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GCSE Normans: Activity trail

About this learning resource

Format: PDF

This is a self-guided historical enquiry designed to support GCSE students studying the Normans. It can be used as a classroom resource, particularly for students studying the AQA historic environment of Norman England which, in 2021, focuses on the White Tower within its historical context.

Exam board links

  • AQA Paper 2: Shaping the Nation, Section B: Norman England, c1066-c1100.
  • Edexcel: Paper 2: Period study and British depth study B1: Anglo-Saxon and Norman England, c1060–88.
  • OCR A (Explaining the Modern World): Component Group 2: Power: Monarchy and Democracy in Britain c.1000 to 2014.
  • OCR A (Explaining the Modern World): Component Group 3: Castles: Form and Function c.1000–1750.
  • OCR B (Schools History Project): British Depth Study: The Norman Conquest, 1065–1087.

Learning objectives

  • Students will be able to make comparisons and contrasts between Anglo-Saxon and Norman England.
  • Students will explore the legacy of invasion and the nature of society in the early Anglo-Norman period.

Resource Information

Key Stage

  • KS4 (age 15-16)
  • KS5 (age 16+)

Subjects

  • History

Topic

  • Normans

Type

  • Printable activities

Palace

  • Tower of London
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This graph reveals how many prisoners were held at the Tower of London during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I.

Key Stage

  • KS2 (age 7-11)
  • KS3 (age 11-14)
  • KS4 (age 15-16)
  • KS5 (age 16+)

Subject

  • History

Topic

  • Crime & Punishment
  • Tudors
  • Elizabethans

What was it like moving to Tudor England?   Step back in time and uncover the journey of Catalina of Motril, an enslaved woman who moved to England with a famous queen.  

Key Stage

  • KS2 (age 7-11)
  • KS3 (age 11-14)
  • KS4 (age 15-16)
  • KS5 (age 16+)
  • Home Educators

Subject

  • History

Topic

  • Tudors
  • Diverse Histories

This free, editable activity pack introduces children to each queen as a historical figure in her own right - going beyond the familiar rhyme of “divorced, beheaded, died”. It includes fact sheets, colouring, drawing and research activities.

Key Stage

  • KS1 (age 5-7)
  • KS2 (age 7-11)
  • Home Educators
  • International Schools

Subject

  • History

Topic

  • Tudors