History · Year 10 · 3 weeks
Voices of Peterloo
Driving question
Was the 1819 clash at St Peter's Field a massacre or a riot?
the ability to create their own structured accounts, selecting organising and communicating their knowledge and understanding in written narratives, descriptions and analyses, reaching substantiated conclusions when appropriate
TAUGHT IN Week 2, activity 2; Week 3, activity 1; Week 3, activity 2ASSESSED BY Structured Historical Argument
knowledge and understanding of the key features and characteristics of the periods studied: the chronology, individuals, events, developments and issues in the specified content
TAUGHT IN Week 1, activity 1; Week 2, activity 1; Week 3, activity 2ASSESSED BY Historical Knowledge and Context
the ability to understand and use critically and constructively a range of contemporary source material appropriate to the period (including written historical sources whose precise provenance is given) to frame their own valid historical questions and make their own valid historical claims
TAUGHT IN Week 1, activity 2; Week 2, activity 1; Week 2, activity 2ASSESSED BY Source Analysis and Evaluation
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Pupils investigate the events of 16 August 1819 in Manchester to decide whether the violence was an unprovoked massacre or a put-down riot. Working with primary documents including magistrates' dispatches, radical newspapers, and eyewitness statements, they examine the social causes, the key individuals involved, and the contrasting narratives. After visiting the memorial site at St Peter's Field, pupils write, record, and map a short source-based audio guide stop that Year 9 pupils and their families walk during Key Stage 4 options evening.
The teacher displays two contrasting contemporary illustrations of St Peter's Field from August 1819 without titles, one showing orderly families attacked by cavalry and the other showing a violent mob. Pupils spend three minutes writing down what they think happened before the teacher reads aloud magistrates' panic letters from that morning.
- Why were 60,000 people gathering in Manchester on that day?
- Who gave the order for the cavalry to draw swords and charge the crowd?
- Why do eyewitness reports from magistrates and reform leaders tell completely different stories?
- What changed in Britain as a direct result of the event?
Your lessons: 2 a week, 60 minutes.
Week 1
Map the timeline of 16 August 1819 and interrogate contrasting contemporary accounts.
Analyse the economic distress and parliamentary reform demands of 1819, charting the morning timeline of the St Peter's Field assembly.
· 1 lessonCross-examine extracts from radical reports against magistrates' letters to evaluate the provenance, purpose, and reliability of each account.
· 1 lesson
Supports
Provide dual-language glossaries of 19th-century political terms for EAL pupils, structured source evaluation grids with sentence starters for pupils with SEND, and prompt questions comparing modern and contemporary press coverage for extension. Give pupils a provenance frame (who, when, why, for whom, what it leaves out) before they tackle the magistrates' letters.
Deliverable
A completed comparative source analysis grid evaluating two contrasting accounts of the crowd's behaviour.
Week 2
Visit the site, draft the audio guide script, and test historical interpretations.
Walk St Peter's Square to plot historical sightlines, examine the memorial, and select a precise location for the audio guide stop. Start the trail at the People's History Museum on Left Bank where the Peterloo material is displayed, then walk to St Peter's Square.
· 1 lessonDraft a three-minute audio script that marshals primary evidence to argue whether the event was a massacre or a riot. Pair a strong writer with a confident speaker for each trail stop so every recording has a script and a voice.
· 1 lesson
Supports
Provide audio transcription software and visual map templates for pupils with SEND, translated key vocabulary for EAL pupils, and require advanced pupils to account for how Home Office reactions shaped later reports.
Deliverable
A written draft of the three-minute audio guide script with fully cited primary quotations.
Week 3
Critique draft scripts, record the audio trail stops, and share with Year 9.
Run peer critique on script drafts using GCSE argument criteria, revise texts, and record all five trail stops in one session.
· 1 lessonPublish the audio files to QR code stops on a printed trail map and guide visiting Year 9 pupils through the inquiry.
· 1 lesson
Supports
Allow paired voice recording or non-verbal technical production roles for pupils with speech and language SEND, provide bilingual script models for EAL pupils, and challenge extension pupils to field unscripted historiographical questions from visitors.
