The new detailed downloadable planner below has key questions, suggested activities, resources and assessments for teaching The Home Front in World War Two at KS2 and links with the lessons on the site.
Background
Although no longer compulsory within the new National Curriculum, this topic has been kept on the site as it has traditionally yielded some of the best work from older KS2 pupils and is still rightly being taught extensively post-2014, and not just by academies. Not only does the topic offer scope for using a wide range of resources, including accessible artefacts and oral history, it also links really well with literacy, especially when using whole novels. Although no specific novels are used here as this would unduly tie you down, it is expected that you will want to use your preferred novel (Goodnight Mr Tom, Carrie’s War are obvious examples). I like the way the planner makes a massive contribution to numeracy through the work on evacuation and citizenship through the treatment of government propaganda. You are free to give the topic the focus you prefer but in terms of developing historical thinking, it would be a shame if you overlooked the opportunity for pupils to evaluate evidence in terms of propaganda and censorship and to consider the diversity of experience. So, when asked What was it like to have lived through World War Two, pupils should reply, “well, it depends who you were!. Some people..; for others.. etc”
