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 Y106: England 1485–1558: the Early Tudors British Period Study England 1485–1547 a) The government of Henry VII and threats to his rule b) Henry VII’s foreign policy c) Henry VIII and Wolsey d) The reign of Henry VIII after 1529 Enquiry Topic: Mid Tudor Crises 1547–1558 a) The stability of the monarchy b) Religious changes c) Rebellion and unrest 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. 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 lesson is designed with the new OCR Classical Civilisation 9-1 GCSE in mind. Specifically, Paper 1 (Myth and Religion) topic 1.6 Myth and Symbols of Power. it is designed to run over 2 hour long lessons. All worksheets referred to below are contained within the .ppt file in the appropriate places during the lesson which can be printed out and given to students. All instructions are also contained in the ‘notes’ section for each slide (in addition to helpful video links). The lesson starts with a comprehension starter regarding how Augustus came to power and an accompanying video. There is then some class reading on the aims of Augustan art in general and the messages Augustus was keen to promote. Students are then introduced to the Ara Pacis itself via Augustus himself through studying the appropriate part of the Res Gestae. A short OU video link is included to help students visualise the size of the Ara Pacis itself. A worksheet is then included ready to be printed off (pictured)looking at Ovid’s Fasti and what he has to say about the altar. An in-depth look at the carvings one each frieze then follows with accompanying exam questions (8 and 15 markers). In the plenary students are encourage to envisage their own version of the Ara Pacis and what it would depict.

This lesson is designed with the new OCR Classical Civilisation 9-1 GCSE in mind. Specifically, Paper 1 (Myth and Religion) topic 1.7 Death and Burial. it is designed to run over 2 hour long lessons. All worksheets referred to below are contained within the .ppt file in the appropriate places during the lesson which can be printed out and given to students. All instructions are also contained in the ‘notes’ section for each slide (in addition to helpful video links). The lesson does have a lot of information for students to get their head around and therefore students are asked to condense the information into note form at various points. There’s nothing to stop you printing out the info and highlighting it instead and annotating it - either works in my experience depending on the students in your class. Information students are introduced to goes from the preparation of the body after death up until burial of the ashes. In addition there is information on both the Anthesteria and Genesia which were festivals which honoured the dead in Ancient Greece. Stele are looked out and compared to modern gravestones followed by a final plenary of questions based on the learning. There are 3 different exam questions included too ( two 2 mark questions and an 8 mark question) plus there are handouts (pictured on the Iliad and Odyssey which challenge pupils at the top end to think about how the Greeks themselves perceived the importance of death and burial. Video links are included throughout to help students visualise what went on.

Designed with the new OCR Classical Civilisation 9-1 GCSE in mind. Students are introduced to Ancient religion in general and the concepts of Hiera & Religio and the contractual nature of worship in the ancient world. In addition to this there is an exercise for students that is designed to compare ancient worship to modern worship and draw out the similarities and differences. There is a wealth of information contained within. The presentation goes through first the Greek gods and then their Roman equivalents. Each of the god's/goddess' areas of patronage are outlined, as are details about their associated mythologies, stories of origin and iconography. An A3 sheet is included to print and photocopy for students to record details about each deity, first for Greece and then for Rome. Primary Sources and GCSE practice questions are included as are model answers which students can use to improve their own answers. A final assessment task is also included which has GCSE rigour and can be used to get an accurate understanding of student's understanding of the topic to GCSE standard. Throughout, all technical terms are explained in 'glossary boxes' and students are encouraged to make a note of these as the lessons progress to build up their own glossary of key terms. The lesson could be easily differentiated for KS3 pupils by cutting out the GCSE style questions and focusing instead on the stories of each god/goddess.

