This lesson is part of a scheme of lessons I created to try and fill a gap in the OCR Ancient History GCSE available resources. I felt like this is quite a complex era in Roman history and the resources that exist are complicated too - leading to cognitive overload for many of my students. This lesson is completely dual coded and my students loved it because it is clear and succinct and reduces cognitive load. It tells the story of the trials and tribulations Rome’s new Consuls Brutus and Collatinus went through in trying to establish the new Republic in Rome after the exile of Superbus. The story and Livy / Dionysius are also analysed throughout, and this lesson sets up the next one on the origins of the Conflict of the Orders nicely. On each slide are pertinent questions posed to students that they can answer verbally or in writing and are great for AfL - summative and formative depending on how you want to use them. Even if you aren’t teaching the OCR AH GCSE, I’d argue this is probably the clearest and easiest to understand overview of the challenges and details of the establishment of Rome’s new Republic that exists at the moment - it’s why I made it because there was hardly anything accessible out there for me and my students… Thanks for taking a look!

This lesson is part of a scheme of lessons I created to try and fill a gap in the OCR Ancient History GCSE available resources. I felt like this is quite a complex era in Roman history and the resources that exist are complicated too - leading to cognitive overload for many of my students. This lesson is completely dual coded and my students loved it because it is clear and succinct. it starts with a couple of video clips recapping Superbus’ reasons for being exiled and it then tells the following three ‘stories’ that Livy outlines in his History of Rome: The Battle of Silvia Arsia - where Rome’s exiled king Tarquinius Superbus teams up with members of the Latin League to try and regain Rome. Lars Porsena’s siege of Rome - where Superbus persuades a powerful neighbouring king to try and get him back into power in Rome. The Battle of Lake Regilius - Superbus’ last hurrah and ultimate failure to regain the Roman throne. Throughout there are pertinent questions posed to students on screen that they can answer verbally or in written form and are great for AfL - there is also a 10 mark exam question at the end (with sentence starters) on the battle of Lake Regilius (with an accompanying passage from Livy to refer to) so students can apply their learning and hone their exam skills. Thanks for taking a look!

This is a 20-30 min assembly (could easily be longer with teacher verbal embellishment and exposition) I have used with my students. The importance of Mental Wellbeing is obviously the focus - but the skills of how to achieve good mental health - showing self-regulation and resilience are focused on too. There notes explaining the resilient and self-regulation icons that I have included and practical strategies are provided for pupils. Pupils are also prompted to ask questions of themselves (on the screen for ease) during the assembly - designed to be delivered during Children’s Mental Health Week (but realistically could be presented at any time throughout the school year.

This lesson tells what can be a relatively confusing story in a clear, step by step way. It’s dual coded to reduce cognitive load and take students through all the key details from who Ascanius was and why Romulus and Remus were outcast to the differing accounts of Remus’ death. Short video clips are also included at appropriate places within the powerpoint (hence the large file size) which help to break up the ‘teacher talk’ and add colour to the story. The final tasks involve storyboard creation and student explanation. My classes were big fans of the simplicity of the presentation and the clarity of the story - it really helped them retain all the information. There are a few quick quizzes included which are great for AFL.

This lesson is part of a scheme of lessons I created to try and fill a gap in the OCR Ancient History GCSE available resources. I felt like this is quite a complex era in Roman history and the resources that exist are complicated too - leading to cognitive overload for many of my students. This lesson is completely dual coded and my students loved it because it is clear and succinct and reduces cognitive load. It tells the story of the how the Plebeians and the Patricians argument with each other at the beginning of Rome’s new Republican era was attempted to be solved - and how this attempt at being solved was hijacked by a few Patricians unwilling to cede any power to the Plebeians. On each slide are pertinent questions posed to students that they can answer verbally or in writing and are great for AfL - summative and formative depending on how you want to use them. There’s a 6 mark exam question to finish off the lesson for those teaching the OCR Ancient History GCSE. Even if you aren’t teaching the OCR AH GCSE, I’d argue this is probably the clearest and easiest to understand overview of the challenges and details of the First and Second Decemvirates (and the 12 Tables that were the product of both) that exists at the moment - it’s why I made the lesson because there was hardly anything accessible out there for me and my students… There is also a summary video clip at the start to tell the story so far and a video clip included at the end so students can recap their learning. Thanks for taking a look!

