Learning objective
- To explore the purpose and creation of a census.
Success criteria
- I can describe what a census is and
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National curriculum
History
The national curriculum for history
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Cross-curricular links
English
Spoken language
Pupils should
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Before the lesson
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Lesson plan
Recap and recall
Tell the children they will reflect on how historians know about the past. Show the Presentation: 3, 2, 1 and hand out whiteboards and pens (one each). Read the slide and allow time for the children to write their responses.
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Extended-mode explainer videos
How to extend your display to view the lesson page and presentation mode simultaneously. Choose your operating system below to watch the video
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Extended-mode explainer video: For Mac
Extended-mode explainer video: For Windows
Adaptive teaching
Pupils needing extra support:
- Could use the Resource: 1851 Census transcript at the beginning of the Attention grabber to support reading the original 1851 Census.
- Could use the Resource: Census glossary when interpreting census data during the Main event.
Pupils working at greater depth:
- Should consider the challenges of reading Victorian census data.
- Could consider the challenges missing census data would have for historians,
- Should explain the importance of why past written data is transcribed.
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Assessing progress and understanding
Pupils with secure understanding can:
- Describe what a census is;
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Vocabulary definitions
-
census
An official survey recording information about a population.
-
census data
Information collected about people during a census, often includes their age, job and where they live.
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In this unit
Assessment - History Y6: The census and local areas
Lesson 1: What is the census?
Lesson 2: What can we learn about Victorian children from the census?
Lesson 3: What does the census suggest about the jobs available in the 1800s?
Lesson 4: Why did some women refuse to fill out the census in 1911?
Lesson 5: What changed in the 1921 Census?
Lesson 6: Who lived in our local area in the past?
Optional Remembrance lesson: How do people mark Remembrance?
Maintained by: Kapow Primary team
Last update: 12th February, 2026
Lesson 6: Who lived in our local area in the past?
Investigating a local street and conducting enquiries using census records and other sources.
Lesson 5: What changed in the 1921 Census?
Exploring the census entries of Evelyn Dove and comparing the changes between the 1911 and...
Lesson 2: What can we learn about Victorian children from the census?
Using the census and factory reports to create questions about the life of a working...
Assessment – History Y6: What can the census tell us about local areas?
Assessment quiz, Skills catcher and Knowledge catcher for use at the start and/or end of...