This lesson is designed with the topic ‘Myth and Symbols of Power’ within the ‘Myth and Religion’ unit (for the new OCR Classical Civilisation 9-1 GCSE) in mind. The lesson begins with introducing students to the origin story and details of Centaurs. A worksheet is included within the .ppt file (pictured) which also briefly outlines the events of the battle between the Lapiths and the Centaurs. This can be printed out, highlighted and annotated by students as it will be useful later in the lesson. Students then examine the importance of the Centauromachy to a) The Greeks as a whole, B) The Athenians and c) The Parthenon building itself. A link to a helpful Youtube Video has also been included so students who do not have the opportunity to see the marbles up close in real life can do so through this video. A cloze test where students fill in the missing words in a passage analysing a metope from the Parthenon frieze is also included which can be worked through on the board as a class or printed out and given to students. Answers are also included on the following slide. The lesson finishes with a practice exam question where students need to use the type of language used in the analysis they have seen while doing the cloze test to successfully answer the 8 mark question. (Also included for students who may finish this and need further challenge are questions comparing the Parthenon frieze to the Bassae frieze and Temple of Zeus pediment versions of the Centauromachy). In addition to this for top students a translation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses is included so that they can look at the account of the battle between the Centaurs and the Lapiths at the wedding in detail.

These ‘at a glance’ revision notes were specially written to give AQA A Level History students a comprehensive overview of the key knowledge from the specification for the depth study: America: A Nation Divided, c1845–1877 Part one: the origins of the American Civil War, c1845–1861 North and South in c1845 Attempts to maintain the Union, c1845–1854 The outbreak of Civil War, 1854–1861 Part two: Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861–1877 (A-level only) The War, 1861–1865 (A-level only) Early Reconstruction, 1865–1867 (A-level only) Radical Reconstruction, 1867–1877 (A-level only) They 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. 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 ‘at a glance’ revision notes were specially written to give Edexcel A Level History students a comprehensive overview of the key knowledge from the specification for the Paper 1 study: The Crusades, c1095–1204 Reasons for the crusades, 1095–1192 Leadership of the crusades, 1095–1192 The crusader states of Outremer, 1100–92 The changing Muslim response to the crusades, 1095–1192 Historical Interpretations: What explains the failure of the Fourth Crusade? They 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. 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 lesson is designed with the new OCR Classical Civilisations 9-1 GCSE in mind. Specifically, Paper 1 (Myth and Religion) topic 1.6 Myth and Symbols of Power. it is designed to run over 2 hour long lessons. All worksheets referred to below are contained within the .ppt file in the appropriate places during the lesson which can be printed out and given to students. All instructions are also contained in the ‘notes’ section for each slide (in addition to helpful video links). The lesson starts with a comprehension starter regarding how Augustus came to power and an accompanying video. There is then some class reading on the aims of Augustan art in general and the messages Augustus was keen to promote. The lesson then moves onto the Prima Porta statue (a prescribed source for the new course) with an analysis of each aspect of it that students can record on a worksheet (pictured). There is another summary video followed by study questions surrounding Augustus’ supposed divine status. The lesson finishes with a plenary where students get commissioned by Augustus to design a new statue.

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 letter successfully landed an interview for a Head of Music at a state school in England (The official title of the role was Curriculum Leader for Music). The school was large and there was a significant TLR attached to the role. This letter is designed to be used for informative purposes and as a guide to the things you would be able to write and say in your own letter of application for a similar role. There may well be things you can’t take from this letter since they may not be true for you, but the spirit of this resource is very much to provide a template and an inspiration for you to write your own letter. Just as we know it’s helpful to provide our pupils with a model for exam questions they need to answer, so too I have always found it helpful to have something to model letters of application on as an adult. There isn’t anything within this letter which identifies the school that was being applied to, and when I mention ‘SCHOOL NAME’ in the text, it would, obviously, be wise to replace this phrasing in your letter with the school’s own name that you’re applying to. Where there is experience which has been written about which you yourself have not had, it may be worth thinking of examples from your own practice that you can write about in a similar style which match the person specification of the role you are applying for. For reference, the letter of application is two pages in length. Thanks for taking a look and good luck in your job search - hopefully this will make the process a tiny bit less stressful :)

This resource will be useful to anyone teaching students how to answer a GCSE essay question in Religious Studies. The focus is on the statement: ‘All Muslims should fast during Ramadan’. It gives the indicative content under the question so students know what should be included in the essay, and it is followed by a model essay which students are then encouraged to mark, using the markscheme that is attached at the end of the second page. I created this to be used as a quick way for students to learn how best to structure a two-sided essay, and show them how a detailed answer could also be a concise one. Hopefully it saves you some planning time! Thanks for taking a look :)

