Outstanding History Lessons At KS2

keystage 2 history

This section comprises two parts: the main one is the series of outstanding, fully-resourced and described, lessons graded 1 by an OFSTED history inspector when they were grading individual lessons. You are given the learning objectives and every activity in sequence all with accompanying PowerPoint presentations and PDF files. The other lesson activities, from parts of lessons, are called smart tasks, exemplifying features of outstanding lessons and, again, all fully resourced.

Keeping up to-date with teaching of the Maya – Archaeologists uncover scoreboard for ancient Maya ball game

In the Archaeological Zone of Chichén Itzá, archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) have discovered a…

Adapting Keystage history lessons – FAQs

1. Why are lessons still called ‘outstanding’? I am often asked how the lessons section of the site should be…

Ancient Greece knowledge organiser – KS2

In your study of Ancient Greece you will learn how a civilization that flourished over 2500 years ago still influences…

Roman Britain knowledge organiser – KS2

The arrival of the Romans to Britain and their occupation for over 350 years marks a turning point in the…

Stone Age to Iron Age knowledge organiser – KS2

The earliest known humans arrived in these lands around 900,000 years ago. During this time there were huge changes: the…

10 places to go to find out about your local area

1. Go to your library Your local library will nearly always have a local history section that can tell you…

Black and British – KQ1 – How shall we tell the story of the first Black Britons in Britain?

Pupils watch a brief introductory video for just 70 seconds, the point at which the film stops short of identifying…

Black and British – KQ2 – What part did Black people play in British life when they started to settle 500 years ago?

Focusing on four key documents, pupils have to work out what we can say about the role of Black people…

Black and British – KQ3 – What difference did the slave trade make to the experience of the Black people?

Having understood the nature of the transatlantic slave trade, and Britain’s role within it, pupils work in expert groups to…

Black and British – KQ4 – When so many Black people rushed to fight in the two world wars, why then is it only recently that their sacrifice has been properly recognised?

When so many Black people rushed to fight in the two world wars, why then is it only recently that…

Black and British – KQ5 – How did the arrival of the Empire Windrush change the way Black People were treated in Britain?

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Black and British – KQ6 – How far has life improved for Black people living in Britain in the last 60 years?

This active session asks pupils to create a physical fortunes graph to show the effects that changes in the law…

Top 10 things your KS2 pupils need to know – Early Islamic civilization

Top 10 things your KS2 pupils need to know, and remember, about Early Islamic civilization 1. 1000 years of extraordinary…

Top 10 things your pupils need to know – Roman Britain

Top 10 things your pupils need to know about Roman Britain 1. Roman Britain was part of a huge empire…

Ancient Egypt : a new Pompeii?

A few weeks ago, Egyptian archaeologists the discovery of a “lost city” of the pharaohs dating back some 3,400 years…

Beyond Face Value – KQ1 – Henry VIII a question of interpretations. Could you spot Henry VIII in a police line-up?

This is a really fun lesson which shows children what is meant by historical interpretations in an engaging and accessible…

Elizabeth I portrait. Why was it rejected?

Beyond Face Value – KQ2 – Elizabeth I portraits – Why do Elizabeth I portraits mysteriously start showing her looking younger towards the end of her reign?

This powerful lesson on Tudor portraits as propaganda gives pupils the chance to appreciate that things aren’t always what they…

Beyond Face Value – KQ3 – So what were Victorian factory conditions really like? A Y6 study in provenance

In this lesson, pupils are shown 3 images of factory conditions from early/mid Victorian times. Using their knowledge of factory…

Outstanding medium term planner for Ancient Civilizations: Egypt Y3

At one point in recent years, there were real fears that Ancient Egypt would be axed from the KS2 curriculum….

Outstanding Scheme of Work for Stone Age to Iron Age

This scheme of work, judged outstanding by an OFSTED history inspector now links to all the fully-resourced outstanding lessons and…

Planner for Britain at War: The Home Front 1939-45

The new detailed downloadable planner below has key questions, suggested activities, resources and assessments for teaching The Home Front in…

Stone Age to Iron Age – KQ1 – Is it true to say that Stone Age man was just a simple hunter gatherer only interested in food and shelter?

