I'm a history leader... what now?
So, you’ve been appointed as the history leader in your school. It’s a fantastic opportunity to develop an important and (let’s face it - the best) subject in school. History is a fascinating subject which really ignites the curiosity of pupils but it can also be rather daunting. What should you do first? Where to start? Here are my top tips of how to approach being a new history co-ordinator.
1. Rome wasn’t built in a day!
You may already be formulating grand plans as your role as a newly appointed subject leader. The problem is, history is messy. It’s such a huge subject, which underpins just about every other subject and has so many cross-curricular links that it can seem overwhelming. There may seem like so many things to deal with that you don’t know where to start.
As the above quote says, “Rome wasn’t built in a day… but they were laying bricks every hour.” So… start with one brick. Begin small and break things into manageable tasks. What do you want to achieve for your subject area this year? What do you want to achieve this term/half term? What are the most important things you want to prioritise? You may focus on achieving two or three objectives for the whole year, split into smaller chunks.
It’s great to be ambitious for your subject: you may have an overwhelming desire to achieve the Gold HA Quality Mark however, unless your school is in a strong position already, you will need to build up to this… what steps do you need to achieve to get here? Think about your timescale and plan accordingly, one brick at a time.
2. Find out what history looks like in your school already.
What’s the situation in your school at the moment? What’s already in place in terms of curriculum planning and intent? How does this fit in with the whole school plan and ethos?
What do staff think about history? It might be worthwhile getting them together to discuss history as part of a staff meeting or distributing a questionnaire to get an idea of how history is viewed by other teachers. What do they think is working well and what do they need help with? What support and CPD do they need? What resources are available to aid teaching in school?
What does history actually look like at the minute? Try to look at some samples of planning or work to see what history objectives are being taught and how these are delivered. How are pupils being given the chance to work as historians in lessons and building their historical enquiry skills?
There may be some really good work going on already so don’t reinvent the wheel if you don’t need to change it but do think about what the pupils in your school need to help them progress as historians. Find out what the previous history leader has done already; if there is the opportunity to have a proper hand over even better. Which leads nicely onto my next point…
3. Get to grips with the curriculum!
Being a history leader means you need to know the National Curriculum for your subject inside out. Don’t forget that you also need to know what’s in the EYFS Framework (the Understanding the World section is the part relevant for history and geography). It’s really important to see the whole picture for history in your school, whether you teach early years or Year 6, and to understand the journey pupils go on from starting school. Make sure you read the ‘Purpose of Study’ section at the start of the National Curriculum: this should be what drives your curriculum. Below is the opening section of the curriculum with some key words and phrases highlighted.
Purpose of study
A high-quality history education will help pupils gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world. It should inspire pupils’ curiosity to know more about the past. Teaching should equip pupils to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments, and develop perspective and judgement. 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.
Aims
The national curriculum for history aims to ensure that all pupils:
know and understand the history of these islands as a coherent, chronological narrative, from the earliest times to the present day: how people’s lives have shaped this nation and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world
know and understand significant aspects of the history of the wider world: the nature of ancient civilisations; the expansion and dissolution of empires; characteristic features of past non-European societies; achievements and follies of mankind
gain and deploy a historically grounded understanding of abstract terms such as ‘empire’, ‘civilisation’, ‘parliament’ and ‘peasantry’
understand historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance, and use them to make connections, draw contrasts, analyse trends, frame historically-valid questions and create their own structured accounts, including written narratives and analyses
understand the methods of historical enquiry, including how evidence is used rigorously to make historical claims, and discern how and why contrasting arguments and interpretations of the past have been constructed
As you can see, there is a lot of emphasis on coherence and chronological understanding. Historical enquiry, using evidence to support arguments and claims and the understanding of concepts such as change, continuity, similarity and difference are also key concepts that need to drive lessons.
