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Victorian Britain - Lessons
Lessons
Please note: these free resources pre-date the 2014 National Curriculum.
You could start the Victorians with a story.
See the Victorian chimney sweep short lesson exemplar and the Upstairs Downstairs story in the History section of the Urban Spaces material.
Lessons and short lesson exemplars available on this site:
Victorian Britain: short...
Victorian Britain - Lessons
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Chronology exemplar: overview of Britain since 1930
Exemplar
History co-ordinator Sharon Amess helped a student teacher in the Year 6 class with the Britain since 1930 unit. They decided to introduce the topic with a timeline, followed by group research into elements of British life since 1930, decade by decade.Timescales discussionPlacing photographs along a timeline helped the children...
Chronology exemplar: overview of Britain since 1930
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Urban spaces cross-curricular work: Art & Design
Lesson Resources
Please note: these free resources pre-date the 2014 National Curriculum.
This is part of a set of subject areas also covering History, Science and Literacy.
See also Cross-curricular learning
Public spaces offer a range of opportunities for children's learning, and can enable children to investigate, observe, wonder, record and create.
The suggested activities in this section...
Urban spaces cross-curricular work: Art & Design
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Urban spaces cross-curricular work: Literacy
Article
Please note: this resource pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum.
This is part of a set of subject areas also covering History, Science, and Art & Design.
See also Cross-curricular learning
Public spaces offer a range of opportunities for children's learning, and can enable children to investigate, observe, wonder, record and create....
Urban spaces cross-curricular work: Literacy
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A European Study: Ancient Greece
Primary Study Unit
Ancient Olympic Games and other lessons available on this site:
Ancient Greek Government is one of the most popular lessons this website - it's good for citizenship too.
Olympic GamesTheseus and the MinotaurAncient Greek Government at KS2Archimedes and the Kings CrownArchimedes and the Syracusan WarAncient Greek Ideas: ScienceThe IliadAncient Greek...
A European Study: Ancient Greece
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Introducing the Empire through coins
Lesson Plan
This coins lesson introduces children to the complex and controversial subject of the British Empire in a practical, hands-on way.
(These resources are attached below)
The lesson can stand alone or form an introduction to an in-depth study of empire, immigration and emigration. It overlaps usefully with geography and citizenship....
Introducing the Empire through coins
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Bringing an information text to life: Pets in the Blitz
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Editorial comment: The in-service course had focused on how to read information texts in a stimulating, engaging and intellectually rewarding way, and how to take Bruner's concept of transforming information from one mode to another...
Bringing an information text to life: Pets in the Blitz
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Using classic fiction to support the study of childhood in Victorian times
Primary History article
Please note: This article pre-dates the current National Curriculum and some content and references may be outdated.
Classic fiction provides useful sources of information for investigating the lives, beliefs and values of people in the past. In this article Ann Cowling describes activities undertaken with student teachers which may also serve as models...
Using classic fiction to support the study of childhood in Victorian times
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Difficult and challenging reading: Genre, text and multi-modal sources
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
What impact did the Saxon invaders have? Our Year 4 class were puzzling over the picture of the Roman town forum at the height of the Roman Empire, one A3 picture per pair of pupils.
To...
Difficult and challenging reading: Genre, text and multi-modal sources
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Scheme of Work: Maya
Primary Scheme of Work, Key Stage 2 History (unresourced)
In this unit pupils will learn about the remarkable achievements of the ancient Maya. Through these activities pupils will learn about the Maya perspective of time, the calendar system, writing, maths and the environment. In doing so they should see the stark contrast between their own history and that of...
Scheme of Work: Maya
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Reformation
Lesson Plan
Please note: this resource pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum.
The planning of an English church building in 1530, and what happened to it in the period of the Reformation in the 1540s, provides an excellent focus for the children to learn about what the Reformation meant to Tudor men and...
Reformation
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Remembrance Day at KS1
Lesson Plan
Famous event in the past
This lesson introduces a famous event in the past through personal family history.
(These resources are attached below)
The photograph of Angela's grandfather, and the surrounding illustrations, provided a direct route into discussions about remembrance and war, then ranged wider still.
