Teaching
History Online
Number 8: July, 2001
Exemplifying the History National
Curriculum
Jerome Freeman
The QCA is currently developing a website using pupils'
work and case study material to show what the national curriculum
in history looks like in practice. The examples will illustrate the
standard of pupils' work at different ages and how the programmes
of study translate into activities.
Teachers will be able to use the website for comparing
the performance of individual pupils against a common standard within
and across the key stages, and as a basis for developing a departmental/school
portfolio. It could also be used to plan units of work, classroom
activities, and assessment tasks that relate to the standards set
out in the national curriculum.
The website will contain a selection of materials
from the SCAA/QCA publications, Consistency in Teacher Assessment
1996, and Expectations at Key Stages 1 and 2 1997. These will include
examples of work on Guy Fawkes, Boudicca, the Fire of London, the
Home Front and Tudor Monarchs at key stages 1 and 2. At key stage
3 there will be examples of work covering
aspects of nineteenth and twentieth history. In addition, new materials
currently being collected from schools will supplement these.
Each piece of work on the website will be accompanied
by activity objectives that set out the purpose and the teaching and
learning objectives. There will be an activity description of what
the pupil actually did, which will also describe the context for the
work, the level of support provided and the extent to which the activity
was structured.
Finally, there will be a commentary explaining why
the piece of work shows the pupil's performance in relation to particular
aspects of the level description and/or why it is a good example of
the programme of study in practice.
As well as links to the Government's internet gateway
for teachers, Teacher Net,
and the DfEE/QCA schemes
of work, there will be different ways to search for pupils' work.
These range from a quick search facility based on subject, key stage
and level, to a more sophisticated approach using key words related
to the programme of study for history.
There will also be sections on making an end of key
stage judgement and on recognising progression in history. Teachers
will be able to exchange ideas through an online discussion forum.
The history team at QCA would like to hear from teachers
who have examples of pupils' work that exemplify current good practice.
These could include the use of ICT in history; activities drawn from
the DfEE/QCA schemes of work; the world studies at key stages 2 and
3; and historical interpretations. The website will be online later
this year and will be regularly updated.
Jerome Freeman, QCA Principal Officer
for History
