primary homework help britain since the 1930s

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Britain since 1930

A popular topic in the past has been Britain since 1930, which usually provides a focus upon World War II. It is possible to retain a study of World War II in Key Stage II provided that the unit of study either links to the locality, or shows how this was a turning point and draws links to knowledge that children have already developed. In this section you will find podcasts, articles and resources to help you plan to teach World War II as a local study or turning point in history.

A Significant Local Event: Carlisle floods

Sue Temple has used her personal experience of flooding around Carlisle as a basis for exploring local history. She suggests strategies for how we can explore events that have occurred in our own environments by making use of photos and oral history to link to the personal and immediate. As extreme...

Earth heroes: Etta Lemon, ‘The Mother of Birds’

In this article Ailsa Fidler considers Etta Lemon and her role in halting the plume boom, which saw many bird species driven to the edge of extinction, all in the name of fashion. Linking a study of Etta to the government’s policy on Climate Education, the article shows how Etta’s...

Dig for sustainability!

Paul Spear uses World War II government advertising strategies such as ‘Make do and Mend’ to consider how to promote modern campaigns related to sustainability. He investigates what the wartime government did to engage with the population as a whole and generate national action. By analysing how images were used...

Exploring sustainability in the Early Years

Lucy Hawker has thought about how we might begin to explore the idea of sustainability with very young children. She suggests focussing on why we might save or reuse materials and objects. She presents a loose structure that could be used to develop talk. She also considers how we might...

This article includes a compilation of a series of articles about significant trees around Britain. It is hoped that this will prompt readers to explore their own environments, helping children to engage with and enjoy nature. Some of the trees in the article are designated as Great Trees. These were significant...

Significant anniversaries: The Bristol Bus Boycott, 1963

It is sixty years since the Bristol Bus Boycott highlighted race inequalities and discrimination in the workplace. In this article, Stuart Boydell revisits this watershed moment and considers how the Bristol Bus Boycott could be incorporated into the curriculum today. Sixty years ago, Bristol was at the centre of a...

World War II: breathing life into a local history enquiry

Debbie Doolan explores how the locality of her school, Worle School in North Somerset, was impacted by a significant event, World War II. What is particularly pertinent is not just the range of activities in this topic but the way the theme was refined over a number of years. It...

What do children think about the the royal family and the coronation of King Charles III? 

Recently, Princess Anne, the Princess Royal, was interviewed for American television about the future of the monarchy and thoughts about a slimmed down royal family in line with how some European royal families operate. At a recent event in partnership with City, University of London and Southampton University about the...

The Coronation of King Charles III

2023 will see the first coronation of a British monarch for 70 years. Only those now in their 70s or above will remember the last one. The UK is the only country in Europe still to carry out a coronation, a ceremony that has its roots in traditions over a...

The wheels (and horses…) on the bus

A theme in the Early Years will have many cross-curricular links, encompassing many of the different areas of learning in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Statutory Framework. The focus for this article is on historical elements of Understanding the World; however there will be some cross-over into other areas of...

Significant anniversaries: the infamous Beeching Report 1963

March 2023 sees the anniversary of a report that had profound significance on social history and which affected many parts of the United Kingdom. There is every chance that it had an effect close to your school especially if you are in a more rural or coastal area. The Beeching...

Teaching about ‘these islands’ since 1066

This article builds on an earlier publication in Primary History Issue 89 which considered the history of ‘these islands’ before 1066 in the primary history curriculum. Both articles address the first aim of the National Curriculum which indicates that children should:  know and understand the history of these islands as...

What’s in your pocket, Peg?

What’s in your pocket, Peg? is a story book about Jersey which experienced German occupation throughout most of World War II. We wanted to create a book that appealed to children across different primary age groups, helping them to imagine the first-hand life experiences of a child alive at that time. The...

Teaching about the German Occupation of Jersey through the Occupation Tapestry

The German Occupation and subsequent liberation of Jersey is particularly significant for schools in Jersey and is included in a new history curriculum being trialled for Key Stage 1 and 2 to be implemented in 2023. For children in Jersey, it relates to a significant event at Key Stage 1...

Scheme of work: Significant historical events, people and places in their own locality

Children can be introduced to the idea that schools have been in the locality for some time but they have not always been the same. They can look at similarities and differences, as well as be introduced to some of the events that affected the schools. The theme allows children...

Using oral history in the classroom

The Oral History Society has kindly agreed to produce two new films aimed at history teachers who are new to carrying out or using oral histories either in their teaching or with students. These two films will equip teachers with the essential tools and knowledge for using and devising effective...

