KS2 History Unit – Crime and Punishment Through Time

This fully resourced 8-lesson unit explores how crime, punishment and justice have changed in Britain from Roman times to the modern day. Pupils develop key historical enquiry skills while comparing fairness, rights, evidence and attitudes across different time periods. Perfect for Upper KS2. Lessons Included: Lesson 1 – What is Crime and Punishment? Introducing key concepts, matching crimes to punishments, fairness debates, and moral reasoning. Lesson 2 – Crime and Punishment in Roman Britain The Twelve Tables, courts, lawyers, harsh class-based punishments, gladiators, exile, and courtroom role-play. Lesson 3 – Crime and Punishment in Anglo-Saxon Times Hue and cry, tithings, wergild, trial by ordeal and historical source interpretation. Lesson 4 – Crime and Punishment in Tudor England Public punishment, devices, shaming, social control, and scenario-based tasks. Lesson 5 – Crime and Punishment in the Stuart Period Witch trials, testimonies, bias, superstition, and dramatic courtroom role-play. Lesson 6 – Crime and Punishment in Georgian Britain Highwaymen, travel safety, emerging law enforcement, roads and horse patrols. Lesson 7 – Crime and Punishment in Victorian Britain Early prisons, hard labour methods, transportation declining, police development, and prison reform. Lesson 8 – Crime and Punishment: Then and Now Modern courts, policing, rights, rehabilitation, CCTV, fairness, and Venn diagram comparison. What’s included: 8 editable lesson PowerPoints Retrieval practice tasks linking prior eras Discussion, debate and reasoning questions Scenario cards, source analysis sheets and ranking tasks Knowledge notes to support retention Opportunities for writing, evaluation and comparison Historical vocabulary development (e.g. wergild, ordeal, rehabilitation) Key learning progression: Pupils explore: How/why punishments changed The role of religion, fear, status and power Evidence vs. superstition Rights and fairness across time The development of courts, police and prisons Continuity and change