Free History KS1 Teaching Resources for Primary Teachers

Learning About History at KS1

At Key Stage 1, children develop their chronological understanding by placing events and objects in chronological order and use common words or phrases that convey the passing of time. In building their knowledge of events, people and changes in the past, children learn why events happened and look at differences in ways of life. They are identified to historical interpretation by encountering different ways of showing the past, such as museum displays, stories and pictures.

Children learn about people’s lives. They find out about events from the recent and more distant past, using sources of information and stories to ask and answer questions. They are taught about significant children, women and men of the past (such as Kings and Queens). Ancient civilizations, wars and more are also on the curriculum.

To help teach these topics, teachers can buy timelines, posters and classroom decorations to engage students and show them certain events and aspects.

Resources

The resources in this section can be used to access materials that can support teaching and learning about the past and support meeting the requirements of the programme of study at Key Stage 1.

‘The Great Fire of London’ is a topic at Key Stage 1 within the National Curriculum programme of study. The website above provides an interactive story and image bank of objects, documents and paintings that are a good way of children engaging with different sources of information that represent the past.

Heritage Open Days is a brilliant site for planning a trip to a historic place. It provides a pack that helps the teacher plan the trip, plan the class activities and much more. It also comes with posters, photos, histories and project planning.

Birmingham Museum has a great archive of images and information on Roman Artefacts. It also comes with a timeline worksheet.