The new King

King Charles III acceded to the throne on 8 September 2022 on the death of Queen Elizabeth II. This article looks at the lives of the three kings named Charles and investigates how things will change with our new king. It includes activities and a timeline of British monarchs from Tudors to present...

Teaching about Remembrance Day in EYFS

Remembrance Day (11 November) is an important time for children to learn about how we choose to both represent and remember significant events in the past. Within EYFS, learning about remembrance most obviously lends itself to Understanding the World – with a focus on children making connections between past and present,...

50th anniversary of the UK’s first official Pride march: 1 July 2022

2022 is a special year as it marks the 50th anniversary of the first official UK Pride march which was held in London on 1 July 1972. The Pride movement, and events like the London in Pride march, were inspired and influenced by the Stonewall riots. These were protests that took place...

Pull-out posters: Primary History 90

Timeline of Queen Elizabeth II Queen and Commonwealth

Timeline of Events

1951 Festival of Britain - this event marked the centenary of the Great Exhibition of 1851. The festival generated demand for new fashions in furniture and furnishings. The exhibits introduced new styles of pottery, ceramics, fabrics and furniture made from revolutionary materials - fibreglass, plywood, formica and plastics.

1953 Coronation of Queen Elizabeth ll To celebrate the coronation, everyone was allowed an extra pound of sugar and four ounces of margarine.

1953 The summit of Mount Everest was reached for the first time by Edmund Hilary and Sherpa Tenzinf, his Nepalese guide.

1954 All rationing comes to an end

1957 The space Race began with the Soviet Union launching the first vehicle to orbit the Earth, the satellite Sputnik 1, on 4th October 1957. This was followed a month later by the launch of Sputnik 2. On board was the first living creature to travel from Earth into space, a dog named Laika.

House and Homes

Household goods

1950s saw the introduction of fish fingers, electric fires, washing machine, ink and toilet paper.

In the 1950s, a typical home had a cooker, vacuum cleaner and a plug-in radio.

Only 33 per cent of households had a washing machine. Most people were still doing their washing by hand.

Only 15 per cent had a fridge and freezers and tumble dryers were scarcely heard of.

Only 10 per cent of the population had a telephone.

People listen to gramophone records

Television / Wireless

Most families’ entertainment came from the radio (or ‘wireless’) or through listening to 78rpm records on a gramophone. However, a single event in 1953 gave a huge boost to the uptake of television. This was the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on 2nd June 1953 at Westminster Abbey. Cameras had never before been allowed inside Westminster Abbey for a coronation, and the general public were thrilled to be able to watch the event live. Families crowded into the home of anyone lucky enough to have a television to watch the event.

Two-thirds of homes owned a television. The programmes were shown in black and white. A second and commercialised TV channel was added in 1955.

People spent most of their leisure time at home – reading, listening to the radio, watching television or pursuing hobbies. The most popular hobbies were knitting and needle-work for women, and gardening for men.

Children spent a lot of time playing with other children outdoors. They also enjoyed a range of hobbies such as stamp collecting.

Families enjoyed playing board games such as Monopoly, Ludo, and Snakes and Ladders.

There was a craze for yo-yos, 3D-spectacles, I-Spy books and hoola hoops in the late 1950s.

1952 Population of Britain = 50 million

Clothes rationing had ended by 1949 and by the early 1950s women in particular wanted dresses and skirts made with a huge amount of fabric to make up for the meagre amounts they had endured during the war.

50s fashion

Pop Art started in London in the mid-1950's. The artists of the Pop Art movement depicted images from popular culture, including comics, advertising images, and celebrity portraits.

The best known artist of Pop Art is undoubtedly the American artist Andy Warhol.

www.millbankprm.cardiff.sch.uk

library.thinkquest.org/J002045F/pop_art.htm

www.bedewell.s-tyneside.sch.uk

Most food shopping in the 1950s was done every day and from local shops. Not every household owned a car or a refrigerator, so food shopping was part of the housewife's daily routine.

It would have been quite normal to visit separate shops for your bread (bakers), meat (butchers), vegetables (greengrocers), fish (fishmongers) etc. It was quite common too, for tradesmen to deliver their goods direct to the housewife. Groceries and greengroceries were often delivered each week in a motorised van and milk was delivered every day.

1957: Only a handful of shops in the country were self-serve (pay as you go out). The first Sainsbury’s to try out this innovation was opened in June 1950 in Croydon. 2007: There are more than 33,500 supermarkets and convenience stores in the UK

A shopping basket in the 1950s would have included items such as:

wild rabbits, mangles, corsets, candles, wireless licence and gramophone records.

