Boudica Primary Resource

This primary resource introduces children to Boudica (or Boudicea). Learn about the life of this Celtic warrior queen. When was Boudica born? Who did she marry? Why was she such an important figure in British history?

In our National Geographic Kids primary resource sheet, pupils will discover the significant events that occurred during Boudica’s lifetime, and learn about the important role she played following the Roman invasion of Britain.

The teaching resource can be used in study group tasks for a simple overview of the life of British Celtic Queen Boudica. It can be used as a printed handout for each pupil to read themselves, or for display on the interactive whiteboard, as part of a whole class reading exercise.

Activity: Ask the pupils to make a timeline with annotations and pictures to show the key events of Boudica’s life. As an art activity, children could design and create a shield for Boudica to use in one of her heroic battles. The shield could be designed to show important parts of Boudica’s life, such as the name of the tribe she ruled, the towns she conquered, images of herself and her daughters, a motto she might use, etc.

N.B. The following information for mapping the resource documents to the school curriculum is specifically tailored to the English National Curriculum and Scottish Curriculum for Excellence. We are currently working to bring specifically tailored curriculum resource links for our other territories; including South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. If you have any queries about our upcoming curriculum resource links, please email: schools@ngkids.co.uk

This History primary resource assists with teaching the following History objectives from the National Curriculum:

• Know and understand the history of these islands as a coherent, chronological narrative, from the earliest times to the present day: how people’s lives have shaped this nation and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world.

• know and understand significant aspects of the history of the wider world: the nature of ancient civilisations; the expansion and dissolution of empires; characteristic features of past non-European societies; achievements and follies of mankind

• Gain and deploy a historically grounded understanding of abstract terms such as ‘empire’, ‘civilisation’, ‘parliament’ and ‘peasantry’ 


• Gain historical perspective by placing their growing knowledge into different contexts, understanding the connections between local, regional, national and international history; between cultural, economic, military, political, religious and social history; and between short- and long-term timescales. 


National Curriculum Key Stage 1 History objective:

Pupils should be taught:

• significant historical events, people and places in their own locality.

• the lives of significant individuals in the past who have contributed to national and international achievements.

National Curriculum Key Stage 2 History objective:

Pupils should be taught about:

• the Roman Empire and its impact on Britain – this could include British resistance, for example, Boudica..

• a study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils’ chronological knowledge beyond 1066 that is significant in the locality.

This primary resource also assists with teaching the following English objectives from the National Curriculum:

• Comprehension skills develop through pupils’ experience of high-quality discussion with the teacher, as well as from reading and discussing a range of stories, poems and non-fiction. All pupils must be encouraged to read widely across both fiction and non-fiction to develop their knowledge of themselves and the world in which they live, to establish an appreciation and love of reading, and to gain knowledge across the curriculum

This History primary resource assists with teaching the following Social Studies First level objective from the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence:

• Having selected a significant individual from the past, I can contribute to a discussion on the influence of their actions, then and since

Scottish Curriculum for Excellence Second level Social Studies objective:

• I can use primary and secondary sources selectively to research events in the past..

• I can discuss why people and events from a particular time in the past were important, placing them within a historical sequence .

• I can compare and contrast a society in the past with my own and contribute to a discussion of the similarities and differences 

Scottish Curriculum for Excellence Third level Social Studies objective:

• I can explain why a group of people from beyond Scotland settled here in the past and discuss the impact they have had on the life and culture of Scotland..

• I can describe the factors contributing to a major social, political or economic change in the past and can assess the impact on people’s lives.

• I can discuss the motives of those involved in a significant turning point in the past and assess the consequences it had then and since..

• Through researching, I can identify possible causes of a past conflict and report on the impact it has had on the lives of people at that time.

Scottish Curriculum for Excellence Fourth level Social Studies objective:

• I can make reasoned judgements about how the exercise of power affects the rights and responsibilities of citizens by comparing a more democratic and a less democratic society..

• I have investigated a meeting of cultures in the past and can analyse the impact on the societies involved..

• I can assess the impact for those involved in a specific instance of the expansion of power and influence in the past.

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