Smart tasks are short activities that exemplify the sort of learning we expect to find in outstanding lessons. They will not have a full set of objectives or a timed, structured plan but will describe in detail how the activity works and will include all the ready-made resources you need. Often they will have ideas for differentiation that you can use with other tasks. Many will be effective starters or mini-plenaries. Above all they should fulfil the main aim of the website: a valuable resource or idea that stimulates an even better one when you take it and adapt it for your pupils.

Push or Pull? What were the real reasons why the Saxons invaded? SMART TASK KS2

A fun thinking skills activity in which pupils infer from visual clues before moving on to analyse a range of influence cards and evaluate a video before coming up with…

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viking boat
Are we fair to the Vikings? A question of interpretation. SMART TASK KS2

Pupils are shown a range of stereotypical images of Vikings, using slides 2 and 3. This should be used to build up a set of adjectives that are normally associated…

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Replica pot from TTS
Ancient Greece: Short task on using Greek pots

What can I do with just one Greek pot in the resource cupboard? Collaborative and creative storyboarding At the core of this activity is the development of pupils’ creative imagination…

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portrait of henry viii
History and literacy – Making sense of a letter from Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn

Pupils are given a copy of a letter from Henry to Anne Boleyn. It appears, at first glance to be impossibly hard to read – so many old-fashioned words, such…

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Boudicca
Assessment of interpretations of Boudicca

Below is an account of an assessment task on Boudicca , with downloadable resources,  just one of many assessed tasks on the site.  You will find at least one for…

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