Key Stage 2 history · British history beyond 1066

KS2 turning points in British history: a guide for parents

A turning point is a moment or period after which things were clearly different. In Key Stage 2 a school may choose to study one significant turning point after 1066, and the curriculum names the first railways and the Battle of Britain as examples. Children ask questions about cause, change and significance, and learn to explain why an event mattered rather than only what happened.

A turning point in British history, explained

The National Curriculum asks every primary school to teach one theme or aspect in British history that stretches beyond 1066. A significant turning point is one of the examples, so your child’s school may have chosen the railways, the Battle of Britain, or something different such as the changing power of monarchs. The two examples in the curriculum are suggestions, not requirements. Whatever the school chooses, the thinking is the same: what was life like before, what changed, and how big and lasting was the change?

If the topic is the first railways, children learn that the Stockton and Darlington Railway opened in 1825 and the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in 1830. Before railways, goods and people moved by horse, canal and sailing ship, so travel was slow, costly and uncertain. Railways made it much quicker and cheaper to move coal, factory goods, food, post and people. They helped towns grow, made seaside day trips possible for ordinary families, and even changed time itself. Local clocks had differed by several minutes from place to place, but railway timetables needed one standard time, and in 1840 one of the big railway companies, running from London to the west, began using London time along its whole line.

If the topic is the Battle of Britain, children learn that after the fall of France in the summer of 1940, Germany wanted to gain control of the skies over southern England so that an invasion might be possible. The Royal Air Force fought German aircraft during the summer and early autumn of 1940, helped by radar stations that gave early warning and by pilots from Britain and from many other countries. The RAF was not destroyed, and the invasion plans were put aside. Children learn that this was not the end of the war, but that it was important because Britain could keep fighting.

Children are not asked to decide that something was a turning point just because a book says so. They test it. Did it affect many people? Did the change happen quickly? Did it last? Would things have turned out differently without it? These questions bring in the curriculum’s focus on cause, change, similarity, difference and significance, and children practise writing a balanced answer rather than a simple list of facts. They also learn to devise some questions of their own, such as “Who gained most from the railways?” or “What would have happened if the RAF had lost?”

Words your child will hear

Turning point: A moment or event after which things clearly changed direction.
Significant: Important, because it affected many people or lasted a long time.
Cause: A reason why something happened, such as the need to move heavy coal quickly.
Consequence: A result of an event, such as seaside towns growing once rail travel became cheap.
Industrial Revolution: A period of great change in Britain in the 1700s and 1800s when machines and factories became common.
Royal Air Force: Britain’s air force, whose fighter pilots defended the country in 1940.
Radar: A system using radio waves to detect aircraft far away, giving early warning of attack.

What the National Curriculum says

The programme of study for Key Stage 2 says:

Pupils should be taught about a study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils’ chronological knowledge beyond 1066
Pupils should regularly address and sometimes devise historically valid questions about change, cause, similarity and difference, and significance.
Pupils should construct informed responses that involve thoughtful selection and organisation of relevant historical information.

Objectives from the National Curriculum in England, © Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

A worked example: was it really a turning point?

Enquiry question: “Were the first railways a turning point in British history?” Show how to build a balanced answer.

Say what you mean by a turning point. For this answer: a change that affected many people, happened fairly quickly, and lasted. Setting the tests out first makes the judgement fair.
Describe life before. Travel was by foot, horse, coach and canal boat. A long journey, such as London to Manchester by stagecoach, took most of a day or more, goods were slow and costly to move, and each town kept its own local time.
Describe life after. Trains carried people and goods far faster and more cheaply, and railway lines linked towns across the country. Trains took fresh fish, milk and newspapers to cities, and many families could take a day trip to the seaside. One standard time was needed so timetables worked.
Test against the criteria. Many people were affected, in jobs, travel and where they lived. The change spread quickly in the 1830s and 1840s, and railways stayed central to British life for well over a century.
Consider the other side. Change was not instant: canals and roads stayed in use, and at first only some people could afford tickets. Railways also built on earlier inventions such as steam engines, so they were part of a wider period of change.

The first railways were a turning point because they changed travel, trade, work and even time for large numbers of people, and the change lasted. However, the change spread over years and built on earlier inventions, so historians describe it as a major part of a longer story, not a single moment.

Common mistakes and how to help

Thinking a turning point happens on one day

A date such as 1825 or the summer of 1940 makes it feel as if everything changed at once. In reality, changes spread over years and different places changed at different speeds.

What helps: Use the phrase “a turning point began” and look at what happened before and after. Drawing a line with “before”, “change” and “after” makes the idea clear.

Assuming the Battle of Britain ended the war

It is described as a great victory, so children think it was the end. The war carried on for nearly five more years.

What helps: Explain that winning the battle meant Britain could not be invaded easily and could keep fighting. Ask “what did it make possible?” rather than “who won?”.

Believing one invention or person created the whole change

Stories often credit a famous name, such as Stephenson for railways. In fact many engineers, investors and workers built them.

What helps: Ask who else was involved: the labourers called navvies who dug the cuttings and embankments, the investors, the passengers. Significance often comes from many people.

Thinking everyone benefited equally

A narrative of progress leaves out the people who lost out, such as coach drivers and canal workers, or the families living near the lines or under the bombs.

What helps: Always ask “better or worse for whom?” It shows children that significance depends on whose point of view is used.

How to help at home

Find the turning point in your own life. Ask your child to draw a short timeline of their own life with the moments that changed things most, such as a new school or a house move. Talk about how they decided which was biggest, which is exactly how historians judge significance.
Look for railway clues. Old station buildings, bridges, viaducts, pub names and street names often date from the railway age. Spot one with an adult and talk about what changed once the line arrived.
Compare then and now journeys. Look at a map and work out how a journey you make by car or train would have been made 200 years ago. Discuss how long it would take and what you would have needed.
Ask “what if?”. At the dinner table, ask “What might have happened if the RAF had lost?” or “What if there were no railways?” Thinking about alternatives helps children see why events mattered, while remembering that nobody knows for certain.

Leads on to

Key Stage 3: A long-term theme in British history