For a number of years now, here at the History of Parliament, we’ve been running competitions for school pupils at Key Stage 3 and A level. This year we’ve had plenty of fantastic entries for our 11-14 year old competition (which has made the judging rather tricky!). Our 16-18 year old essay competition is still open – extended this year over the summer break – so you have until 30 September to enter. Full details are on our website. The winners of both competitions will be announced during the autumn term.
Henry VIII as Supreme Head of the English church, from Foxe’s Book of Martyrs
© The Trustees of the British Museum
Now, we’re beginning to expand our schools activities. We’re delighted to announce the launch of a new set of resources aimed at Key Stage 3, based on the Reformation. Parliament had a major role to play in this dramatic period, passing laws that made the church of England Protestant, then Catholic, and then back to Protestant again. These measures had a major impact on the Tudor church and population and gradually turned England and Wales Protestant.
Our specially written articles on Tudor Parliaments, MPs and constituencies tell the story of what happened and why. They explore the lives of MPs who influenced the religious upheaval (or just tried to live through them without losing their heads!) and they investigate how these events affected ordinary people across the country in different constituencies. We also have a number of work schemes, activity sheets and resources to help teachers who want to use our materials in the classroom. Next year’s KS3 competition will be based on these resources.
Thomas Cromwell, the subject of one of our new specially-written articles
(© Palace of Westminster)
All being well, this set of materials will be the first in a number on parliament’s role in British history, and we’d love to know what you think of the ones we’ve now published. And don’t forget to keep watching this space for our competitions news!
To view the new schools section, click here.
To view the new resources on the Reformation, click here.
For the latest news about our schools competitions, click here.
EP