These Graphic Organisers are ideal for Ancient History 9-1 GCSE. The Foundations of Rome unit, especially after studying the kings of Rome, can become tedious for students and staff alike. Quality resources for this part of the unit are scarce and this is me trying to rectify that a bit. My students really appreciate these. The organisers give enough ‘knowledge’ or ‘information’ for students to get a good grade at GCSE - a 4/5/6 depending on how much information they can retain. We print these out A5 size and stick them in the middle of our books and as I am teaching students will annotate these sheets according to how much extra information they need to get above a 4/5/6. The visuals are a huge help and icons and schemas are repeated as and when appropriate across the organisers which makes pupils feel secure and build a mental image of all the content - something I had found challenging to help them create before using these. The GOs really help tell the ‘story’ of the early Roman Republic. Topics included: Creation of the Roman Republic by consuls Brutus and Collatinus The history and trajectory of the Conflict of the Orders Sicinius and the First Secession of the plebs The Volero Publilius Uprising and subsequent reforms The First and Second Decemvirates The Twelve Tables The second Secession of the plebs The Valero - Horatian Laws and other reforms Legal Reforms of the 440s BCE and the end of the Conflict of the Orders

These Graphic Organisers are ideal for Ancient History 9-1 GCSE. The Foundations of Rome unit, can become tedious for students and staff alike. Quality resources for this part of the unit are scarce and this is me trying to rectify that a bit. My students really appreciate these. The organisers give enough ‘knowledge’ or ‘information’ for students to get a good grade at GCSE - a 4/5/6 depending on how much information they can retain. We print these out A5 size and stick them in the middle of our books and as I am teaching students will annotate these sheets according to how much extra information they need to get above a 4/5/6. The visuals are a huge help and icons and schemas are repeated as and when appropriate across the organisers which makes pupils feel secure and build a mental image of all the content - something I had found challenging to help them create before using these. The GOs really help tell the ‘story’ of early Rome. The resources included here cover over a quarter of the entire OCR GCSE. Topics included: Aeneas - The first Roman? Romulus & Remus Romulus - 1st King of Rome Numa Pompilius- 2nd King of Rome Tullus Hostilius - 3rd King of Rome Ancus Marcius - 4th King of Rome Lucius Tarquinius Priscus - 5th King of Rome Servius Tullius - 6th King of Rome Tarquinius Superbus - 7th King of Rome The Wars of Independence Creation of the Roman Republic by consuls Brutus and Collatinus The history and trajectory of the Conflict of the Orders Sicinius and the First Secession of the plebs The Volero Publilius Uprising and subsequent reforms The First and Second Decemvirates The Twelve Tables The second Secession of the plebs The Valero - Horatian Laws and other reforms Legal Reforms of the 440s BCE and the end of the Conflict of the Orders

This lesson is designed to be delivered in an hour and includes a range of handouts and video clips (hence the larger file size) included as slides within the PowerPoint. Students are introduced to the key features a Greek Theatre and the role they played in Greek society and religion. It is clear and concise and throughout there are numerous comprehensions and other opportunities to engage the students and embed their learning. This lesson was ideal in our introduction to GCSE Classical Civilsation unit we did at the end of KS3 / beginning of KS4 as students are starting to discover the Classical World - it helps give them an excellent sense of period. Thanks for taking a look :-)

Contained within the .ppt file are 19 separate handouts which detail each important event in AQA’s ‘Conflict and Tension 1945-72’ History GCSE unit on the Cold War. Each handout focuses on causes of the event, the event itself, and its consequences within the context of the Cold War. These can be used as a support in lessons or as a revision aid. Each sheet also has one or two challenge/thinking questions which encourage students to engage with the information they are reading and form an opinion on the event one way or another, backed up by specific examples. Handouts are mixture of information and helpful images/sources which can also be used as a basis for discussion. These have proved particularly useful in my lessons when printed a5 size, stuck in the middle of a page in an exercise book and get highlighted and annotated by students as the lesson progresses. Being able to answer the challenge/think questions also gives students an instant sense of achievement.

