I am an ex-primary head teacher and English, Maths and History specialist. I've mostly worked in KS2, often in Year 6. Although for the last two years, I've been working in Year 1, which has been delightful!
All the resources have been used successfully with children in a range of schools all over the country.
I am constantly reviewing and updating my resources. Please follow me to ensure that you have the most up to date versions of the resources you buy.
I am an ex-primary head teacher and English, Maths and History specialist. I've mostly worked in KS2, often in Year 6. Although for the last two years, I've been working in Year 1, which has been delightful!
All the resources have been used successfully with children in a range of schools all over the country.
I am constantly reviewing and updating my resources. Please follow me to ensure that you have the most up to date versions of the resources you buy.
A differentiated set of guided reading for a half term
Private Peaceful - HA
Carrie's War / Stig of the Dump - MA
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe / Street Child - LA
A series of questions, answers and reading journal activity based around all areas of reading. Great alternative to SATs tests or written comprehensions.
LOs
To reflect on the opening of a story.
To understand how an author develops the central idea of his book.
To understand how an author contrasts feelings between two main characters.
To understand how an author builds suspense
To reflect on a completed text.
Drawing on the new History Curriculum and focussing on Aims: Strands 4 and 5 this resource includes:
A collection of eleven quotes from contemporary sources,
An explanation of five activities that can be carried out using these resources
Planning Templates to support arguments and a chart to help summarise arguments about Workhouses
Learning Objectives
• To understand historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance,
• To make connections, draw contrasts, analyse trends, frame historically-valid questions and create their own structured accounts, including written narratives and analyses
• To understand the methods of historical enquiry, including how evidence is used rigorously to make historical claims, and discern how and why contrasting arguments and interpretations of the past have been constructed.
Learning Outcomes:
Pupils will be able to:
• recognise and discern between arguments made for and against the role of Workhouses.
• draw on primary resources to produce a reasoned debate on the pros and cons of Workhouse.
• produce their own persuasive argument in favour (or against) the abolition of Workhouses.
• produce a balanced argument on the advantages and disadvantages of Workhouses.
• Produce their own written narrative of life in a Workhouse
A great introductory activity or mini topic on the way that Victorian society changed during Victorian times.
This mini topic uses the Market Place PowerPoint to present to your whole class a series round robin / market place / carousel activities. Each of six groups will have skim and scan, research and present information on one of the six following areas of interest:
The Abolition of Slavery
Child Labour
The changing role of education in the lives of children
The industrial revolution and its impact on Victorian life.
The changing role of Women
Workhouses and the Poor Law
They will then gather information from the other five groups before answering a quiz based on this information.
In addition to meeting the learning objectives, children will also develop turn taking, team work, collaborative research and effective presentation strategies.
Learning Objectives:
To organise and select relevant historical information from a range of sources.
To devise and answer questions about the changes to society during the Victorian period.
Learning Outcomes:
To have researched and recalled this historical time period.
To have explained to others and understood for themselves the impact of change on life in Britain.
Who’s who? Do you know your Anglo Saxon from your Norman?
LO: To understand historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance, and use them to make connections and draw contrasts (KS2)
LO: To apply the above to the study of an aspect or theme in British history that consolidates and extends pupils’ chronological knowledge from before 1066 (KS3)
A complete activity to help children understand the similarities and differences between the Anglo Saxon and Normans invaders and settlers in Britain between the fall of the Roman Empire and the early medieval period.
The activity consists of:
Teaching Input:
1. A powerpoint identifying the key similarities and differences between the Anglo Saxons and Normans including information about their:
- Origins
- settlements
- everyday lives
- lives of women and children
- laws and punishments
- beliefs
- stories and legends
- legacy.
This can either be run as an introduction, or shared with children in groups or pairs.
Independent Task:
2. A sorting activity consisting of a series of statements which apply to Normans, Anglo Saxons, both, or neither. (This includes a fact sheet for teacher use, providing the correct answers and a series of websites which provide additional source information)
3. A set of different templates to allow you to choose how this information is then represented.
Challenge / Extension / AG&T
Using websites listed, children could try to find additional information about both peoples.
Plenary
Mark with the children, getting them to identify which description applies to which people.
Pose and discuss the statement The Norman invasion destroyed more than it created.
A collection of resources to prove a background to life in Roman Britain including two investigative activities and a collection of comprehensions which could be used for homework.
Boudicca – Fact from Fiction
LO: To understand how people’s lives have shaped this nation and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world. (KS2)
LO: To apply the above to the study of an aspect or theme in British history that consolidates and extends pupils’ chronological knowledge from before 1066 (KS3)
A complete activity to help children understand the way that information about historical figures although rooted in fact, can also have legends attached to them.
