This lesson features family history documents from the Victorian period. Children can learn how sources can be used to find out things about the past.

This lesson and pictures focus on what the British found when they entered Belsen concentration camp.This study of Belsen reveals how British soldiers were aghast at what they found when they liberated the camps.

This collection of photographs from The National Archives’ image library has been collated to provide a resource for English Language GCSE. The images can be used for descriptive or narrative creative writing prompts, allowing students to consider a variety of historical scenes as inspiration for their writing. Whilst the resources have been designed with the English Language GCSE in mind, they can be used for other age groups to develop imagination when considering character and description. Each image has been provided with its original document reference and description to offer some context to the image if desired, such as time period and location. However, the descriptions are deliberately brief and there are no correct answers required in creative writing. The photographs are presented as prompts only and students are not required to write creatively about actual historical places, figures or events.

A lesson plan with various suggestions for KS2 or KS3 pupils to learn about the Spanish Armada. Some of the suggestions in this lesson lend themselves to cross curricular links.

This lesson is intended for use either as part of a study of the use of propaganda over time, or within the context of work on Elizabethan England and the Spanish Armada.

This resource provides a propaganda leaflet that is intended to be used as either part of a study of government propaganda over time or as part of a study of the British Empire. It may also be used as an English resource useful in the study of non-fiction texts that are designed to persuade

This lesson focuses on a Scottish First World War soldier, Donald Campbell. The main task requires pupils decide what constitutes a ‘good soldier’ and whether Donald Campbell was a ‘good soldier’.

This lesson can be used with key stage 3 pupils. It considers the story of the Rebecca riots through evidence relating to the nature of the movement, the experience of some of those involved and the reaction of the authorities. hefyd ar gael yn Gymraeg

This lesson provides pupils with evidence about Shakespeare that differs from the traditional 'greatest playwright of all time' material that many will be used to. Pupils studying life in Tudor times both from a History and English perspective can learn about Shakespeare as a person rather than a world famous writer.

This lesson involves the pupils in detective work, using three crucial sources about the murder of Lord Darnley the husband of Mary Queen of Scots. Pupils can study individual sources and report back to the whole class to answer the mystery.

A lesson based on the World Cup 1966, which may be of particular interest to some students. The lesson refers to the South American protesters who claimed that England, also the hosts, had rigged the whole tournament, with the help of West Germany.

What political ideas in the colonies influenced the American Revolution? On 4th July 1776, the American colonies declared their independence from Great Britain. This declaration of independence from British colonial rule has been explained in terms of anger over taxation, fear of losing rights and liberties, and the idea of fundamental corruption within the colonial administration. This lesson focusses on the political thought that inspired the American Revolution, and the ideas that influenced the decision to declare independence. Use the documents in this lesson to explore the context for the political thought that inspired the American Revolution.

This lesson is designed to learn about what happened at the Trimdon Grange Mining Disaster. The lesson has an inquiry led approach to consider the possible causes of deaths in Victorian Britain.

This lesson asks pupils to develop their understanding of evacuation. Through primary source analysis it examines the fate of evacuees sent to Canada. Pupils investigate the organisation and bureaucracy behind evacuation, before looking at details of individual evacuees.

This lesson consists of a large amount of background information on the treaties and the League. The lesson helps to explain why the Second World War broke out when and how it did.

This lesson provides pupils with a glimpse of a medieval village. Pupils can identify the major buildings and make inferences about medieval village life, with reference to a range of medieval maps.

This lesson has been developed in collaboration with the Young Historians Project and their project ‘A Hidden History: African women and the British health service’. Other educational resources can be accessed via their website. For an essential activity for students using this lesson consult their blog post on Princess Ademola listed in external links below. “The recruitment of African women into the National Health Service from British colonies began in the period after the Second World War. However, nurses, doctors and other medical professionals had trained in Britain before this, as the colonial power did not provide the full facilities for medical training in the colonies. Despite their long history of work within health services in Britain, the role of African women is rarely highlighted in discussions of the history of the NHS or of health work more generally. Current narratives on Black women in the British health service tend to focus on the ‘Windrush generation’ and Caribbean contributions”: Young Historians Project. Use this lesson to find original documents which explore the role of African nurses in the health services of Britain. Please note that some sources contain offensive language that was used at the time and is unacceptable today.

This lesson looks at Queen Victoria and her relationship with her family. The lesson could be extended to work with decoding other photographs or portraits.

What do the sources reveal about an early Black presence in Britain? Black people have lived in Britain for over two thousand years. Some came to Britain with the Roman invasion in 43CE and they became an important part of British society throughout the medieval ages and beyond. Evidence shows that Black people joined the armed forces, married in parish churches, made significant contributions to art and writing, and resisted and challenged the repressive laws of the day. We cannot tell the history of Britain without including their stories. In the early years of the First World War, many Caribbean men bought tickets to sail to Britain to join the army. The British West Indies Regiment was created, playing an important role in the conflict. Men from Nigeria, the Gold Coast, Sierra Leone, the Gambia and other parts of Africa, also fought for Britain. At the end of the war, many African and Caribbean soldiers decided to stay in Britain to make it their permanent home. Race riots broke out in parts of the country during the early months of 1919, as some white communities blamed black people for the shortage of work and housing caused by the war. During the Second World War, black people from across the Commonwealth fought for Britain once more. Some were soldiers, whilst others came to support work on the Homefront such as factory production and nursing. After the war, Britain needed to be re-built. By 1948, the Nationality Act was passed; allowing people from British colonies the right to live and work in Britain if they wanted. Other people from Europe were also invited to Britain. Many people from the Caribbean left their homes to begin a new life in Britain, bringing with them a wide range of skills. They filled jobs in the transport system, postal service and health service, helping Britain to re-build and recover. These people are often called the ‘Windrush Generation’, named after the ship ‘The Empire Windrush’ that docked at Tilbury in June 1948. Windrush was not the first ship to bring Caribbean migrants to Britain; the Ormonde and Almanzora had arrived in Southampton the year before. Between 1947 and 1970, nearly half a million people left their homes in the Caribbean to live in Britain.

This lesson asks students to examine a set of letters to discover the health concerns of a sample of poor people in the Victorian era. The activity can be done in groups or as a carousel providing the whole class with knowledge of the content of each letter. The letters have been grouped into five main themes related to health allowing you to select the letters most appropriate to your group’s studies. You may also want to pair this activity with the use of our interactive maps on our Voices of the Victorian Poor website where there are over 3500 letters from the victorian poor to explore. There is a curated map on health within the ‘secondary’ student portal, or further health related filters within the ‘research’ portal. Using these maps can allow you to explore health issues in your local area or explore national trends in medical care, sanitary reform or disease outbreaks. This lesson was created as part of the Teaching the Voices of the Victorian Poor Teacher Scholar Programme.