51ºÚÁÏ

Students examine the prison reforms in the 18th and 19th century with a focus on the influences of John Howard and Elizabeth Fry.

The lesson resources include:

• 1 x A4 Worksheet
• 2 x A4 Exam Question Worksheet
• 1 x 23 Slide Main Power Point Lesson

UPDATED & RE-VAMPED CONTENT IN LINE WITH THE 2026 SPEC

The 23 slide fully resourced lesson contains activities, tasks, practice exam questions, printable resources and all background knowledge:

• Slide 1: Title Slide
• Slide 2: Warm Up Brain Teaser - with answer included
• Slide 3-4: Recap - 8 multiple choice questions covering the topic of the end of the bloody code, transportation and use of Public executions.
• Slide 5-6: Starter - Source based activity - Students are given 7 visual and written sources about the conditions in prisons at the start of the 1700s.
• Slide 7: Starter - A slide to record student findings from the sources
• Slide 8: Useful clip - a 7 minute clip (link in the notes) about the experiences of a young Victorian prisoner. Questions and challenge question included.
• Slide 9: Background information about the belief in humanitarianism.
• Slide 10: How did prisons change by 1900? Students use an image of a sperate cell to infer what the changes were. Answers given.
• Slide 11: Background information about the role of Robert Peel and the Gaols Act of 1835.
• Slide 12: Task 1 - An outline and instructions for the students about how to complete the sorting task. The task will help them explain the reasons why there were prison reforms between 1700-1900.
• Slide 13: Task 2 - Students asked to explain why the prison reforms were so significant in a table style activity. Answers in the notes section.
• Slide 14: Follow up challenge questions
• Slide 15-16: Learning Review 1 - Crossword with printable resource and answers.
• Slide 17-18: Learning Review 2 - Howard or Fry? Students have to decide if each statement relates to the work of John Howard, Elizabeth Fry or both individuals. Answers included.
• Slide 19: EXAM FOCUS - Two examples of the similarity and difference questions with suggested sentence starters.
• Slide 20: EXAM FOCUS - An example of a 12 mark ‘Explain why’ question.
• Slide 21: EXAM FOCUS - An example of a 16 mark ‘How far do you agree’ question.
• Slide 22: Lesson fact sheet
• Slide 23: More from RA Resources

All images used in this resource are in the public domain and are therefore copyright free. Images which require attribution have been attributed in the notes section of each slide where the image appears. If you feel any errors have been made, please contact me at raschoolresources@gmail.com in the first instance to resolve any issues. My lessons are completed using PowerPoint and designed on widescreen formatting. Thank you.

This resource is for personal use only unless a school license is purchased and for copyright reasons any slides, worksheets, RA Resources maps or diagrams should not be copied/amended for commercial use.