Key Stage 1 Significant Individuals: George Stephenson

This unit of work is intended to teach children about George Stephenson as a significant individual in history, his achievements and the impact that he had locally, nationally and internationally. It also includes some introductory lessons based around vocabulary for consolidation of terms relating to the passing of time, which may want to be combined for older children who may already have a grasp of this knowledge. The overarching theme is to understand why Stephenson was such a significant figure and leads to the final enquiry of the children explaining this.

This unit is structured around the development of Stephenson’s ideas. It starts with an introduction to vocabulary linked with the passing of time and chronology before looking at who George Stephenson was and his achievements. It then moves on to analysing his local, national and some of his international impacts.

• Lesson 1: Chronology and Vocabulary
• Lesson 2: Using chronological vocabulary with a timeline
• Lesson 3: Who was George Stephenson?
• Lesson 4: When was George Stephenson alive?
• Lesson 5: What did George Stephenson do?
• Lesson 6: Stephenson’s Rocket
• Lesson 7: Changes in railways and trains
• Lesson 8: Stephenson’s impact locally and nationally
• Lesson 9: Enquiry – Was George Stephenson all that significant?

Please note: the HA schemes of work were produced by members of the HA primary committee and its affiliates. This unit is a resourced scheme of work; however, the resources it refers to may in some cases only be available to full members of the HA. These schemes of work are designed to support your planning and should be moulded and adapted to fit the context and needs of your own school. To view a free sample scheme of work, please refer to our Anglo-Saxons unit. We regularly check the hyperlinks included in the schemes but unfortunately every now and again some links may go out of date. If you spot a broken link, please let us know on enquiries@history.org.uk.