Lesson video

Hello.

Welcome to another amazing and exciting history lesson.

My name is Mrs. Choudry.

What's your name? Well, it's great to have you here with us as we carry on learning all about an amazing woman called Elizabeth II and what her life was like.

Now, some of the learning today will be brand new, but I'm here to help you, so let's get started.

Now, this lesson is all about Elizabeth as the Head of the Commonwealth.

So by the end of the lesson, you'll be able to describe how Elizabeth was the Head of the Commonwealth, how she was in charge of the Commonwealth.

You might have heard of that word before, but we're going to discover more about it as we go on.

So as always, we begin by finding out what our keywords are for the lesson.

Today we have three keywords.

Our first keyword is Britain.

Let's try that together.

My turn.

Britain.

Your turn.

Good job.

Our second keyword is rule.

My turn.

Rule.

Your turn.

Great.

And the third and final keyword is occasion.

My turn.

Occasion.

Your turn.

Fantastic.

So those are our keywords, which we will find out the meaning of as we go through our lesson.

Our learning is split into two parts today.

The first part is all about the British Empire, so we'll be finding out more about what the British Empire is.

Do you have some idea of what it might be? Hmm, hold onto that thought as we find out.

The second part of the lesson will be about visits to the Commonwealth, so we'll find out more about how Elizabeth went to visit different countries all around the world.

Now let's begin by learning about the British Empire.

As always, let's look back at our timeline so we can remind ourselves about Elizabeth's life.

We've learned that in 1926, Elizabeth was born.

She was a princess for quite some time before becoming Queen in 1952.

Now, she ruled as a queen for a very long time until she died in 2022.

Our learning today about Elizabeth as Head of the Commonwealth will happen during the time that she was the Queen.

So the entire time that she was the Queen of the United Kingdom, she was also Head of the Commonwealth.

So let's get started.

Elizabeth was not just Queen of the United Kingdom.

Do you remember what the United Kingdom is? Yes, United Kingdom is Northern Ireland, England, Scotland, and Wales.

But she was not just the Queen of the United Kingdom.

She was also Head of the Commonwealth.

We've heard of that word before, I think.

Do you remember what the Commonwealth is? That's right, the Commonwealth countries are a collection of countries that used to be ruled by the United Kingdom, by Britain.

Well, this black and white photograph shows Elizabeth at the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth meeting in London.

Let's look closely at this photograph.

I can see Elizabeth standing, and she's giving a speech at the opening ceremony.

What can you see around her? Look really closely.

Hmm, that's right.

I can see people sitting and listening to her.

If you look at the front, you can see people wearing lots of different clothes, lots of different costumes and traditional clothes from other countries.

At the back, you can see guards.

So there's lots and lots of guards in special uniforms as well.

So this looks like a very, very important meeting at the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth.

Now, Elizabeth was Queen of Britain.

That's one of our keywords today.

What do you think it means, Britain? Have you heard of it before? Hmm, well, Britain is the island which includes England, Wales, and Scotland.

So the United Kingdom includes Northern Ireland, but if we look very closely at this map, this map shows Britain, and on this island is only England, Wales, and Scotland.

That is what makes up Britain.

When Elizabeth became Queen, Britain still ruled several countries around the world.

Rule, that's one of our keywords.

Rule is when someone tells us what to do.

So she, as a queen of Britain, was ruling other countries, and this map shows the other countries in the world that she used to rule over.

They're coloured in pink and red so you can see them.

The world is huge, as we can see on this map.

Can you see where England is? Can you see where the United Kingdom is? Can you see where Britain is? Look very closely.

Hmm, I'll give you a clue.

Britain is in red.

There you go.

There's Britain.

It's very small compared to all the other countries that Britain used to rule.

The other countries Britain ruled were called the British Empire.

Britannia was a symbol of Britain.

This image shows her ruling the waves.

This symbolises that Britain had power over the seas and travelled far and wide.

So let's take a closer look at this image of Britannia.

You can see Britannia standing on the tip of a ship, and she's pointing, she's reaching her arms out.

And what can you see her pointing and reaching her arm towards? The sun, and mountains, and new lands.

Wow.

If you look really closely, you can see something on the ship, a symbol.

