The Coronation of King Charles III: resources for schools

2023 will see the first coronation of a British monarch for 70 years. Only those now in their 70s or above will remember the last one. The UK is the only country in Europe still to carry out a coronation, a ceremony that has its roots in traditions over a thousand years old. 

In this momentous year in British history, many schools may wish to explore the history, symbolism and significance of the coronation on 6 May as well as pupils’ perceptions of monarchy and what it means to them. Our committees have been working hard to produce resources for our members to use with pupils to explore the history and symbolism of coronations, to draw comparisons with coronations across time and space, to explore what monarchy means to them and to support an exploration of the changes that have occurred since the last coronation of a British monarch. 

Linked below are 4 short, accessible classroom activities that can be used in history lessons, a history club or in form time. The first is an activity to compare coronations across time and place. The second focuses upon representations of monarchy and nations on stamps and coins. A third provides a chronology exercise to explore domestic and world events during Charles' lifetime with a timeline template to add to. The final activity focuses on change over the last 70 years between coronations and is an oral discussion activity, designed as a pre-cursor to extended writing. Finally, an informative PowerPoint presentation can be used either as an assembly or in a history lesson based around coronations.