The activity consists of:
Teaching Input:
1. A powerpoint providing information about the life and significance of Boudicca, both fact and fiction organised around the following sections:
- who Boudicca was
- her early life
- her relationship with the King Prasutagus
- her marriage
- The uprising
- The destruction of Camulodunum (Colchester
- her Victories
- her defeat and the end
- her legacy to Britain.
This can either be run as an introduction, or shared with children in groups or pairs.
Independent Task:
2. A sorting activity consisting of a series of statements which are either factual or legendary about Boudica. (This includes a fact sheet for teacher use, providing the correct answers and a series of websites which provide additional source information)
3. A template to allow children to sort the information provided into Truth or Legend.
Challenge / Extension / AG&T
Using websites listed, children could try to find additional information about both peoples.
Plenary
Mark with the children, getting them to identify how they knew whether or not something was a legend or the truth (links with Literacy language of myths and legends).
Pose and discuss the statement Why do you think there are so many stories told about Boudica.
A collection of resources to get you started teaching about Roman Britain, including three sets of Guided Reading activities based around the hugely popular Horrible History series and the children's classic, the Eagle of the Ninth
A series of questions, answers and reading journal activity based around all areas of reading. Great alternative to SATs tests or written comprehensions.
LOs
To make predictions based on what can be learned from a book before reading it.
To reflect on how a historical novel begins.
To reflect upon a key turning point the novel.
To understand how an author drops hints about the importance of certain characters.
To understand how one event changes that whole focus of a narrative.
To understand how an author uses book conventions to bring tension to a narrative.
To reflect on a completed novel.
A plan, set of teaching resources, Interactive Whiteboard presentations for both Promethean and Smartboards.
This resource uses the questions on 2016 Key Stage 2 SATs papers 1, 2 and 3 to revise your class' understanding of quick arithmetic methods and revise a specific aspect of the reasoning papers finishing with an AfL style plenary using exemplar questions from the 2016 SATs paper..
This is the third lesson in a revision programme designed to prepare Year 6 children for the Maths SATs papers 1, 2 and 3.
Learning Objectives covered:
To subtract whole numbers, decimals or fractions quickly (arithmetic starter)
To add and subtract whole numbers with more than 4 digits using columnar addition and subtraction (All)
To solve addition and subtraction multi-step problems including money, deciding which operations and methods to use. (Most)
To apply addition and subtraction strategies to multi-step problems including negative numbers and decimals. (Some)
5 sets of worksheets (differentiated for 4 ability groups) covering all aspects of Place Value to allow you to meet expectations of current (2014 onwards) National Curriculum for Mathematics.
The worksheets cover the following learning objectives:
Year 5
- read, write, order and compare numbers to at least 1,000,000 and determine the value of each digit
- round any number up to 1,000,000 to the nearest 10, 100, 1,000, 10,000 and 100,000
- solve number problems and practical problems that involve all of the above
Year 6
- read, write, order and compare numbers up to 10,000,000 and determine the value of each digit
- round any whole number to a required degree of accuracy
- solve number and practical problems that involve all of the above
KS3
- understand and use place value for decimals, measures and integers of any size
- round numbers and measures to an appropriate degree of accuracy [for example, to a number of decimal places or significant figures]
- develop their mathematical knowledge, in part through solving problems and evaluating the outcomes, including multi-step problems
A set of Promethean ActivInspire Flipcharts and Smartboard Notebook files to allow you to:
revise prior knowledge of grid and partitioning multiplication methods.
teach formal short and long multiplication.
decode Word problems effectively
layout work neatly in exercise books
solve Word problems relating to short and long multi-digit multiplication.
LOs include:
To use short or long multiplication.
To solve Word problems requiring short or long multiplication (Year 5 and Year 6)
To develop their mathematical knowledge, in part through solving problems and evaluating the outcomes, including multi-step problems (KS3)
20 sets of complete lessons (4 x 5 days) covering current National Curriculum expectations for teaching Place Value, Addition and Subtraction, formal short and long multiplication and formal short and long division.
Each week ends with either an investigation of Word Problems linked to the topic studied.
Every lesson includes:
- a Starter based on Arithmetic and / or previous learning and a Connect Activity designed to activate the children's interest in the topic being covered that day.
- two interactive teaching presentations designed to run on either Smartboard's Interactive Whiteboard or Promethean ActivInspire software.
- a detailed 4 way differentiated lesson plan including all relevant learning objectives and AfL / next step opportunities.
- a 4 way differentiated worksheet designed to cater for the learning of virtually all children in Year 5 or Year 6 regardless of ability.
A set of Promethean ActivInspire Flipcharts and Smartboard Notebook files to allow you to:
revise prior knowledge of short and long division methods.
teach formal written short and long division.
decode Word problems effectively
layout work neatly in exercise books
solve Word problems relating to short and long multi-digit division.
LOs include:
To use short or long division.