Yes, the coat of arms. You can see the royal coat of arms. Wow.

Now, that image shows Britannia is the symbol for Britain.

So let's have a check for understanding.

What countries make up Britain? Is it a, England and Ireland, b, England, Wales, and Scotland, or c, England and Malta? Pause the video and have a think.

So which countries make up Britain? Hmm, the answer is England, Wales, and Scotland.

That's right because remember, it's an island that is Britain, so on that island is only England, Wales, and Scotland.

And what is the United Kingdom? What includes the United Kingdom? Yes, Northern Ireland is included in the United Kingdom, but Britain is only England, Wales, and Scotland.

Let's move on.

So over time, many of the countries in the British Empire want the right to rule themselves so they were not ruled by Britain anymore.

This photograph shows a meeting in India on Indian Independence Day.

So this is the day that they want the right to rule themselves.

And you can see they're all quite happy.

They're having a very important meeting to celebrate that they were now able to rule themselves.

Now, being able to rule themselves meant that the countries were no longer part of the British Empire, and now they were part of the Commonwealth of Nations.

The Commonwealth was made so countries could help each other.

This photograph shows Elizabeth with the Commonwealth leaders.

You can see her sitting in the middle with all the leaders from all the Commonwealth countries around her.

Some of them are dressed in their traditional clothes as well, but you can see how different they look and what different countries they have come from to make up the Commonwealth of Nations.

Great, let's get started on a task because you've done quite a bit of learning about the British Empire.

I'd like you to match the word to the meaning.

So the words we have are rule, remember that's one of our keywords, Commonwealth of Nations, and British Empire.

The meanings, the definitions we have, are a group of countries ruled by Britain, when someone tells others what to do, and a group of countries that mostly used to be ruled by Britain.

Pause the video as you have a go at matching the word to the meaning.

Welcome back.

How did you get on with that task? Great.

Let's try that together.

So the first word we have is rule.

What did you think rule means? Well, the correct meaning is when someone tells others what to do.

Rule is when someone tells others what to do.

Okay, great.

Let's move on to the second word.

Commonwealth of Nations is a group of countries that used to be ruled by Britain.

And finally, the British Empire.

What is the British Empire? It is a group of countries ruled by Britain.

Fantastic.

Well done for having a go at that task.

Let's carry on with our learning.

Wow, and just like that, we're onto the second part of our lesson.

We are halfway through our learning for today.

We're going to now discover all about visits to the Commonwealth and all about Elizabeth's trips, official visits to these Commonwealth countries.

Let's get started.

So as Head of the Commonwealth, Elizabeth had many important duties.

She would spend a lot of time visiting countries that were members of the Commonwealth.

This photograph, this black and white photograph, is of Elizabeth and Philip visiting Bermuda.

You can see them sitting at the back of a horse and carriage waving at people.

They're waving at members of the public.

Now, one of the first things that Elizabeth did when she became Queen was to visit many of the Commonwealth countries just like her parents did when she was a baby.

Do you remember where her parents visited when she was a baby? That's right, they visited Australia when she was a baby, and they were there for quite some time while she stayed with the King and the Queen.

During her life, Elizabeth visited 28 Commonwealth countries.

That's a lot of Commonwealth countries.

This photograph shows the flags of the Commonwealth nations in 2003.

Now, Elizabeth's visits to these countries were very important occasions.

Hmm, occasions.

Another one of our keywords.

Let's find out what it means.

Well, an occasion is a special event.

What do you think is special about this picture? Hmm, take a good look at it.

It's a photograph of Elizabeth in India, and that's one of the Commonwealth countries.

What's so special about it? I'll let you take a look at it and have a think.

If you look very carefully, you can see Elizabeth riding an elephant, wow.

Do you think she could ride an elephant in the United Kingdom? I don't think she could, but here in India, she's riding an elephant, and she's looking around at the trees and her surroundings.

There's lots of people with her as well, and there is somebody holding an umbrella to keep her shaded from the very hot sun because India can be very, very hot.

Wow, doesn't that look like such a special occasion? The occasion of Elizabeth visiting Commonwealth countries included lots of spectacular events.

So it wasn't just all about riding elephants, she had lots and lots of spectacular events.

Many of these occasions included special shows which show Elizabeth the country's important tradition and culture.