Your school might also follow the Focus Education or Rising Stars objectives for each year group. If so, make sure you have a copy that you can read through and refer to. These can be helpful in deciding when to introduce new concepts (for example in my school AD/BC are introduced in Year 3 when pupils study Egypt and the Stone Age. Previously, in Key Stage 1 they have focused on the concepts of at living and beyond living memory and create timelines using dates but don’t look at events earlier than 1066). These documents break down the curriculum in much more detail, however there are a huge number of objectives for each year group so you might want to consider how you use these (something I am currently looking at).
You might want to think about some of these questions:
How does your curriculum progress learning? Is the progression of skills clear?
What is pupils’ understanding of chronology in school like? How does this build up year on year? In what order do you teach different time periods? Why? Chronology is something children find really hard to grasp; look at progression is like between year groups.
Are the objectives from the National Curriculum being covered and built on in history? How does your curriculum and what is taught fit in with the NC’s programme of study?
Is the discipline of history being taught - are pupils taught and able to apply historical skills in their learning (not reading/writing/art etc. disguised as history)?
What is taught and why are you teaching it? (Are you teaching ancient Egypt or the Victorians just because your school has always done it or because there are more resources available in school? Is this the best fit for your school? What about the profile of your school - what are the children like in your setting and what might be most relevant topics to engage them the most?). This is something that came out of the Ofsted subject review (see below).
What opportunities are there for making links with other subjects (geography in particular)? Are the links relevant?
Another important document you’ll need to look at is the Ofsted Research Review for history. This document has been talked about much recently but make sure you are familiar with the main points and the kind of things Ofsted are looking for. Obviously, you don’t need to know it word for word but take a look at the main headlines.
Ofsted Research Review for History
The following blog post by Bev Forrest is also helpful outlining the key findings of the review.
https://www.risingstars-uk.com/blog/january-2022/key-takeaways-from-the-ofsted-history-research-rev
4. Join the Historical Association
You might have already heard of the Historical Association. It’s a great organisation which has a wealth of advice and resources available on… well, on most areas of primary history that you could think of. Membership rates start from £39 p.a. and you get online access to hundreds of articles, schemes of work and a twice yearly magazine, which is always a good read. In addition, you can listen to podcasts and a discounted rate for their CPD courses (don’t pay for these yourself - look them up and ask your school if they will fund you). I would strongly recommended joining the HA if you can afford it as it has really benefitted my own practise and thinking about history. If you can persuade your school to purchase a corporate membership, there is a subject leader area with additional resources to explore and this means your whole staff can access it.
https://www.history.org.uk/membership
5. Actively look for CPD opportunities and get connected
Does your local area or academy trust hold any history network meetings? Try to find out about these and ask your SLT if you can attend. Take a look at the Historical Association’s Primary CPD page to see what they have on offer. Your SLT might not know what’s on offer for history or have time to look for courses for you so it’s important to take responsibility for your CPD and be proactive in looking for opportunities.
Make sure you build up your CPD log. Make a note of any courses you attend or webinars you watch - this is good evidence for your performance management but also will serve to jog your memory at a later date.
Courses and network meetings are a great opportunity to talk to other history co-ordinators about your subject and share ideas and practise. There will be individuals who have a font of expertise and knowledge that you can draw on.
6. Head to the museum!
Get in touch with your local museums service and find out what’s available in terms of workshops and artefact loans. People who work in museums are very knowledgeable about the local area always happy to help out and may have resources of which you’re unaware. They may offer in school talks/workshops, be able to loan artefacts or run visit to historic sites in your area; all things that would lend cultural capital to your curriculum. Don’t forget to take a look at their website too as there may be some useful online resources you can use.
7. Build up the profile of history in your school
How is history viewed by pupils and parents in school? What wider opportunities are there for history? History is usually a popular subject with pupils so think about ways you can actively build its profile. My blog post ‘History Beyond the Classroom’ covers some ways you might do this: commemorating anniversaries through assemblies and events, competitions and parental involvement are all ways you can extend the reach of history outside your own classroom.
My final thought…
Being a history leader means that you are a source of support and advice for others. Be proactive, approachable and keen to help if people ask for it. However, this doesn't mean that you are responsible for planning every scheme of work for history in school or that you have to try and do everything; as subject leader, give your colleagues the tools they need to plan and teach a really great history curriculum.