This video from our ‘Spotlight On’ series features Records Specialist Dr William Butler looking at records from the Air Ministry, the Royal Airforce, and related bodies. This video focuses on a report on ‘Operation Plainfare’, the Berlin Airlift (1948 June to September.)

The early 19th Century saw many advances in science and medicine, in a time where scientific and religious ideas often clashed over what was morally correct. These ideas are explored in nineteenth century literature such as the novel Frankenstein, but the stories in the real world were often as shocking and brutal as the Gothic fantasy. This lesson explores the business of the grave robber and how they furthered the study of medicine through a grey area of the law. This lesson can be used as part of several fields of study for GCSE, including: Crime and Punishment History of Medicine/Health and the People Social Reform of the early 1800s Historical Context of ‘Frankenstein’ by Mary Shelley. The confessions of Bishop and May describe their daily lives in great detail. The full confessions are twelve pages long each, and so have been presented as extracts to provide the most relevant sections describing one particular case. The initial task can be completed as group work, in carousel, or individually as its own lesson before moving on to the rest of the sources. Care should be taken in providing the source describing the murder to students. The final source shows the on going effects of the Act over twenty-five years later, asking students to consider these sources in the context of a larger narrative.

All the documents included in this lesson relate to Framlingham Castle which features in the specification for ‘OCR History GCSE module: Castles Form and Function c1000-1750 as specified site’ in conjunction with English Heritage. Framlingham Castle is the first named site for OCR in 2018. The records used cover a range of material including royal grants, extracts from pipe rolls and the Calendar of Patent Rolls, royal orders, licences and pardons. We hope that these documents will offer students a chance to develop their powers of evaluation and analysis. All sources have been provided with a transcript and as the language may prove challenging, we have also provided a simplified version with more difficult words defined within the text. Each source is captioned and dated to provide a sense of what the document is about. Alternatively, teachers may wish to use the sources to develop their own lesson in a different way or combine with other sources. All the documents included in this lesson relate to Framlingham Castle which features in the specification for ‘OCR History GCSE module: Castles Form and Function c1000-1750 as specified site’ in conjunction with English Heritage. Framlingham Castle is the first named site for OCR in 2018.

Discover the Dissolution is a national enrichment project run by The National Archives for schools and history groups. The aim is to allow students of all ages to practice their research skills. Groups are encouraged to use the Discover the Dissolution resources to locate a local monastery or nunnery that was involved in the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1530s. They can then use the internet, libraries, local archives or other resources available to them to explore the story of the site. Once the research is complete, students can present their findings to others in the school and submit their work to the Discover the Dissolution Schools Map to be published online and made available for other students to use as an educational resource. You can find the main Discover the Dissolution Resource here: http://bit.ly/32k9Mlp

Free printable teaching resource pack including four case studies on Whitechapel in 1880 using original historical documents for a document led enquiry/investigation. Whitechapel in the late 1800s was an area of overpopulation, industry and crime. With such wide systemic issues it can be easy to lose sight of the experiences of the individuals who lived in the area. This lesson explores the historic environment through the interconnected lives of four individuals who lived in the area during the 1880s. What can the stories of two West Indian boxers, the daughter of an Irish carpet maker and a child born in Whitechapel itself reveal about the challenges and benefits of living around Commercial Street in the Victorian era? Suitable for Edexcel GCSE History: Whitechapel, c1870-c1900: crime, policing and the inner city Migrants in Britain, c800–present Crime and punishment in Britain, c1000–present AQA GCSE History: AC Britain: Migration, empires and the people: c790 to the present day

This lesson and sources focus on the experiences of immigration of West Indian people to the UK between 1948-1970 including the Windrush.

This lesson could be used as part of a teaching programme for any of the main GCSE modern world history courses for key stage 4 relating to the study of appeasement. The sources allow students to explore some of the main issues in British foreign policy and the importance of not accepting sources at face value.

