Key Stage 1 history · Historical skills

KS1 history: how we find out about the past

Nobody alive can go and watch the past, so historians work from clues, which they call sources. In Years 1 and 2, children learn that we find out about the past from objects, photographs, buildings, stories, paintings and the memories of people who were there. They practise asking good questions of a source and begin to notice that the past can be shown in different ways.

Finding out about the past, explained

The curriculum asks children to ask and answer questions, using parts of stories and other sources to show they understand the key features of an event. In practice a Year 1 lesson often starts with a mystery object, such as an old flat iron, a wooden toy or a tin lunchbox. Children work as history detectives: they say what it is made of, what it was probably used for and who might have used it. The skill is noticing first, then guessing, then checking what the evidence really supports.

Sources come in many kinds. Artefacts are objects from the past. Written sources include letters, diaries and newspapers. Pictures include paintings and drawings and, from the 1800s, photographs. Buildings, maps and street names are sources too. Sound recordings and films go back well over a hundred years, and people’s own memories, sometimes called oral history, are one of the best sources for the recent past. Children are taught to think about what each kind can and can’t tell them: a photograph shows how something looked, but not what the people in it were thinking.

Children also meet the idea that the past is represented in different ways. Museums display objects with labels. Story books, plays and films retell events. People dress up for re-enactments, and statues and memorials are put up to remember people and events. Every one of these is someone’s version, made later, and some are more reliable than others. Not every school uses the terms primary and secondary source in Year 2, but the practical question is the same: was this made at the time, or afterwards by someone who wasn’t there?

Stories matter at this age because much of early history is told through them: a diary extract from the Great Fire of London, or the life of a famous explorer. Children pull out details by asking who, what, where, when and why. They also learn, gently, that some stories are based on evidence while others are made up, and that a good historian says which is which. Answering in full sentences with “because” and “I can see” is the writing skill that goes with this.

Words your child will hear

Source: Anything that gives us information about the past, such as a letter, a photograph or an old toy.
Artefact: An object made by people in the past.
Evidence: The clues that help us decide what is true. A good answer says what the evidence is.
Eyewitness: Someone who was there and saw an event happen.
Museum: A place that looks after objects from the past and shows them to visitors.
Re-enactment: Acting out a past event, often in costume, to show how it might have looked.
Oral history: The past told by people who remember it, in spoken words.

What the National Curriculum says

The programme of study for Key Stage 1 says:

Pupils should ask and answer questions, choosing and using parts of stories and other sources to show that they know and understand key features of events.
Pupils should understand some of the ways in which we find out about the past and identify different ways in which it is represented.

Objectives from the National Curriculum in England, © Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Try it: asking questions of an old flat iron

Your child is shown a heavy metal flat iron with a flat base and a handle, and no plug or cable. What can it tell us about the past?

Look closely and describe it using only what can be seen: it is heavy, black, made of metal, the bottom is smooth and flat, and there is a handle on top. There is no plug or wire.
Ask questions: What is it for? Who might have used it? How did it get hot without electricity? Where might we see one today?
Make a sensible guess and give the reason. “I think it was used to press clothes, because the bottom is flat and smooth and it has a handle.”
Use what is missing as a clue. There is no cable, so it was made to work without electricity, probably at a time before most homes had electric irons. People heated irons like this on a fire or a stove, and often held the hot handle with a cloth.
Check against another source: a museum label, a photograph of an old kitchen, or a grandparent’s memory. Also say what the iron can’t tell us, such as who owned it or exactly how old it is.

It is an iron for pressing clothes, from before electric irons were common in homes, and it was probably heated on a stove or fire. The object alone cannot tell us exactly when or by whom it was used, so we need other sources too.

Common mistakes and how to help

Believing that anything old, or anything in a book, must be true

Adults tell stories and books look official, so children trust them. Children also assume a picture from the past shows exactly what happened.

What helps: Ask “Who made this, and when?” A painting of the Great Fire made years later by an artist who wasn’t there is a version of the fire, not a snapshot. It is fine to say a source is useful and still not perfect.

Stating a guess as a fact: “This belonged to a queen”

Children are good at making stories and haven’t yet separated what they can see from what they imagine.

What helps: Give sentence starters: “I can see…”, “I think… because…”, “I wonder…”. They keep the three apart without spoiling the fun of guessing.

Thinking that only books and old objects count as sources

School tends to show history through books and museum objects, so everyday evidence goes unnoticed.

What helps: Point out the other kinds: a photograph, a street name, an old building, a grandparent’s memory. Your child is surrounded by sources and a relative is often the best one.

Assuming a photograph always shows life as it really was

A photograph feels like a window on the past. But early photographs were often posed, because early cameras needed people to stay very still, and someone chose what to include.

What helps: Look at an old photograph together and ask what is not in the picture, and why people might be standing so stiffly. Compare with a snap on your phone taken in the middle of a game.

How to help at home

Play mystery object. Choose a safe old item, such as a wooden mallet, a metal key, an old coin or a tin. Ask your child to say what they notice, what they think it was for and how they know. Reveal the answer last.
Interview a relative. Help your child choose three questions for a grandparent or older neighbour, such as “What toys did you have?” Write the answers down together. The relative is the source, and your child is the historian.
Read the clues in a photograph. Look at an old family photograph. What are people wearing? What buildings or cars can be seen? Ask your child to guess roughly how long ago it was, and then check the back or ask a relative.
Spot memories in your area. On a pavement walk with an adult, look for plaques, statues, war memorials and old street names. Ask what each one is trying to help us remember and who put it there.
Visit a local museum or historic building. Choose one object and spend five minutes on it: read the label, ask what it is made of and who used it. One object looked at properly is better than a quick walk past everything.