This series of five slides is designed to be printed off and stapled together in the top left and given to students to work through in roughly an hour. The question they will be working on is the following 8 mark WJEC Religious Education GCSE question: Explain from Christianity and Islam attitudes to the use of contraception. On the first page, students are given a very simple model answer an are tasked with explaining how it could be improved. On the second and third pages, students are given indicative content that could be included and are tasked with highlighting key information from both Christianity and Islam’s viewpoints on the issue. They are then, on the third slide, given a better model answer. They will read this and explain, given the information they now have in their heads from the previous two pages, how it could be improved. Finally, they are given space to write their own answer to the 8 mark GCSE question without looking at any notes. My students really liked this because it was clear and the tasks were ‘chunked’ into easy to digest pieces. There was a clear structure to the lesson which needs minimal teacher input since the instructions are clear on each page. Lined paper isn’t needed either - it’s all self-contained. By the end of the lesson every single student had made progress and, crucially, felt better able to answer 8 mark questions under timed pressure. Hope this helps, thanks for looking and hopefully it’ll save you some time in the hectic run up to exams! :)

These notes were created for students studying the WJEC / Eduqas AS Level Religious Studies specification and are designed to be ‘at a glance’ revision notes that go into detail for each part of the specification - i.e. what each student needs to know about Islam Theme 1 (religious figures and sacred texts) for their exam. For students who are predicted lower grades than their peers, I have found this resource is invaluable in giving them ‘slimmed down’ content for Islam Theme 1 and these notes allowed them to tackle revising the topic without the fear of drowning in lots of content. For my more able students they used these for self-quizzing and as a starting point for making their own very detailed notes (an important part of revision in itself). Thanks for looking and I hope this saves you a little bit of time in the run up to exam season! :)

These detailed course / revision notes were specially written to give OCR A Level History students a comprehensive overview of the key knowledge from the specification for Unit Y209: African Kingdoms c.1400–c.1800: four case studies 1) The Songhay Empire c.1450–1591 2) The Kingdom of Kongo c.1400–c.1709 3) The Kingdom of Benin c.1500–c.1750 4) The Kingdoms and Empires of Oyo and Dahomey 1608–c.1800 These extensive notes are especially useful for students whose note-taking in lesson isn’t as good as others, or whose organisational skills mean they are missing notes/handouts on certain topics / areas. These notes will certainly help reduce the time it takes them to catch up with their peers, and also students like to use these as a checklist of topics to go into in further detail. They give peace of mind that every corner of the specification/syllabus has been covered. Hopefully these notes help to save your students (and you!) some time in the hectic run up to exams. Thanks for taking a look :)

These detailed course / revision notes were specially written to give OCR A Level History students a comprehensive overview of the key knowledge from the specification for Unit Y204: Genghis Khan and the Explosion from the Steppes c.1167–1405 1) Genghis Khan and the Creation of the Mongol Empire c.1167–1264 2) The Reign of Khubilai Khan 1264–1294 3) The Khanates 1294–1405 4) Impact of the Mongol invasions and interaction between East and West to 1405 These extensive notes are especially useful for students whose note-taking in lesson isn’t as good as others, or whose organisational skills mean they are missing notes/handouts on certain topics / areas. These notes will certainly help reduce the time it takes them to catch up with their peers, and also students like to use these as a checklist of topics to go into in further detail. They give peace of mind that every corner of the specification/syllabus has been covered. Hopefully these notes help to save your students (and you!) some time in the hectic run up to exams. Thanks for taking a look :)

These detailed course / revision notes were specially written to give OCR A Level History students a comprehensive overview of the key knowledge from the specification for Unit Y113: Britain 1930–1997: The Middle East c.550–620 The establishment of Islam c.620–632 The beginning of the Empire and the rule of the ‘Rightly Guided Caliphs’ The establishment and expansion of the Umayyad Empire These extensive notes are especially useful for students whose note-taking in lesson isn’t as good as others, or whose organisational skills mean they are missing notes/handouts on certain topics/areas. These notes will certainly help reduce the time it takes them to catch up with their peers, and also students like to use these as a checklist of topics to go into in further detail. They give peace of mind that every corner of the specification/syllabus has been covered. Hopefully these notes help to save your students (and you!) some time in the hectic run up to exams. Thanks for taking a look :)

This resource spans two lessons and is designed to give students the understanding they need to answer a 'Who do you admire more...' 8 mark exam question at the end of it (Student friendly mark scheme and guidance provided) for the new OCR Classical Civilisation GCSE. Students are introduced to 'ethical dilemmas' and encouraged to define what 'philosophy' is. They are then introduced to Socrates, Plato and Aristotle through fact files and use this information to answer their exam question, using sources (included) as a starting point. The final video can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyIKayNXTPY&t=148s