This Powerpoint covers everything students studying AQA A Level philosophy need to know about Utilitarianism, according to the specification. It is purely informative and you could adapt it to include written discussion questions, or simply use it as a prompt for class discussion during the course of your teaching. It also doubles as a handy revision aid. It’s all laid out clearly and neatly to reduce cognitive load and to ensure the information contained within it is as accessible as possible, My students really appreciated the format and the real world examples offered to help cement their understanding of these concepts. Topics included: Normative ethical theories What is normative ethics ? Utilitarianism The question of what is meant by ‘utility’ and ‘maximising utility’, including: Jeremy Bentham’s quantitative hedonistic utilitarianism (his utility calculus) John Stuart Mill’s qualitative hedonistic utilitarianism (higher and lower pleasures) and his ‘proof’ of the greatest happiness principle non-hedonistic utilitarianism (including preference utilitarianism) act utilitarianism and rule utilitarianism. Issues, including: whether pleasure is the only good (Nozick’s experience machine) fairness and individual liberty/rights (including the risk of the ‘tyranny of the majority’) problems with calculation (including which beings to include) issues around partiality whether utilitarianism ignores both the moral integrity and the intentions of the individual.

This presentation was designed and delivered at the beginning of a CPD day we did on ensuring the rigour and alignment of our curriculum: both whole-school and in individual subjects. It goes into 7 key areas of curriculum design: Challenge Enjoyment Progression Relevance Coherence Personalisation Choice Each one is defined and explanations are included for the speaker as to what these mean on a practical level. Links to research are included and the end of the presentation focuses on the implementation of the key facets and mapping how they can be evidenced in e.g. a curriculum map. Staff found this clear and concise and helped foster a sense of collaboration when it comes to curriculum planning - hopefully it can form the base of curriculum thinking in your context too. 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 Y107: England 1547–1603: the Later Tudors Enquiry Topic: Mid Tudor Crises 1547–1558 a) The stability of the monarchy b) Religious changes c) Rebellion and unrest British Period Study: Elizabethan England a) Elizabeth and religion b)The nature of the Elizabethan Monarchy, Government and Parliament c) Elizabeth’s management of financial, economic and social affairs d) Elizabethan later years 1588–1603 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. 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 is a document I made for our more inexperienced staff who had some anxieties around parents evenings. It isn’t overly long to read and digest (it’s two sides of A4) so it didn’t cognitively overload them but they really appreciated it. I emphasised that it was intended as a reference and a guide and they obviously weren’t meant to memorise all the responses (and also I explained how I couldn’t anticipate every scenario!) but it certainly helped ease their anxieties and make sure they were confident in their interactions (as well as communicating in the right professional tone etc.) I got some great feedback from staff on it so I thought I’d share it and I hope it saves you some time in terms of producing something that staff can really use. I also found it a useful starting point for more experienced members of staff who perhaps needed a little reminder of the importance of interacting with parents friendly but in a professional manner, no matter how parents might present! It isn’t exhaustive but it was really useful in terms of conveying to our staff the tone and manner we wanted them to communicate in, so I hope it’s just as useful for you too! Thanks for taking a look :)

This letter successfully landed me an interview for a Head of RE at a faith school (The official title of the role was Curriculum Leader for Religious Studies). The school was large and there was a significant TLR attached to the role. This letter is designed to be used for informative purposes and as a guide to the things you would be able to write and say in your own letter of application for a similar role. There may well be things you can’t take from my letter since they may not be true for you, but the spirit of this resource is very much to provide a template and an inspiration for you to write your own letter. Just as we know it’s helpful to provide our pupils with a model for exam questions they need to answer, so too I have always found it helpful to have something for me to model my own letters of application on. There isn’t anything within this letter which identifies the school that was being applied to, and when I mention ‘your school’ in the text, it would be wise to replace this phrasing in your letter with the school’s own name. Where there is experience I have written about which you yourself have not had, it may be worth thinking of examples from your own practice that you can write about in a similar style which match the person specification of the role you are applying for. For reference, the letter of application is nearly two pages in length. Thanks for taking a look and good luck in your job search - hopefully this will make the process a tiny bit less stressful :)

