This is a complete, ready-to-teach topic pack covering the Cold War for GCSE History (suitable for Year 10 or 11). The pack spans 10 lessons and includes all the resources you need to plan, teach and assess the unit.

What’s included:

Medium Term Plan: a detailed planning document outlining lesson titles, learning objectives, prior knowledge required, new knowledge delivered, suggested activities, and common misconceptions for every lesson
10 Lesson PowerPoints: professionally designed presentations, each containing a retrieval starter, key vocabulary, core content, a primary source with analysis questions, a student activity, and a plenary exit ticket
Topic Booklet: a student-facing booklet containing learning objectives, key vocabulary, content summaries and structured activities for all 10 lessons, with space for students to record their answers
Weekly Homework Booklet: 10 homework tasks, each with a retrieval quiz, an extended writing question, and a stretch and challenge extension task

Lessons covered: Origins of the Cold War; Yalta and Potsdam; the Iron Curtain and Soviet Expansion; the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan; the Berlin Blockade and Airlift; the Arms Race, NATO and MAD; the Korean War and Proxy Conflicts; the Cuban Missile Crisis; Détente and Arms Limitation; and the End of the Cold War.

The resources are designed using research-informed approaches, including regular retrieval practice, dual-coding principles, and scaffolded extended writing tasks. All learning objectives follow a consistent “To know that…” / “To know how…” format to support lesson clarity and student self-assessment. The pack is designed to be used as a complete scheme or adapted to suit your existing curriculum sequence.