Fresh fruit and vegetables came mainly from Britain, so strawberries would be in the shops for just a few weeks in the summer, and there would have been no fresh peas, beans or salads vegetables during the winter months.

Car ownership more than doubled in the 1950's. By 1955 there were over three million cars on Britain's roads.

1948 The Morris Minor is launched, designed by Alec Issigonis, and becomes one of Britain's best-selling cars

1952 The first jet aeroplane to carry passengers, called Comet, began a regular passenger service. It was a small jet and could not carry many people.

1956 First hovercraft

1959 The Mini is launched, designed by Alec Issigonis, and becomes the best-selling British car of all time. It cost £496 – about the amount of money someone earned in a whole year.

1959 Britain's first motorway, the M1, between Birmingham and London, opened.

1956 The first computer hard disk used

1958 The modem invented.

Music and Dancing

It was the decade of jive, skiffle and rock'n'roll. Popular singers were Elvis Presley and Bill Haley.

Inventions since the 1930s | Timeline from the end of the war

| Population from 1991 | Money | Websites

Life in the 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s

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Woodlands Junior School, Hunt Road Tonbridge Kent TN10 4BB UK

On the 1st September 1939, even before Britain went to war with Germany, the first Evacuation began. About one and a half million women and childen were evacuated, by the government, from places that were likely to be bombed by Hitler. A lot of the children came from poor families and they quite often didn't understand what was going on. On many occassions their parents didn't even know where they were going. Children were taken to the 'safer' countryside where they had to stay with foster families.

Activity 1 - Design A Poster (provide the children with a 'happy children' evacuation propaganda picture)

This picture shows you how the government wanted people to see the evacuation. Look how happy the children look. Many parents were unhappy about sending their children away. The government tried to convince them that their children would be looked after.

Imagine you work for the government. Design a poster to reassure parents that it's okay to send their children away. You may like to include information stating exactly why it is necessary for the children to be evacuated to the countryside.

Activity 2 - Identity Labels

Children arrived at their destinations and were taken to reception areas. Foster parents picked the children that they wanted to stay with them. Unlucky children got picked last or not at all! Each child wore an identity label to tell people who they were.

Imagine that you are one of the children who has been evacuated. Write a label to tell people who you are and why they should foster you.

Activity 3 - A Postcard Home

Many of the children who were evacuated came from poor families that lived in big cities. Some children enjoyed their time in the countryside. Other children didn't.

Pretend that you have been evacuated. Write a postcard home to tell your family about what your first day has been like. Remember to tell them whether you've enjoyed yourself or not.

Activity 4 - Evacuee's Kit List

Children who were evacuated had to take their gas masks and other belongings with them.

Imagine there was an evacuation now in 1999. What would you pack up and take with you? Remember, you can't take much. Make a list of what you would take.

Start your piece of writing with "If there was an evacuation now, in 1999, then I would pack..."

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EXTERNAL LINK F Link-2

• Britain at War - The Home Front 1939-1945
• Key Information
• Curriculum Overview
• World War II - DK Find Out! Lots of information on World War II
• Britain since the 1930s - Primary Homework Help
• WW2: What was the secret to winning the Battle of Britain? BBC Teach
• World War II Engineer - Dame Caroline Haslett BBC Bitesize
• KS2 World War II Quiz Education Quizzes

History KS2 | World War Two | Britain declares war on Germany | BBC Teach

This short film offers an overview of the events that led to Britain declaring war on Germany in 1939. We hear from an eye-witness called Moya, who recalls p...

The Blitz (1940-41)

Become a Simple History member: https://www.youtube.com/simplehistory/join Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/simplehistory On the 7th September,...

RAF Fighter Pilot (World War II)

Please consider supporting our videos on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/simplehistory RAF pilots consisted of British volunteers who were an average age of ...

An evacuee's adventure | History - Children of World War Two

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

Evacuating The Children (1940)

Alice's Evacuee Letter

Alice reads a letter from an evacuee in World War II

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Thirties Britain

The depressed decade, teachers' notes, introduction, external links.

About this classroom resource

Download documents and transcripts

The purpose of this document collection is to allow students and teachers to develop their own questions and lines of historical enquiry on the political and social aspects of 1930s Britain. The documents themselves are arranged according to theme, so that sources are grouped together rather than following a strict chronological order.

