EDUCATION Secretary Michael Gove is urging Bristol schools to place more emphasis on teaching their students local history.
He has launched a £2.7 million programme with English Heritage to recruit "heritage brokers" to work with groups of schools.
Mr Gove said school children should visit historical sites in their neighbourhood and be inspired by "our rich island story".
His suggestions for Bristol include visiting Brunel's ss Great Britain and Temple Meads station to experience the pinnacles of Victorian engineering; walking around the Floating Harbour to learn about the city's trading history and its part in the slave trade; visiting the remains of Bristol's manufacturing industries such as sugar refining, glass making and paper bag making; and exploring the city's numerous parks.
The Education Secretary said: "All of these are the physical remains of the rich, controversial and thrilling story of England.
"All belong to the people locally, and local children who visit them will be inspired to delve further."
Simon Thurley, chief executive of English Heritage, said: "Our Heritage Schools initiative will bring history to life both in the classroom and out of it, weaving it into the life of the community and endowing present and future generations of children with a vivid understanding of the place in which they grew up."
The project also encourages schools to consider ways to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the First World War in 1914, encouraging them to link with organisations to identify servicemen who lived in their area, or study war memorials.
Schools in Bristol have worked with the museums service to create a Bristol curriculum, centred on the new M shed, which uses examples from the city and local area as well as museum collections to help children learn of their community heritage.
Kingswood MP Chris Skidmore, author of books on the Tudors, backs more local history teaching
"Pupils shouldn't be taught history as if it were some kind of Doctor Who time-travelling fantasy. There needs to be a chronological focus," he said in a recent article.
Steve Ryan, a historian who is deputy head at QEH school and a governor at Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary, said: "Its only by understanding the past that students can hope to understand the present. History also teaches vital analytical and research skills."
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