This lesson is designed to fit neatly into an hour. It could equally be used as an assembly and can easily be shortened by taking out the discussion and written tasks that are included within the Powerpoint at pertinent points. It takes students step by step through the process of becoming an MP. It is meant to be both informative and aspirational - while at the same time pointing out some of the pitfalls present in the process. The lesson is fully dual coded and therefore information is presented throughout in a way that reduces cognitive load for pupils. There is also a coloured overlay on each slide to aid any pupils with dyslexia or Irlen’s who find this useful. Although, this can easily be deleted from each slide if it isn’t necessary for your pupils. There are quotations throughout from relevant literature and also from winning Members of Parliament and losing candidates. The rigour, length and cost of the process of becoming an MP is laid bare and students are constantly prompted with questions on screen regarding the time and financial costs versus the reward involved. This can also lead to questions surrounding whether our MPs are paid too much or too little, and whether candidates receive the support they need for the system to be truly fair. Thanks for taking a look and I hope this resource proves as useful for your students as it did for ours :-)

This lesson was designed for my GCSE English Lit students who were about to embark on their study of Othello. The lesson isn’t Othello specific though, it is more a brief overview of the cultural and social changes that were going on during Shakespeare’s own times - and prompting students through a variety of tasks to think about how this changing society ended up influencing Shakespeare’s writing and being reflected in his plays. E.g. Renaissance themes, Golden Age of Elizabethan England, increased prosperity including a video (embedded) looking at the emergence of the new merchant class - and the effect this had on what kind of audience Shakespeare came to write for. Also the number of theatres springing up in Elizabethan London is also looked at - along with prompt questions which students can answer in written form or verbally regarding the effect that increasing demand had on the number of plays Shakespeare wrote. At the beginning and the end of the lesson is a short quickfire quiz which is designed to get students thinking about the lesson content. The lesson was really designed with the idea of ‘world-building’ in mind i.e. getting the students to develop a really vivid picture of what Elizabethan England was like and the changes it was undergoing, in order to have excellent grounding to refer back to studying any Shakespeare play, enabling them to place much of Shakespeare’s idoms etc into context. Thanks for taking a look :)

This lesson takes students through the basic differences between Doric, Ionic and Corinthian Greek Temples. HD examples are included of a variety of temples from each ‘order’ of Greek Architecture. Blank templates are included so students can have a go at drawing their own columns for each order. A differentiated homework task is included at the end of the lesson to encourage further research and thinking. This lesson would be ideally suited to KS4+5 students who are studying Greek architecture for whatever reason for the first time.

This lesson was designed for my Year 10 students to study just before they started to read Othello for their GCSE. Before diving into the play proper with its difficult-to-access language I felt it would be really beneficial for them to study a summary of the plot of Act 1, so that they know who the main characters are and what their role in the play’s exposition and rising action might be. I found that my students were definitely more ready to tackle reading Act 1 of the play having done this lesson. The main thrust of the lesson revolves around reading the summary that is included as a hidden slide for printing, and using this to create an 8 part storyboard. The point of this is to both solidify the storyline of Act 1 in their minds, along with the characters that feature, along with providing them with something they can refer back to throughout their study of Act 1. For students who finish their storyboard quicker than others, there are extension questions designed to extend students thinking. It was really successful and students definitely appreciated the ‘why’ behind this lesson. The lesson has been designed with dual coding purposes in mind in order to reduce cognitive load, and in addition there are removable coloured overlays on each slide to aid those students with Irlen Sydrome or dyslexia. The lesson ends with an introduction to how typically Shakespeare structured his tragedies and they are encouraged to ‘spot’ features from Act 1 that are in line with this tragedic arc. Thanks for taking a look :)

This lesson was designed for my Year 10 class and was designed to set the scene for their study of Shakespeare’s Othello. Before embarking upon reading the play itself, this lesson can ground their understanding of who Othello, Iago and Desdemona are, and cement an understanding of the role of each character in students’ minds. This lesson provides students with all the contextual knowledge about the storyline of the play, which coupled with prior knowledge of Elizabethan England, provides a powerful introduction to the Tragedy of Othello. The main lesson task, done after a low stakes quiz starter and a look at the relative locations of Venice and Cyprus (and why they are important to the play), centres around students using their knowledge of the characters, which the teacher talks through one by one (info on slides) and adds exposition to, to fill in an info sheet (included as a hidden slide for printing) - but crucially and more importantly, begin to engage in the debate around which characters are tragic villains and which are victims, with Othello deliberately left until last in this debate, given the ambiguous nature of his role in the play. The lesson is made with the principles of dual coding in mind to reduce students’ cognitive load (which my students genuinely seem to appreciate) and there is a removable and editable coloured overlay to each slide to help those students with dyslexia or Irlen syndrome who feel they benefit from it. Thanks for taking a look :)