher | FSC Centres

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https://educationinspection.blog.gov.uk/2021/04/27/history-in-outstanding-primary-schools/

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Tim Jenner HMI, Ofsted's subject lead for history, talks about the findings from our history subject inspections.
History is vital to a rich and broad primary education. It helps pupils to make sense of the present as well as the past , and to appreciate the complexity and diversity of human societies and development.

Between January and March 2020, we inspected the quality of history education in 24 primary schools with an outstanding judg e ment. We spoke to leaders and teachers about the history curriculum , visited lessons, looked at pupils' work and spoke to pupils.

Building blocks of progress

Support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities ( SEND ) was a strength in all of the schools we visited. All of these schools balanced their ambition for all pupils to access the full history curriculum with a clear understanding of the needs of their pupils. Pupils were given careful individual and/or group support to secure the knowledge they needed to continue to access content in history.

Areas for improvement

Teacher subject knowledge seemed to be an important factor in the quality of education in this area , but also across history in general . S chools that had support from subject-specialists - whether from school staff, a multi-academy trust or local authority, or through subject associations - often had higher-quality plans in place.

Background

These inspections were carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005 and in accordance with Ofsted's published procedures for a no formal designation inspection of schools. The inspections were carried out to enable Her Majesty's Chief Inspector to better understand the quality of education in specific subjects provided by outstanding primary schools. Twenty-four history inspections were carried out between November 2019 and March 2020.

As these inspections only looked into one subject, inspectors were not expected to evaluate or infer the quality of education in the school. This is because the e ducation i nspection f ramework methodology requires a minimum of three subjects to be reviewed in order to draw out systemic features. This was not the purpose of these inspections.

Schools inspected

The full detail of the findings of each inspection are published on Ofsted's reports website.

Balksbury Infant School, Andover

Barnfield Primary School, Edgware

Callis Grange Nursery and Infant School, Broadstairs

Coit Primary School, Sheffield

Gillespie Primary School, London

Greenfield CofE VC Lower School, Greenfield

Hampton Hargate Primary School, Peterborough

Horndean Infant School, Horndean

Kempston Rural Primary School, Kempston

Mayflower Academy, Plymouth

Milford-on-Sea Church of England Primary School, Lymington

Rodmersham School, Sittingbourne

Seaton Primary School, Seaton

Shoreditch Park Primary School, London

St Aidan's Voluntary Controlled Primary School, London

St Clement Danes CofE Primary School, London

St Francis Church of England Primary School, Eastleigh

St John's Church of England Primary School, Maidstone

St Joseph's Catholic Primary and Nursery School, Burnham-on-Sea

St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, London

St Thomas' Church of England Infant School, Newberry

Wigton Moor Primary School, Leeds

William Ford CofE Junior School, Dagenham

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Tim Jenner HMI, Subject Lead for History

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Tim Jenner HMI, Ofsted's subject lead for history, talks about the findings from our history subject inspections.

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https://www.schoolshistoryproject.co.uk/historical-questions-to-ask-about-pictures-and-artefacts/

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This useful 'aide memoire' put together by Ann Moore, allows teachers to engage their pupils in observing a picture or artefact more closely than if they were asked general questions.

Over time, children will begin to ask and answer these questions themselves

Download the Resource

Download the resource [ click here ]

Historical Questions to ask about Pictures and Photographs

What can you can see in this picture / photograph?

Can you describe what the people are wearing?

Do people wear clothes like this nowadays?

What do you think the people in the picture / photograph are doing?

Do people do this sort of thing nowadays?

If not, what do they do instead?

Some of the objects you can see in the picture are still around today. What are they?

What objects are there in the picture / photograph that we don't see nowadays?

Do you think this picture is old, very old, modern?

What makes you think this?

How can we find out when this picture was painted / taken?

How can we find out who took this picture?

Why do you think it is important to find these things out?

Why do you think this picture / photograph was taken/ painted?

Do you think this picture was posed? Can we trust it?

What do you think the people were feeling when the picture was painted / taken?

Would you have wanted to be in this picture?

Does this picture give us enough evidence and how people lived in those days?

What other types of evidence do you think we need?

Where can we find this evidence?

Historical Questions to ask about Pictures and Photographs

What can you can see in this picture / photograph?

Can you describe what the people are wearing?

Do people wear clothes like this nowadays?

What do you think the people in the picture / photograph are doing?

Do people do this sort of thing nowadays?

If not, what do they do instead?

Some of the objects you can see in the picture are still around today. What are they?

What objects are there in the picture / photograph that we don't see nowadays?

Do you think this picture is old, very old, modern?

What makes you think this?

How can we find out when this picture was painted / taken?

How can we find out who took this picture?

Why do you think it is important to find these things out?

Why do you think this picture / photograph was taken/ painted?

Do you think this picture was posed? Can we trust it?

What do you think the people were feeling when the picture was painted / taken?

Would you have wanted to be in this picture?

Does this picture give us enough evidence and how people lived in those days?

What other types of evidence do you think we need?

Where can we find this evidence?

Historical Questions to ask about Artefacts

Physical Features

What colour is it?

What does it smell like?

What does it sound like?

What does it look like?

What does it feel like?

What material is it made of?

Is it natural or 'man' made?

Has it been altered, adapted or mended?

What makes you think it is old / modern / very old?

Do you like it?

Construction

Is it hand-made or machine made?

How has it been put together

What type of person might have made this?

Function

How has the object been used and what clues tell you about its use?

Has its use changed over time?

Was the object used for practical or decorative functions?

What sort of person might have used it?

Would the owners have been rich, poor, middle class, workers etc?

Value

How much do you think it is worth?

Category

What sort of category could you put these objects in?

same material

same colour

same place to find it

similar purpose

same type of owner

same value

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Historical Questions to ask about Pictures and Artefacts - Schools History Project

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This useful 'aide memoire' put together by Ann Moore, allows teachers to engage their pupils in observing a picture or artefact more closely than if they were asked general questions. Over time, children will begin to ask and answer these questions themselves Download the Resource Download the resource [ click here ] Historical Questions to ask about Pictures and Photographs What can you can see in this picture / photograph?

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https://padlet.com/schoolsperformanceandstandards/the-ey-school-resource-box-agnokgja5zdli75u

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDUUeyJr2nA

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History | Subject curriculum insights for primary and secondary teachers and leaders

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfClZx0tl3E&t=35s

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Science | Subject curriculum insights for primary and secondary teachers and leaders