This lesson is based on the story of the sinking of the Titanic. Using the sources pupils can find out about the passengers on the Titanic to find out about those who drowned and also the survivors.

This lesson provides pupils with a general introduction to Magna Carta and why it is considered of historical importance. By the end of the lesson pupils will have gathered information that can be used to write a short piece on what makes something of historical importance, and why Magna Carta is such an important document. This lesson is the first in a sequence of three designed to be used with the BETT Awards 2016 and Medea award 2016 winning Magna Carta resource website. These lessons include PowerPoint presentations, teacher’s notes and other material for use in classrooms. The lesson resource website guides students through medieval history and documents with the help of reenactors as students create their own digital chronicle of the creation of Magna Carta.

This lesson provides pupils with an opportunity to question the historical importance of Magna Carta. It focuses on the 1215 version of Magna Carta and the political context of its creation. At the end of the lesson pupils will have gathered information that can be used to write a short piece on whether they consider the 1215 version of Magna Carta to be either: A collection of complaints and grumbles by the barons which only had benefits for them? or An important statement of key principles about how the king can rule and that had benefits for everyone in England? This lesson is the third in a sequence of three designed to be used with the BETT Awards 2016 and Medea award 2016 winning Magna Carta resource website. These lessons include PowerPoint presentations, teacher’s notes and other material for use in classrooms. The lesson resource website guides students through medieval history and documents with the help of reenactors as students create their own digital chronicle of the creation of Magna Carta.

This lesson provides pupils with knowledge of the different classes of people in the medieval England (King, Barons, Knights, Burghers, Peasants) and asks them to consider how Magna Carta may have affected each of them. At the end of the lesson pupils will have gathered information that can be used to write a short piece on who benefitted from Magna Carta in 1215. This lesson is the second in a sequence of three designed to be used with the BETT Awards 2016 and Medea award 2016 winning Magna Carta resource website. These lessons include PowerPoint presentations, teacher’s notes and other material for use in classrooms. The lesson resource website guides students through medieval history and documents with the help of reenactors as students create their own digital chronicle of the creation of Magna Carta.

Very few people had the right to vote in the late eighteenth century. Politics and the running of the government was limited to a small number of wealthy people and certain people later called radicals, questioned if this was the best way of government. The most important radical writer at this time was Thomas Paine (1737-1809). Paine was born in Thetford in Norfolk and later moved to America where he played an influential role in drafting the Declaration of Independence. He later travelled to France and became involved in the French Revolution, working with the leaders to produce the ‘Declaration of the Rights of Man’. Paine wrote a book called ‘The Rights of Man’ which said that everybody should have the right to be involved in government. His book sold half a million copies and was read by many more. It was frequently used as the discussion topic for political groups called corresponding societies. Thomas Paine supported the development of corresponding societies, which grew up across the country in the 1790s in Derby, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow London, Perth, Norwich, Nottingham and Sheffield. The societies aimed to gain public support for parliamentary reform including annual parliaments and universal suffrage. Using the original documents in this lesson, find out how Thomas Paine and other radicals demanded change in how the country was to be governed. How did the government respond?

The seven letters selected within this resource show a wealth of varied experiences of women inside the workhouse. The lesson can either use the letters in full or the teacher can select sections of the letters. Students are encouraged to analyse each letter, focusing on the treatment of women and their mental health. Learning objectives: To investigate the varied experiences of women in the workhouse. To analyse and make inferences about a source. Resources needed: Printed sources. This lesson was created as part of the Voices of the Victorian Poor Teacher Scholar Programme.

This lesson explores source material in the form of letters written by Paupers which were sent to the Poor Law Commission in London, generally complaining about the treatment and conditions the pauper children were enduring. The pupils will analyse the individual letters to gain an understanding of some of the things which happened to children during this time. This lesson focuses on clothing and is part of a series of lessons which include a focus on Southwell Workhouse followed by two other lessons focussing on schooling and food. This lesson will support an exploration of the Victorians where it is either your post 1066 unit or linked to local history, for example if you have a local workhouse that is now a hospital or converted for other uses. It could also be used if you were exploring children’s experiences through history. This lesson was created as part of the Teaching the Voices of the Victorian Poor Teacher Scholar Programme.