The children's literacy was...
Remembrance Day at KS1
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Gunpowder plot at key stage 1
Lesson Plan
Please note: this resource pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum.
Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot is a cracking tale for any age group, although the complex political and religious elements are difficult for young children to understand. However, we can help them to gain insights into past people's motivations and...
Gunpowder plot at key stage 1
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Towards a new primary curriculum: The Cambridge Primary Review 2009
Primary History article
Towards a new primary curriculum: Cambridge Primary Review Part 1, Past and Present, Part 2, The Future - An editorial response to the Cambridge Primary Review.
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Introduction
The Cambridge Primary Review, director Robin Alexander, is the...
Towards a new primary curriculum: The Cambridge Primary Review 2009
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Saltaire: Planning for an effective learning experience on a living site
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
In the autumn of 2009 I agreed to contribute to a project looking at how Saltaire village, Bradford could be developed as an educational site. This is a very popular site visited by many local schools,...
Saltaire: Planning for an effective learning experience on a living site
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Artefacts and art facts: images of Sir Francis Drake
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content and links may be outdated.
Editorial note: This article reveals the power of the Internet in helping us all, adults and children, to bring portraits like Drake's to life. So, as you read, follow the links.
Artefacts and art facts: images of Sir Francis Drake
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Getting Started: The identification of gifted historians
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
The complexity of identification Crucial to personalised learning, entitlement and opportunity for equality is the identification of outstanding gifts and talents in children. The quest to identify gifted young historians is challenging as these pupils...
Getting Started: The identification of gifted historians
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In my view: We must support gifted historians from an early age
Primary History article
A successful schools system must have the capacity to harness the potential of all pupils. This means tailoring teaching so that every pupil makes strong, steady progress throughout their school lives. While we all agree that learners who are struggling need effective teaching and support, I am passionate that gifted...
In my view: We must support gifted historians from an early age
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Recorded Webinar: Mass-Observing Modern Britain
Article
Mass-Observation is probably the most consistently useful source for the study of mid and late 20th social lives Britain. It was established in 1937 with the aim of investigating ordinary life and developing an 'anthropology of ourselves.' It used a range of different methods to collect information, from recording overheard...
Recorded Webinar: Mass-Observing Modern Britain
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Education for geographical understanding
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Geography is one of humanity's big ideas. It literally means something like ‘writing the world'. Thus, traditionally, geography is associated with rich descriptions of places. For many years geographers were almost synonymous with explorers, bringing back...
Education for geographical understanding
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The view from the classroom
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
As teachers we are all responsible, with our pupils, for the environment within our classrooms. Together we create calm and order, challenge and activity. The environment beyond is of infinite variety.
The view from my...
The view from the classroom
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Building learning places
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
The built environment is hugely important to all of us, allowing us to live our lives in particular ways, and perhaps even constraining our lives in ways we don't yet recognise or understand. The buildings...
Building learning places
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Young Quills reviews 2025
The Young Quills Awards for best historical fiction for young people
The Young Quills books for each year must be published for the first time in English in the year preceding the competition – so 2024 for this year’s selection. Divided by age suitability the books are given to schools on the condition that the children and young people there write...
Young Quills reviews 2025
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Young Quills winners and reviews 2024
The Young Quills Awards for best historical fiction for young people
The Young Quills winners and highly commended have been announced for his year. This competition for historical fiction for children is a way of celebrating and recognising those authors who are continuing the long tradition of creative writing about the past for children.
All of the books are reviewed by...
Young Quills winners and reviews 2024
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Young Quills winners and reviews 2023
The Young Quills Awards for best historical fiction for young people
It is with great pleasure that the HA is able to announce the winners of the Young Quills for Historical Fiction for 2023:
Young readers category
Winner: Tony Bradman for Bruno and Frida (Barrington Stoke)Highly Commended: Judith Eagle for Accidental Stowaway (Faber)
Intermediate category
Winner: Tom Palmer for Resist (Barrington Stoke)Highly Commended: Lesley Parr for When the...
Young Quills winners and reviews 2023
