This series of short films tell stories of British Asian people who have helped shape British history in the last century.
Each film introduces a positive British Asian role model who tells their own personal story, a story from their family history, or a story about a historical figure who has inspired them. These might be stories from South, East or Southeast Asia.
Each role model is interviewed by a child of a similar age to the audience, who asks questions and reflects on what they discover.
These short films are suitable for teaching history at KS2 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and at 2nd Level in Scotland. In the Key Stage 2 primary national curriculum in England, this series of history films fits neatly into a study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils' chronological knowledge beyond 1066.
Each film comes with teacher notes that detail some other areas of the curriculum beyond history that can link with the topics covered. These notes link to Scottish, English, Welsh and Northern Irish curriculums. All films also have a strong link to the PSHE curriculum, whether it is looking at identity and culture, community and responsibilities, diversity and challenging prejudice, or career and aspirations. More information for teachers can be found on each page below.
Zi Lan Liao - Chinese migration to Britain. video
Music teacher, Zi Lan, talks to 10 year-old Cherie about how she came to Liverpool as a child and why people emigrated to Britain from Asia.
Ganesh Rai - The Gurkhas contribution to the British army. video
Eight-year-old Reva talks to Captain Ganesh Rai about the contribution of Gurkha soldiers to the British army over the past 200 years, especially during World war Two.
Sophia Duleep Singh - The Indian Princess who helped women gain the right to vote. video
11 year-old Hari talks to his mum about an Indian princess called Sophia Duleep Singh, who helped women in the UK gain the right to vote.
Noor Inayat Khan - Britain's first muslim war heroine. video
Author Shrabani Basu tells 14 year-old Iman about the life of Noor Inayat Khan, Britain's first muslim war heroine.
Anna Nguyen - Vietnamese migration after the Vietnam War. video
Artist Anna Nguyen talks to 11 year-old Vincent about the Vietnamese migration to Britain after the war between North and South Vietnam.
Marigin Opiala - Migrating from the Philippines to work for the NHS. video
In this short film for primary schools Marigin Opiala talks to 15-year-old Bea about why she moved to the UK, along with thousands of other Filipino nurses, to work for the NHS.
Moey Hassan - Pakistani migration to the UK. video
Actor and musician Moey Hassan talks to his nephew, 10 year-old Yusef, about the Pakistani migration to the UK.
Rupal Rajani - The forced migration of Indian people from Uganda. video
Radio DJ Rupal Rajani talks to 10-year-old Ayush about how Indian people living in Uganda in the 1970's were forced to leave by the Ugandan President Idi Amin.
Hermann Rodrigues - South Asian migration to Scotland. video
Photographer Hermann Rodrigues talks to 15 year-old Rohit about the South Asian communities that migrated to Scotland.
Where next?
Explain This... collection
This animated series of short films offers an introduction to some key themes of the primary history curriculum.
Bitesize
Use these Bitesize resources to set homework, independent study tasks or to consolidate learning for your pupils.
Newsround
The latest news stories from Newsround to share in the classroom.