This KS2 outstanding history lesson on the Stone Age revolves around the reveal of an object found at Star Carr…

Ideas for teaching the post-1066 thematic unit at Key Stage 2

Whatever you choose to study for your post-1066 thematic unit here are some pointers to help. 1. Try to make…

WW2 – KQ1 – Why did Britain have to go to war in 1939?

Pupils learn the sequence of events leading to the Second World war before a lively role-play debate in which they…

Planning for teaching 1000 years of Crime and Punishment (KS2 Thematic Unit)

This post-1066 thematic unit has been produced to meet demand from KS2 teachers for a topic that is genuinely relevant…

Planning for teaching Life in Tudor times at KS2

As you know, the requirement to study Life in Tudor Britain was mysteriously and inexplicably removed from the Key Stage…

Outstanding Scheme of Work for teaching the Anglo Saxons

You’ll probably be thinking that there is an awful lot of pre-1066 British history in the KS2 curriculum with the…

Anglo-Saxons – KQ1a – Why did the Saxons invade? Push or pull?

A fun thinking skills activity in which pupils infer from visual clues before moving on to analyse a range of…

Stone Age to Iron Age – KQ2 – How much did life change when man learned how to farm?

This session focuses on the concept of change and continuity. Pupils learn of the major changes that came in the…

Stone Age to Iron Age – KQ2 additional information – Comparing life of hunter gathers with farmers

A simple idea to make the key differences as clear as possible, using just two central questions: how did they…

Crime and punishment – KQ1 – How do we know what punishment was like 800 years ago.

How were criminals punished 800 years ago, and how do we know? The story of the fox and the goose…

WW2 – KQ2a – Why was it necessary for children to be evacuated? Introductory task

Why was it necessary for children to be evacuated throughout the war, and what was the experience of evacuation really…

WW2 – KQ2b – Evacuation enquiry – links with numeracy

This lesson comes towards the beginning of the topic after pupils have explored the nature and reasons for evacuation. I…

Teaching Life in Tudor Times for KS2

The Tudors from Key Stage 2 history, it is too good a learning experience for pupils for them to miss…

Crime and punishment – KQ2 – What does the legend of Robin Hood tell us about medieval justice?

In the following activities, KS2 pupils learn: a. that medieval justice was loaded in favour of the rich and powerful;…

WW2 – KQ2c – Extending the BBC website on Eric the evacuee

The BBC children’s history section has been in touch with the school asking for their help in extending their website…

Life in Tudor Times – KQ1 – Henry VIII a question of interpretations. Could you spot Henry VIII in a police line-up?

This is a really fun lesson which shows children what is meant by historical interpretations in an engaging and accessible…

Anglo-Saxons – KQ1b – Where did the early Anglo-Saxons live and how do we know? Bells and whistles

This ambitious but engaging lesson asks children to test some simple hypotheses about where the early Anglo-Saxons settled. They start…

WW2 – KQ3 – How was Britain able to stand firm against the German threat?

This enquiry revolves around a central contemporary cartoon which encapsulates life on the Home Front and how it was geared…

Stone Age to Iron Age – KQ3 – What can we learn about life in the Stone Age from a study of Skara Brae?

Enquiry based lesson on images of the remains of buildings found from a study of Skara Brae, a stone-built Neolithic…

WW2 – KQ3 additional information – Rationing

In order to prevent serious shortages, as early as 1936 the British Ministry of Food had begun to make plans…

Stone Age to Iron Age – KQ3 Supporting information – What can we learn about life in the Stone Age from a study of Skara Brae

More than 5,000 years ago, during the New Stone Age, Neolithic farmers and herders reached a group of islands to…

WW2 – KQ4 – Curator’s dilemma. Which 8 objects should we show to explain how Britain coped with the effect of war on the Home Front?

In this activity pupils are cast in the role of local museum curators specializing in the commemorating and interpreting of…

Outstanding Lessons and smart tasks

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