If you’re looking for KS2 History topics that are a little out of the ordinary this year, we’ve got some great ideas for you that fit in nicely with the National Curriculum! As great (and necessary) as Victorians, Romans and Tudors are, there’s a lot more to World and British History that we can be teaching our KS2 children :-)
This is no ordinary History scheme of work! You and your class will dive into the past with a different historic lens and discover what happened during the Anglo-Zulu war. Children will first look at artefacts from both the Victorian and Zulu Kingdom and realise that they were in fact at the same time in history. Following this, children will learn about Zulu culture and will be encouraged to challenge any assumptions they may have had.
This scheme of work is part of our mission to decolonise the curriculum, to ensure that the lessons we create represent, speak to, and inspire all children, whatever their race.
Journey through the ages as your class explores the changing roles and rights of women from ancient times to today. From the law of coverture to modern maternity employment law, this ‘The Changing Role of Women’ scheme will give your class a valuable overview of the ways in which women have been oppressed and how they have fought for equality, including the militant campaigns of the suffragettes and second-wave feminism of the 1970s.
Travel through time and discover how medicine has changed from the days of prehistoric civilisations and witch doctors, to the NHS and modern medical discoveries. Would you have liked to be treated by an Egyptian doctor or would you prefer to have fallen ill during the Tudor period? This scheme of work is great as a way of cementing chronological understanding, as well as finding out about this fascinating theme in history.
These lessons cover the history of slavery before exploring the triangular slave trade between Britain, West Africa and the Americas. There is also a lesson focused on the life of Harriet Tubman and how she helped to free slaves during her lifetime. This thought-provoking scheme of work is something a little different that will help your class see history in a new light.
This five-lesson scheme of work explores the impacts that the Windrush generation has had on the British population and their culture. Each of the five lessons in this scheme focuses on a different aspect of the Windrush generation and how this key event in British history changed communities, food, music and even laws around the country.
In the years after the end of WWII, a number of extraordinary changes took place in Britain. As post-war plans for rebuilding Britain were implemented, virtually every aspect of British life was affected. By the mid-1960s, Britain had undergone a transformation; in many ways it was unrecognisable when compared to how it had been in the first half of the 20th Century. 'Rebuilding Britain’ covers this period of modern British history in-depth, starting with her involvement in the war.
This scheme of work will give your class an overview of when and where the earliest civilisations appeared (including Ancient Sumer, Indus Valley, Ancient Egypt and the Shang Dynasty) and will introduce them to the amazing achievements of each civilisation. They will explore when and why writing and number systems started to be used, find out how trade developed, investigate ancient structures such as the Egyptian pyramids and Sumerian ziggurats, as well as explore other inventions from the wheel to the toilet!
Find out all about the powerful and corrupt East India Company's battles and bribes that enabled it to dominate trade in Asia. Then, explore how the empire crumbled after the end of the Second World War, and about the Commonwealth of Nations today. These challenging British Empire KS2 lessons are packed with facts and information, as well as prompts and activities for discussion, about Britain's controversial imperialism.
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