What do you think is happening in this photograph? Hmm? Well, this photograph, which isn't in black and white, it's in colour, so we know it's later on in Elizabeth's life, but this photograph was taken in New Zealand.

Elizabeth is being welcomed in New Zealand.

She is wearing a very special cloak, which is made of flax and kiwi feathers.

Now, these cloaks are reserved.

They're only for very, very important people to wear on very, very special occasions.

So she was a very important person to have been allowed to wear something so important and sacred like this.

You can see her watching a traditional dance taking place, and there's people behind her watching as well.

And you can see a guard standing near her to protect her and keep her safe.

So this is just one example of the very special occasion that it was when Elizabeth visited Commonwealth countries.

During these visits to the Commonwealth, the Queen would meet lots of important people.

This photograph shows Elizabeth meeting tribal leaders in Ghana.

Again, this photograph is in colour, so we know it's later on in her life, but you can see her shaking hands with some of the tribal leaders who are wearing their beautiful, very traditional, and colourful clothes.

They're all lined up to meet her, and shake her hand, and pay their respects to her.

When she visited, many people would come to see Elizabeth and give her flowers and gifts.

You can see in this photograph, Elizabeth is being given flowers by children in the crowd.

This photograph was taken in Canada.

You see she's very happy to receive these flowers, and you can see how many people will have come to see her.

They've got a flag of Britain that they're waving and a flag of Canada as well, but the children look really happy and excited to give Elizabeth these flowers.

Right, let's have a check for understanding.

Okay, which of these complete the sentence? Because Elizabeth was Head of the Commonwealth, her visits were special, a, weddings, b, occasions, or c, coronations? Pause the video and have a think.

So what did you think? Let's find out together.

Let's complete the sentence together.

Because Elizabeth was Head of the Commonwealth, her visits were special occasions.

That's right.

It was a very special event.

Great.

Let's move on.

Ah, we are onto our final task of our learning today.

I'd like you to look at this picture of Elizabeth visiting Australia, a Commonwealth country.

Share what you think is happening, and why you think this is happening.

Right, what did you think was happening in that photograph? Let's do it together.

So you might have said something like, "Elizabeth is attending a special occasion in Australia, a Commonwealth country, to learn about their traditions." What else did you notice about this photograph? Perhaps you said, "Elizabeth is watching the special performance." You can see her standing with somebody, and that man is telling her all about the special performance.

And the special performance is traditional dancing.

You can see these men and these boys covered in a very special paint, and they're wearing some special clothes, and they are doing a very traditional dance.

What else did you say about this photograph? Hmm, maybe you noticed crowds of people looking at Elizabeth.

You can see a fence, and there are lots and lots of people standing behind that fence watching Elizabeth and the dancing take place.

And finally, you might have noticed the photographers.

There were loads of people taking photos of Elizabeth and the traditional dancing because it's such a special occasion taking place.

Great.

Well done for having a go at that task.

Wow, and just like that, we have reached the end of our lesson about the Head of the Commonwealth.

Let's summarise what we have learned today.

Today we discovered that Elizabeth II was not just Queen of the United Kingdom, but the Head of the Commonwealth too.

Do you remember what that word Commonwealth is? That's right.

Commonwealth is a group, a collection of countries, that used to be ruled by the British Empire.

Now, when she became Queen, Britain still ruled several other countries around the world.

This was called the British Empire.

We learned what that word Britain means as well.

Do you remember what it is? That's right.

Britain is the island which makes up England, Wales, and Scotland.

It doesn't include Northern Ireland.

Now, as these countries in the British Empire want the right to rule themselves and left the empire, many joined the Commonwealth of Nations.

Elizabeth spent a lot of time visiting these countries, going to 28 of them during her rule.

She visited these countries just like her parents did when they were King and Queen.

Now, her visits to Commonwealth nations were important occasions with lots of spectacular events.

And together we looked at some amazing photographs of her at these spectacular events with lots of traditional dancing, her riding elephants, and lots of other special things as well.

It has been so wonderful learning with you all about Elizabeth II as Head of the Commonwealth.

We're going to carry on with our learning about Elizabeth II and what her life was like in our next lesson, but it's goodbye for now.

I'll see you soon.