Discover what 2016’s Year of the Monkey symbolises using our new pack filled with fun activities based on Chinese culture and traditions. Start preparing for Chinese New Year, explore the mythology behind the Chinese zodiac and uncover what the Year of the Monkey actually means in 2016. Take your students along on a journey with the Monkey King as he steals the pills of invisibility and then sets out to the west with his magical companions. Or, using the pack, teach them how to make traditional opera masks, draw monkeys using Chinese brush strokes, create decorative DIY kites and even learn some basic Chinese. There are plenty of creative and fun ideas for you and your students to learn about the rich history and culture of China. Note: To listen to embedded sound clips, please download the education pack and open with Adobe Reader.

These lesson plans have been produced in partnership with First News to introduce your class to the important work of the Commonwealth and its values. The lesson plans aim to encourage schools around the world to celebrate the Commonwealth and its inclusive values and principles that unite the 53 member states. You can explore the social similarities and differences between countries through their flags and stories from children. The lesson plans also introduces the Commonwealth Charter, helping to contextualise the work of the Commonwealth across the world to your students.

Nepal is one of the hilliest countries in the world. Most of the population live in very remote areas, so many grow their own food. But growing enough to live on is a real challenge. At Shree Sitaram Primary School in Dalla, western Nepal, many children come to school on an empty stomach. The village is extremely hard to reach from the capital, Kathmandu. There’s no electricity and the nearest shop is a six-hour walk away. The children have four hours of lessons before they get their school lunch. But first, the food has got to reach them!

A description of the Mersey from its source in the Derbyshire hills to its estuary below Liverpool.

Elephants are the earth’s largest land animals, but these amazing creatures are an endangered species. There are currently at least ten African elephants for every one Asian elephant in the wild. The main reason that Asian elephant numbers to drop by 50 per cent in the last 100 years is a massive loss of habitat, and they are disappearing from areas where they once thrived. In Vietnam the number of wild elephants declined from approximately 1,000 in 1990, to fewer than 100 in 2002. The focus of this resource is on Asian elephants. It includes background information, discussion points and activities to inspire learning across the curriculum and a call to action to help protect this endangered species. The activities can be used as starting points in individual lessons or as part of a joint cross-curricular project to develop knowledge, transferable skills and reflections in your classrooms or with a partner school in your country or overseas.

India is a fascinating country with an immensely rich and vibrant culture. It has a growing economy, and a history stretching back thousands of years,a diverse mix of languages and religions. This education pack is designed to help mainstream primary teachers introduce aspects of Indian language and culture to their pupils aged 7-11. It contains lesson and assembly plans, factual information and resources to help pupils improve their core skills and develop a deeper knowledge and understanding of the language and culture of India. The materials are designed to be flexible and adaptable for use in a variety of settings. They can be used as starting points for individual lessons and assemblies or form part of larger cross-curricular joint projects involving collaboration with a partner school over a number of subjects. Your pupils can learn how to greet a friend in Hindi, get creative making rangoli patterns and shadow puppets, watch an animated film by an Indian film maker and find out about many other aspects of Indian culture using our wide range of classroom resources and activities.

Citizenship can be seen as being about a feeling (identity), a status (rights) and a practice (taking action). This unit explores how gender roles and expectations influence identity and rights, and aims to inspire pupils to take action to question norms and dominant masculinities to bring about greater gender equality. Sustainable Development Goal 5 aims to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. The learning materials that have been created may be adapted to the context of each school and the needs of specific students. Some learning activities can be left out in order to enable deeper learning through other activities. Designed as six lessons of sixty minutes each (which include core and optional activities) for pupils aged 9-13 years, the resource can be used in English, citizenship, geography, history or other subjects.

This resource will support you in developing students’ core skills through the study of solar electricity. It will also help you explore the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, in particular Goal 7 which is to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all by 2030. As the world population rises and many millions continue to move to urban areas, there is a huge increase in the demand for cost effective and reliable modern energy. What are the problems with conventional sources of energy? How could solar energy help to address some of these problems? Using this resource, you will be able to support students to develop their knowledge of renewable energy through cross-curricular activities that span maths, geography, ICT and other subjects. Among the skills that can be acquired through this unit are core skills such as citizenship, critical thinking and problem solving. The resource’s learning materials can be used with or without an international partner school.

The focus of this unit is on how social entrepreneurs have built enterprises which make a profit, but which contribute to improving the lives of vulnerable communities around the world. It contains case studies of social enterprises, photographs of the people they work with and inspiring stories of how their lives have been changed. Your pupils will learn how social enterprises address the Sustainable Goals. How do you establish a social enterprise and what does it take to turn your idea into a reality? These materials can be used with a partner school or without one, and instructions are provided on how to best use the resources.

A Techincolor film exploring the beautiful scenery and famous buildings around Snowdonia, Wales.

We have developed a series of resources, in partnership with The Royal Society, to enhance science learning in schools. This second resource in the Commonwealth Science Class series is centred on how the prevent the spread of infectious diseases and is packed with activity ideas to help your students investigate and explore the subject in more depth. Before downloading the resource, and to help you get started, we recommend you watch the accompanying video with your class.

In 2014, the Commonwealth Class project produced this exciting pack to celebrate the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. The pack contains cross-curricular activities, short films and discussion guides with learning outcomes that link to key skills, curriculum subjects and Commonwealth values.

‘Development of the English Town’ takes us on a journey through the ages, examining the motivations of town-builders from the Iron Age to the 1940s, and extolling the virtues of ‘modern’ planning.

Three overseas servicemen take a tour of the Royal Mile - visiting the sights between Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace, and learning about the sometimes gruesome history of Scotland.

Help children and teens process news sources and become informed media users and creators with our free Media Literacy pack created with editorial support from BBC Young Reporter.

The history of Westminster Abbey and a tour of the monuments within it; accompanied by choral music and including footage of the coronation of King George VI in 1937.

Oli is a 12-year-old boy from Bangladesh who is campaigning against child marriage. Bangladesh has one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world. 20% of girls become wives before their 15th birthday, even though the law says that they should not get married before the age of 18. Oli became fed-up of seeing his friends dropping out of school and decided to do something about it. He and his friends tour the slum where they live, looking for girls at risk. They try to educate their elders by talking to them about why they shouldn’t marry off their daughters so young.

From Stonehenge to the reinforced concrete constructions of the 20th Century, ‘Architects of England&’ takes us on a tour of Britain’s architecture throughout the ages.

Set in Boston, Lincolnshire, ‘Country Town&’ aims to introduce the viewer to a typical, thriving, market town. Narrated by the friendly local newspaper editor, it focuses on the themes of community and industry, gently and genially exploring the changes brought about by the Second World War.

The University of Cambridge, and the life of those who study there.