This document pack and associated activity are designed to support students with their depth study of Poverty, Public Health and the State in Britain c1780 – 1939. The period of 1834-55 has been chosen to allow focus on the Poor Law Amendment Act and its impact on society. The letters provided in this pack are largely from paupers or interested parties writing to the Poor Law Commission, the Poor Law Board or local authorities in regards to the act, as such they offer genuine contemporary reactions to the Act. The letters have been presented as photographs with transcripts available (printed on the reverse if this pack is printed double-sided). An accompanying powerpoint has been provided which can be edited to suit your needs. Teachers notes have been provided within the powerpoint with suggested activity instructions. This lesson was created as part of the Teaching the Voices of the Victorian Poor Teacher Scholar Programme.

This lesson explores descriptions of the punishment of the Victorian poor in the MH12 collection in The National Archives. It comes in two parts. The first lesson explores punishments given to children while the second lesson examines pauper attitudes to punishments for the general population. It was created as part of the Teaching the Voices of the Victorian Poor Teacher Scholar Programme.

This lesson explores source material in the form of letters written by Paupers which were sent to the Poor Law Commission in London, generally complaining about the treatment and conditions the pauper children were enduring. The pupils will analyse up to 3 individual letters (see below) to gain an understanding of some of the things which happened to children during this time. This lesson focuses on Schools and is part of a series of lessons which include a focus on Southwell Workhouse followed by two other lessons focussing on clothing and food. You can choose to do individual lessons , or all of them, depending on your context and objectives. This lesson was created as part of the Teaching the Voices of the Victorian Poor Teacher Scholar Programme.

This resource is designed for a KS3 year 8-9 class with prior knowledge on the Victorian Workhouse. It could be used as a partner lesson for the already existing source lesson using the 1837 poster. The lesson examines the Victorian Poor in their own words and seeks to address the common misconception that the Victorian Poor were helpless when in the workhouse and accepted the consequences of becoming a pauper and being institutionalised. This resource is designed as a full lesson and has a section for lower-ability students, depending on whether you wish to differentiate. This lesson would best be used as part of a scheme of work on the Victorians and life during the Industrial Revolution. This lesson was created as part of the Teaching the Voices of the Victorian Poor Teacher Scholar Programme.

There are 6 galleries in this Exhibition, each containing a number of case studies. Each Case Study is designed so that it can be used as a ‘stand alone’ item in one or two classroom sessions. However, each Case Study in a Gallery is linked to form a more coherent area of research. This has been done to give students and teachers the maximum amount of flexibility. The Case Studies in each Gallery are linked together to allow students to answer the ‘Big Question’. Details of the Big Question can be found on the Introduction to the Gallery Page and on each source page. This resource has been archived as the interactive parts no longer work. You can still use the rest of it for information, tasks or research. Please note that it has not been updated since its creation in 2009. You can find other archived resources similar to this one in our ‘Topic Sites’ section on our Education website.

This lesson asks students to examine a set of letters to discover the health concerns of a sample of poor people in the Victorian era. The activity can be done in groups or as a carousel providing the whole class with knowledge of the content of each letter. The letters have been grouped into five main themes related to health allowing you to select the letters most appropriate to your group’s studies. You may also want to pair this activity with the use of our interactive maps on our Voices of the Victorian Poor website where there are over 3500 letters from the victorian poor to explore. There is a curated map on health within the ‘secondary’ student portal, or further health related filters within the ‘research’ portal. Using these maps can allow you to explore health issues in your local area or explore national trends in medical care, sanitary reform or disease outbreaks. This lesson was created as part of the Teaching the Voices of the Victorian Poor Teacher Scholar Programme.