I'm a Head of History in a mixed comprehensive. My specialism is Early Modern Europe. Here you'll find resources for KS3-5, templates to help run a department, and even some PSHE resources from my time as Head of PSHE in 2015.
When I'm not inspiring future historians you'll find me knitting, reading a good book, playing with my children or indulging in 'Prosecco Friday'.
I'm a Head of History in a mixed comprehensive. My specialism is Early Modern Europe. Here you'll find resources for KS3-5, templates to help run a department, and even some PSHE resources from my time as Head of PSHE in 2015.
When I'm not inspiring future historians you'll find me knitting, reading a good book, playing with my children or indulging in 'Prosecco Friday'.
Over the years I have developed lots of sheets and displays to help students develop their writing skills. I have found teaching PEEL with a washingline concept the most effective. Here I have bundled together my PEEL phrase sheet and a visual washingline sheet.
This reading list has been compiled from the Edexcel course information.
The papers included are:
Paper 1: Medicine Through Time and the Western Front.
Paper 2: The American West and The Reigns of King Richard I and King John I.
Paper 3: The USA, 1945–75: conflict at and abroad.
This reading list has been compiled from the Edexcel course information and resources collected for the coursework unit.
This list includes:
Paper 1: Religion and State in Early Modern Europe.
Paper 2: Luther and the German Reformation.
Paper 3: Civil Rights and Race Relations in the USA, 1850-2009.
Coursework: The origins of the First World War
Preparing to start GCSE Medicine this September? Help your students make a focused start with this two page overview sheet. Perfect for students to reference throughout the course.
Page 1 covers what the topic of medicine is about and what the exam questions will ask students to do. There is space to add target grades, aspirational grades, and the results from assessments.
Page 2 includes a timeline from the course, as provided by Edexcel in their course information. The dates are colour coded; a technique I use to help my students have a sense of chronology.
A simple feedback sheet for students to use when reviewing their peer’s enquiry final piece. The assessment sheet leaves space for students to consider the positives, improvement and action to be taken for each piece they review.
A PowerPoint with some key facts about Crawley. It is a very basic PowerPoint, it would not be the main attraction of your display but would be a nice addition. This fits with a local study and helps students to see how events in their local area fit with wider events such as the Second World War.
Need a new display for September?
Here is a Hazards display, it warns students of the dangers they face in History written work. Add a boarder of warning tape, and an amber flashing light for extra drama and interest.
Help students identify the strengths and limitations of different types of sources. PowerPoint slide 1 is a worksheet which can be used in lesson or as a homeowrk. Slide 2 reveals the answers to help students mark their own or a peer’s work.
Sample letters home to A Level parents post mock exams. One letter celebrates the success of a student, one highlights the need to revise and the final letter explains that the skill of analysis needs to be improved.
To support my A Level students, Edexcel, I created a key word sheet to help students embed analysis in their essays. This sheet supports succinct analysis.
Preparing for GCSE the reigns of King Richard I and King John I?
Here’s a great overview for your students.
Page 1 contains an overview of the content with space to log target grades and assessment grades.
Page 2 has a timeline, taken from the Edexcel information, to help students learn dates for this depth study.
A template to help students make the best decisions in your classroom. It can be used in conversations with students, parents, for tutors and classroom teacher.
Are you looking for a fun and easy way for your students to track their progress? Well look no further!
This assessment tracker allows KS3 students to track their progress throughout KS3, whether your school has a 2 or 3 year KS3.
There is space for students to record when the assessment took place, what their positives were and their next step.
Students are encouraged to reflect between assessments by recording when they met their target.
Two skills ladders allow students to use the tracker with homework and class work activities. One ladder focuses on PEEL writing and can be applied to all historical concepts. The second ladder focuses on source skills.
The benefit of students keeping their tracker through the Key Stage means they while the scheme of work may revisit concepts in different years, students will still be able to review feedback specific to that concept.
A castle for students to record historical and chronological knowledge. A method to include specific knowledge questions within assessments to help build revision and knowledge skills.
Here’s my updated KS3 reading list.
The list is now organised by era rather than year group as it was before. I feel this will make it easier for you to edit it to suit your needs. This reading list has been successful in promoting wider reading, and in teaching independent learning skills. There are so many wonderful historical fictions books, history magazines, and academic books out there but I hope I have created a base for you to add all the books and articles you discover.
To get you started my suggested reading list includes:
lots of My Story books for historical fiction. I found my students enjoyed them and they became a catalyst to read other books or to complete independent research.
Magazine articles.
Academic books. These are included to stretch and challenge students.
YA novels.
A few websites.
A film.
Need quick ways to test your students’ knowledge? Look no further.
This PowerPoint contains 5 assessments on aspects within the first topic- Life and government 1189- 1216
The feudal system
Kingship and succession
Royal government and finances (and answers)
English society (and answers)
The role of the Church
In addition, the PowerPoint contains two slides with knowledge and exam style questions taken from the Edexcel textbook and revision guide.
This tracker follows the same layout of my KS3 tracker to help with continuity into KS4. Especially as you have spent hours training your students on how to record and respond to feedback, it means they can hit the ground running at GCSE.
This tracker includes:
A main focus on their target and aspirational target. Great to help students remember what their target it.
A space to record historical knowledge after knowledge tests.
A graph to track their progress towards their target after each school report.
A Year 10 and Year 11 space to record exam question practice. Setting a target for the next exam practice.
This revision plan is aimed at Year 13s to help them chunk revision for Paper 1 and 2 while studying their Paper 3 topic and preparing their coursework.
This plan is dated 2017/2018 but can easily be edited for your needs. The plan is for Edexcel Paper 1- Religion and state in Early Modern Europe and Paper 2- Luther and the German Reformation.
It includes:
Break down of the topic
Suggested exam question
Mark achieved for the essay
Space for student to record their independent work.
What was England like for ordinary people?
Students complete research on life in towns and in the countryside before attempting an exam style question. This is lesson 3 in the SoW for Paper 2b. Students will already understand the feudal system and how the Church operates within the feudal system.
This lesson requires the Edexcel History textbook for the Reigns of King Richard I and John.