This lesson focuses on two key aspects of Roman Society: The paterfamilias and the patron-client system. The first half of the powerpoint focuses on the paterfamilias and the second half focuses on the patron-client system. All the information pupils need for GCSE Classical Civilisation: Roman City Life is contained in here, although anyone not studying the GCSE will get all the information they need from this lesson too. The final part of the powerpoint focuses on which of the two things played a greater role in the functioning on Roman society and why. The powerpoint would ideally b delivered over two hours, although could be delivered in a single hour if you cut out some of the written tasks which are included so students can synthesise their learning and demonstrate their levels of understanding. The resource is fully dual coded which we have found helps reduce the cognitive load for our students, allowing them to focus and retain knowledge more easily. There is also a coloured overlay on each slide (which can easily be deleted if you don’t need it) to aid learners with dyslexia / Irlen’s. Video clips are also embedded within the resource to help elucidate the two pertinent roles in Roman Society that the lesson focuses on. Thanks for taking a look :)

This lesson was designed for my pupils studying OCR Classical Civilisation 9-1 GCSE. It provides an excellent in-depth look at the Roman Domus / Villa - the household and home of wealthy Romans / Roman Patricians. The lesson is dual coded and there is an emphasis in reducing excess ‘noise’ in the PowerPoint file - allowing pupils to easily access the content without distraction. There is also a yellow overlay on each slide to aid any pupils with irlens / dyslexia (this can easily be removed though by clicking on the overlay on each slide and pressing ‘delete’). The lesson begins with a look at a map of Pompeii to allow pupils to see the prevalence of the Domus in a Roman city and then pupils are given a handout (included as a slide to be printed off) of a typical domus floor plan with a key and pupils must colour code both. Once pupils thus have an understanding of the uses of the rooms in a typical domus and what they were called, there is a handout (again, included as a slide) to be printed off of extra info where pupils are encouraged to highlight key points and use to make extra notes to supplement their work up to this point. There is then a short 3 minute video embedded in the next slide which summarises what pupils should have learnt up to this point. Having established the key features of a typical domus, pupils are then presented with the floor plans of three important Roman villas in Herculaneum and Pompeii: The House of the Wooden Partition The House of Menander The House of Octavius Quartio Pupils are prompted to compare the floorplans and key features of these houses to their ‘typical’ domus floorplan and pick out similarities and differences. A group task then ensues where pupils fill in their fact file sheets on each house using more detailed information included in the proceeding slides (designed to be printed out - but you can go through the info on the board, or alternatively read the information for each house aloud and ask students to make notes as you read - I did it slightly differently with my two groups). Finally, the PowerPoint ends with OCR GCSE Classical Civilisation exam questions so pupils’ learning and understanding can be assessed. Thanks for taking a look :-)

This lesson was designed with the 9-1 OCR GCSE Classical Civilisation spec in mind. It covers everything pupils need to know about the events portrayed in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, and aims to solidify both their knowledge of the events of the poem, and to draw out quality analysis through the inclusion of study questions, handouts (included as hidden slides for printing) and a video. The resource is fully dual coded to reduce excess ‘noise’ - something my students are really keen on as it is clear at every point in the lessons, what the key information is that they should be focusing on. The use of dual coding also aids knowledge retention and allows pupils of all abilities to access this otherwise difficult poem. When I taught this it fit quite neatly into 2 x 1 hour lessons, with the first lesson focusing on knowing the story of Hades’ abduction of Persephone and the roles various other characters play (i.e. Hermes, Hades, Demeter, Helios, Hecate et al.) through to the poem’s resolution. A copy of the poem is included if you wish to use it with pupils, however key quotes with analysis are picked out on a separate handout (included as a hidden slide for printing) to aid the story-telling task in that forms the focus of the rest of the first lesson. The second hour focuses more on analysis of the characters and their relationships with one-another - including the complex relationships and power (im)balance between humans and the gods. Study questions are included along with an exam question at the end in order that you as the teacher can assess the extent of their learning. Thanks for taking a look :)