To solve Word problems requiring formal written division methods(Year 5 and Year 6)
To develop their mathematical knowledge, in part through solving problems and evaluating the outcomes, including multi-step problems (KS3)
Learning Objectives:
Starter:
- To recognise when a division sum leaves a remainder.
Main Lesson:
- To use formal short division and interpret remainders appropriately for the context (Year 5)
- To interpret remainders as fractions (Year 6)
- To use division including formal written methods, applying it to integers and fractions(KS3)
This lesson consists of:
A starter focusing on revising when calculations give remainders using the context of Word Problems. A connect to get the children to start thinking about the link between fractions and decimals (which will be built upon in the AfL / next steps section of the lesson..
An Interactive Whiteboard teaching introduction for both Notebook and ActivInspire, to teach how to convert remainders into fractions .
A 4 way differentiated series of calculations (including a Challenge Activity) where children are expected to solve a series short and long division problems which give remainders and convert these remainders into fractions, and one Word Problem per ability group. Answers are supplied to ease marking.
An AFL / Next Steps task to challenge children to consider how they can use their knowledge of fractions and decimals to convert a division sum which results in a simple fraction to an answer with a decimal.
Learning Objectives:
Starter:
- To recognise when to use short or long division methods.
Main Lesson:
-To apply short division to integers and decimals (Year 5 & Year 6)
- To use division including formal written methods, applying it to integers, (KS3)
This lesson consists of:
A starter focusing on revising the differences between short and long divisions using the context of Word Problems. A connect to get the children explaining what a remainder is.
An Interactive Whiteboard teaching introduction for both Notebook and ActivInspire, to teach how to show remainders in short and long division and to explain just why there is a remainder in certain calculations.
A 4 way differentiated series of calculations (including a Challenge Activity) where children are expected to solve a series short and long division problems which give remainders, and one Word Problem per ability group. Answers are supplied to ease marking.
An AFL / Next Steps task encouraging children to be able to rapidly predict the remainder in a given calculation.
A set of 5 day's lessons covering:
- short and long division
- finding fractions from remainders
- rounding up or down after division in Word problems depending on context.
- the use of estimation / rounding, inverse operations / informal methods to check answers.
Revision of:
-Metric conversions
-Rounding to nearest 1, 10, 100, 1000, 1000
-Quick mental arithmetic using all four operations.
Learning Objectives
Starter:
- To perform (mental) calculations, including with mixed operations and large numbers.
Main Lesson:
- To solve problems involving addition, subtraction, multiplication and division (Year 5)
- To use their knowledge of the order of operations to carry out calculations involving the 4 operations (Year 6)
- To use the 4 operations, including formal written methods, applied to integers and decimals, (KS3)
This lesson consists of:
A Starter consisting of a series of progressively harder addition, subtraction, multiplication and division calculations. A connect activity getting children to consider how they might check answers using informal methods and inverse operations.
An Interactive Whiteboard teaching introduction for both Notebook and ActivInspire, to teach when to use inverse operations and when to use informal methods in order to check calculations. .
A 4 way differentiated series of calculation checks where the children take on the role of a teacher, marking a series of sums, and showing the inverse operations / informal methods that they have used to check the answers. Answers are supplied to ease marking.
An AFL / Next Steps task introducing the idea of using estimation to check problems where miscalculations are linked to Place Value.
Learning Objectives
Starter:
- To perform (mental) calculations.
- To recognise prime numbers
Main Lesson:
To know and use the vocabulary of prime numbers, prime factors and composite (non-prime) numbers (Year 5)
To identify prime numbers and (prime) factors (Year 6)
To use the concepts and vocabulary of factors, prime numbers and prime factorisation (KS3)
This lesson consists of:
A Starter consisting of a series of progressively harder addition, subtraction, multiplication and division calculations and revision of highest common factors. A connect activity getting children to identify the correct and incorrect definitions of prime numbers and a second Connect to get children explain why a specific number is prime or not. .
An Interactive Whiteboard teaching introduction for both Notebook and ActivInspire, to teach how to recognise prime numbers, composite numbers and prime factors and how to use factor trees to identify the latter..
A 4-way differentiated series of tasks requiring children to identify prime numbers, composite numbers and prime factors. Answer sheet provided to support marking.
Two AFL / Next Steps tasks, introducing multistep calculations based around prime numbers and a second revising the definitions from start of lesson.
A set of 5 days’ lessons covering:
- multiples, common multiples and lowest common multiples.
- factors, common factors, highest common factor.
- prime numbers and prime factors
- solving multi-step calculations involving brackets and orders / powers.
- solving multi-step calculations including all four operations, brackets and orders / powers.
Revision of:
Squared and Cubed Numbers
Additional PowerPoint Presentations showing:
- how to find prime factors using factor trees
- how to use BODMAS when solving multistep calculation problems.