Deliverable
A recorded audio stop linked to a QR-coded trail map and an individual reflective justification.
The end of lesson 2 in week 2
Pairs swap scripts with another team to test whether the argument relies on clear contemporary evidence and answers the counter-argument, using a structured GCSE peer critique protocol.
Student reflection
Pupils write a 150-word individual reflection judging whether modern commemorative labels match the primary evidence they examined.
What they make
A three-minute recorded audio guide stop linked to a printable location map of St Peter's Field that evaluates conflicting contemporary sources to answer the driving question.
Options
Pupils choose their specific focus location around the historical field, which contemporary eyewitness voices to feature in the recording, and whether to present the narrative as a joint dialogue or a single documentary narration.
Who sees it
Year 9 pupils and their parents during Key Stage 4 options evening in the final lesson of week 3.
Teams
Pairs chosen by the teacher based on complementary writing and technical strengths.
| Criterion | beginning | developing | proficient | advanced |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Historical Knowledge and Context GCSE History: knowledge and understanding of the… · individual | Recalls few basic facts about the 1819 meeting with noticeable chronological errors. | Describes the general events of 16 August 1819 and identifies key people such as Henry Hunt or the magistrates. | Explains the causes, chronology, and key features of the assembly accurately using specific contextual detail. | Analyses the event within the broader post-Napoleonic political climate and parliamentary reform movement with thorough precision. |
Source Analysis and Evaluation GCSE History: the ability to understand and… · team | Quotes sources at face value without questioning who wrote them or why. | Identifies the author and origin of sources but treats bias as simple lying or truth. | Critically evaluates provenance, purpose, and contemporary tone to test claims about crowd conduct and cavalry action. | Weighs competing contemporary accounts against each other to expose how political motives constructed opposing narratives. |
Structured Historical Argument GCSE History: the ability to create their… · team | Offers an unorganised description of the violence that does not reach a clear conclusion. | Presents a structured narrative with a simple conclusion on whether it was a massacre or a riot. | Constructs a coherent, evidence-based audio script that addresses counter-claims and reaches a substantiated historical conclusion. | Delivers an analytical audio script with sustained historical reasoning, precisely deployed quotations, and a substantiated judgement. |
Historical Knowledge and Context
GCSE History: knowledge and understanding of the… · individualbeginning
Recalls few basic facts about the 1819 meeting with noticeable chronological errors.
developing
Describes the general events of 16 August 1819 and identifies key people such as Henry Hunt or the magistrates.
proficient
Explains the causes, chronology, and key features of the assembly accurately using specific contextual detail.
advanced
Analyses the event within the broader post-Napoleonic political climate and parliamentary reform movement with thorough precision.
Source Analysis and Evaluation
GCSE History: the ability to understand and… · teambeginning
Quotes sources at face value without questioning who wrote them or why.
developing
Identifies the author and origin of sources but treats bias as simple lying or truth.
proficient
Critically evaluates provenance, purpose, and contemporary tone to test claims about crowd conduct and cavalry action.
advanced
Weighs competing contemporary accounts against each other to expose how political motives constructed opposing narratives.
Structured Historical Argument
GCSE History: the ability to create their… · teambeginning
Offers an unorganised description of the violence that does not reach a clear conclusion.
developing
Presents a structured narrative with a simple conclusion on whether it was a massacre or a riot.
proficient
Constructs a coherent, evidence-based audio script that addresses counter-claims and reaches a substantiated historical conclusion.
advanced
Delivers an analytical audio script with sustained historical reasoning, precisely deployed quotations, and a substantiated judgement.
- Extracts from local magistrates' letters to the Home Office, August 1819
- Extracts from contemporary radical newspapers and eyewitness trial testimonies, 1819–1820
- Contemporary street maps and prints of St Peter's Field in 1819
- Digital audio recording devices or mobile tablets with voice memo software
- The Peterloo Memorial on St Peter's Square, Manchestercheck before use