Some of the themes include:

• unemployment
• hunger marches
• the economy
• slum clearance
• the new national government
• the Peace Ballot

Students could work with a group of sources or source type on a certain theme or linked themes. It is hoped that the documents will offer them a chance to develop their powers of evaluation and analysis and support their course work. Alternatively, teachers may wish to use the collection to develop their own resources or encourage students to ‘curate’ their own ‘exhibition’ of the most significant sources on the topic. Students could also use more documents from our Cabinet Papers website .  There is also an opportunity to consider film and cartoon sources as interpretations of these events in relation to the decade by following the links below to British Pathé and the British Cartoon Archive, University of Kent.

Connections to the curriculum

These documents can be used to support any of the exam board specifications covering the political, social and cultural aspects of 20th century British history, for example:

AQA: GCE History

AS Unit 1: Change & Consolidation: HIS1L Britain, 1906-1951 (B) A2 Unit 3: The State and the People: Change and Continuity: HIS3J: Britain, 1918-1964

History AS Period studies: study topic 4: Unit F961 Option B Domestic Issues 1918-51

by Juliet Gardiner

The thirties in Britain have had a bad press. From W H Auden’s ‘low dishonest decade’ the era has been characterised by high unemployment, extremist politics and the menacing shadow of war.

There is much truth in this bleak picture. By 1930 it was clear that Britain’s economic problems could no longer be attributed to the disruption of the First World War. The country’s traditional heavy industries – coal mining, shipbuilding, iron and textile manufacture – were increasingly uncompetitive in the world market – a market that was even more restricted after the 1929 Wall Street crash.

Unemployment climbed to almost 3.5 million by 1932. It was particularly acute in the North East, the lowlands of Scotland and mining valleys of Wales. The government seemed incapable of any solution and reluctant to invest in public works to provide jobs, instead introducing the Means Test in 1931 that divided families and led to widespread hardship and bitterness.

The response was a series of hunger marches by which the unemployed sought to draw attention to their plight. The impotence of the government also encouraged the growth of extremist political parties – the British Union of Fascists led by Sir Oswald Mosley and the Communist Party of Great Britain which started to attract young intellectuals to its core membership of industrial workers. But neither ever achieved mass support: most of the unemployed just wanted jobs.

Britain was a divided country. In the Midlands and South East new or expanded industries such as the manufacture of cars, synthetic textiles, pharmaceuticals and light engineering, were providing work, and with cheaper food, gradually rising wages and cheap mortgages, the dream of a suburban semi was becoming the realizable dream of the lower middle classes. Indeed house building boomed with four million houses built between 1919 and 1939. Of these three million were built for owner occupation, while local authorities provided one million in an attempt to clear the terrible slums and overcrowded housing that blighted most large industrial cities.

The dream of escaping into the countryside also fuelled the thirties obsession with fresh air and exercise. The government, concerned about the low level of fitness among young men, encouraged this since the international situation was growing tense with the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, the German reoccupation of the Rhineland and its demands on Czechoslovakia.

Rambling clubs sprang up – in some cases such as the Peak District Kinder Scout trespass in 1932 demanding the right to roam over private land. Nudist clubs flourished (though sensibly recommending air bathing rather than sun bathing in Britain’s uncertain climate); at least 180 lidos were opened, and health and fitness classes for all boomed.

New ‘Dream Palaces’ provided entertainment for the less active with exotic or stark modernist cinemas opening in almost every town and city: almost 20 million tickets were sold every week, while dance halls were another craze among the young. Since the Holidays with Pay Act of 1938 seaside resorts flourished and the first Butlin’s Holiday Camp opened in ‘bracing’ Skegness in 1936.

By early 1939 it was obvious that despite the Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain’s promise of ‘peace for our time’, the policy of appeasement had failed and war with Germany was inevitable. The 1930s had been a golden age of science with the atom split, the neutron identified and advances in medical treatment, but at the end of the decade, science would be put to uses that were not in the interests of humanity, and the bold schemes for the future that many had planned for Britain ran into the sand – at least until peace came in 1945.

Juliet Gardiner is the author of ‘The Thirties: An Intimate History’.

• British film in the 1930s Korda, Hitchcock, Grierson and more through the BFI’s Screenonline resource
• Cinemas and Cinemagoing The BFI explores the boom in cinemas and cinemagoing in the 1930s
• Heritage Explorer See a wide collection of original photographs of 1930s architecture
• Kent Cartoon Archive Discover the decade through the eyes of cartoonists in this extensive online archive

The British Motorcar

Related resources, cabinet papers, chamberlain and hitler 1938, eden’s last stand.

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