GCSE History Edexcel: Henry VIII - Success & Failure of Wolsey's Foreign Policy (Lesson 7)

This lesson can be specifically used for Edexcel GCSE History (1-9) British Depth Study – Henry VIII & his Ministers OR it can be easily adapted to teach students about Wolsey’s successes and failures abroad. The lesson is suited for or could easily be adapted for students aged 12-16

This lesson examines the following questions relating to Wolsey’s foreign policy:
What were Wolsey’s main foreign policy successes and why?
What were Wolsey’s main foreign policy failures and why?
Was Wolsey’s foreign policy mainly a success or failure?

This is a fully resourced lesson which includes a printable fact sheet based on the GCSE Edexcel specification as well as worksheets, discussion tasks, engaging background information, warm up tasks and learning reviews.

The downloaded lesson includes the following:

1x A4 printable worksheet
3x A4 printable timelines of events (various abilities)

1x main Power Point:
Slide 1: Title slide – The successes and failures of Wolsey’s Foreign Policy.
Slide 2: Main Lesson Aims
Slide 3-4: As You Enter Warm Up: The Geography of Europe in the 1500s activity – with answers revealed.
Slide 5-7: Learning Recap 1: Key term match up activity with printable student worksheet.
Slide 8-9: Learning Recap 2: Recapping Wolsey’s foreign policy aims – fill the missing words with answers revealed.
Slide 10: Background information: A map outlining the main countries/nations in Europe in 1515 and how they were a threat to England.
Slide 11: Starter Task 1: What would you advise Henry to do? – Multiple choice problem solving and discussion task.
Slide 12: Source Analysis: Images and questions about the ‘Field of the Cloth of Gold’.
Slide 13: Task 1 – Explanation of the timeline activity.
Side 14: Task 2 – Wolsey’s successes and failures table
Slide 15: Follow Up Challenge Tasks
Slide 16: Example exam questions
Slide 17-18: Learning Review quiz with answers revealed.
Slide 19: Lesson fact sheet linked to the Edexcel specification.
Slide 20: Return to the starter task – what did Henry and England do?

I would be really grateful if you could leave a review for the lesson if you feel the lesson is effective for you. Many thanks if you spend some of your valuable time doing this as feedback is highly valued.

All images used in this lesson are in the public domain and are therefore copyright free at the time of publishing. Images which require attribution have been attributed in the notes section of each slide where the image appears. If you feel any errors have been made, please contact me at raschoolresources@gmail.com in the first instance to resolve any issues. My lessons are completed using PowerPoint and designed on widescreen formatting. Thank you.