Delivering the understand strand | Primary school

Key topics

• The history and development of democracy.
• Local, regional, devolved and UK government.
• Electoral systems and democratic processes.
• How laws and policies are made.

Why the Understand strand matters in primary schools

Learning about laws and democratic processes helps primary learners understand how decisions are made, who is responsible for them, and how they affect everyday life. Exploring different levels of government also helps learners see why local and national elections matter and how people can influence decisions.

Abstract political concepts become more meaningful when connected to familiar experiences, such as class rules and collective decision-making. The aim is not simply for learners to remember titles such as “MP” or “councillor”, or to master the inner workings of government. Instead, they should understand what representatives and institutions do, why responsibilities are divided between them, and how decisions can be influenced. This builds familiarity with democratic structures and shows learners that government is both relevant to them and something in which they can participate.

A key challenge is making these complex ideas meaningful and accessible to primary learners. Teachers can do this by linking issues that matter to young people with the appropriate level of government or institution, and by showing how systems and processes within schools and classrooms reflect those found in democratic society. By making democracy visible, learners can develop an accessible and empowering understanding of how their world is governed.

My approach

When teaching about government, laws and democracy, my main goal is to ensure learners understand why it is relevant to them. Images of the House of Commons are too abstract for a starting point. Begin with a decision that learners recognise, identify who is responsible for that decision and then build towards the institutions involved.

Here is how I approach it:

• Explore issues that relate directly to learners in their school and how these are debated and then encoded in ‘school’ or ‘class’ rules. From here, this extends to mini-democracy in the school council, before local government, and eventually, Westminster. At each stage, make the link explicit: What is the issue? Who has responsibility? Who can take part? What happens after a decision is made?
• Using role-play to have learners pass a “law” about breaktime, setting up the classroom like the House of Commons or holding a mock local council meeting is far more engaging and helps learners understand what all this looks like in action: let learners do democracy and not just hear about it. Build in different roles, including representatives, residents, researchers, questioners, observers and decision-makers, so that participation is not limited to speaking in front of the class.
• Build a shared language in the school or classroom, building a toolkit of words like debate, parliament, democracy, MP, councillor. Have these definitions on display or accessible to learners during lessons so they can be easily referred to. Introduce words in small groups and revisit them in different contexts rather than presenting a long vocabulary list at once.
• Knowing and using this shared language are different things, however. As detailed in the English National Curriculum and Telling the Story: the English Education Subject Report (2024), teaching the mechanics of how to debate (turn-taking, active-listening, volume, eye contact etc) are a key element of understanding how democracy works. These skills should be taught explicitly, modelled by adults and practised before learners are expected to use them independently.
• Use low-stakes discussions prior to formal debates to allow learners to develop these skills in a less pressured environment. Begin with familiar questions where there is no single “correct” answer, then gradually introduce issues involving competing priorities, limited resources or different points of view.
• Using PSHE to model the emotional and social aspects of disagreement is another key stepping stone. Learners should learn that disagreement is not the same as conflict, that people can challenge an idea without attacking a person, and that decisions may not always produce the outcome they wanted.

A final note is that arguably the most rewarding trip I’ve ever taken learners on is a visit to the Houses of Parliament. Nothing brings the history of democracy in our country to life more than getting Year 5 or 6 learners acting out democratic processes in the place where it really happens. The government runs a travel subsidy scheme. Just check out the UK Parliament Education website.

If you can only do one thing…

Explore the language of democracy and why it is important, perhaps having a low-stakes debate considering what the word means to each of them. Sharing your own thoughts about what democracy means to you will help learners organise their own thoughts.

Where this fits into the curriculum

• English and Oracy - Begin with the fundamentals of debate mechanics (turn-taking, active listening in Early Years Foundation Stage) and build progressively.
• Citizenship and PSHE - Model the emotional aspects of disagreement. Explore why rules exist and how institutions function.
• History - Link to Ancient Greece, the Magna Carta, Peterloo and the Suffragette movement to contextualize how modern democratic rights were won. Include the important question of who was excluded from earlier democratic systems and how participation has changed over time.
• Geography - Use local maps to investigate issues (like pollution or infrastructure) and identify which level of government holds jurisdiction.
• Computing and digital literacy - Explore how learners can find reliable information about public institutions, distinguish official information from commentary, and identify how digital platforms may shape what they encounter.

Teachers can also include the promotion of British Values throughout this strand.

Key resources

If you have 30 minutes or less…

• What is the House of Commons: A guide for primary school students and What is the House of Lords: A guide for primary school students from UK Parliament - show these videos to introduce parliament and how decisions are made.
• Communities: What does it mean to be British?, Oak National Academy - Use these easily digestible slides to explain the concept of democracy.

1 hour… 

• Our school trip to the Houses of Parliament (KS1) and Discover the UK Parliament (KS2), UK Parliament - Use these resources to explore and discuss parliament with your class in a visual and engaging way.
• Why do we have rules? Oak National Academy - Designed for KS1, this lesson could be split into three 15-minute sessions using interactive discussion.
• Athenian democracy and modern Britain, Oak National Academy - If Ancient Greece is on your history curriculum, this is a great  historical comparative lesson to support KS2 learners’ understanding of democracy.

1-3 hours… 

• My vote, my voice local election guides (Easy read), United Response - A crucial part of understanding UK democracy which is often missed is local elections and councillors. Use these  guides to discuss and explore local democracy with learners.

4-6 hours…

• Educational visit booking guides, UK Parliament - Find out all you need to know about planning and booking an education visit to the UK Parliament.

6 hours plus… 

• How laws are made, UK Parliament  Read about the law making process in the UK and use the accompanying classroom activities to run a Model Parliament or law-making simulation. Learners can work through the process of passing a new law, from drafting a bill to debating it in their own 'House of Commons.' This grounds their understanding of democratic institutions in an immersive, practical experience.

Considerations for learners with additional needs

• Make it real: Instead of just talking about voting, for example, make physical, tactile experiences, like using a ballot box with photographs of choices, not just text. Use visual timetables to lay out the process of how a law is made. This builds a sense of predictability, ensuring the open-ended democratic process doesn’t feel overwhelming. Furthermore, keeping votes rooted in lived experience helps keep democracy grounded and accessible (for example, we voted for the red book, so we are reading the red book).
• Pre-teach shared language: Using the shared language is vital for all learners, but those with speech, language and communication needs may need these terms pre-teaching or paired with visual symbols like Widgit or Makaton. This establishes a safe foundation so that no child feels alienated by the vocabulary used in the classroom.
• Support communication carefully: Providing sentence stems can support learners to participate in debates, but shouldn’t restrict learners. The goal is for learners to have authentic dialogue, only using the sentence stems when needed. Communication boards could be introduced to allow non-verbal learners to participate in democratic decision-making.
• Rehearse before public participation, and avoid assuming that all learners can or should participate in the same way. Provide options for learners who experience anxiety, sensory overload, processing difficulties or communication barriers.