Worked example · History · Year 7
DCF: Producing → Creating digital content
A secure Year 7 response, annotated so you can see which success criterion each part meets. It is also your answer key. Step 1: Norman lords 1, 2, 3, 7 · Welsh princes 4, 5, 6 · King Edward I 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. Step 3: (a) the Normans, 1 year after 1066 · (b) Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, 20 years · (c) three castles · (d) 1295 − 1067 = 228 years. Early finish, Castell Coch: the 10-year marks would be 250 ÷ 850, about 0.3 of the distance apart — a bit less than a third. Show this sheet after pupils have plotted their own timeline.
| Norman lords | Welsh princes | King Edward I |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Chepstow, 1067 | 4 Dolwyddelan, about 1210 | 8 Flint, 1277 |
| 2 Cardiff, about 1081 | 5 Castell y Bere, 1221 | 9 Conwy, 1283 |
| 3 Pembroke, 1093 | 6 Criccieth, about 1230 | 10 Caernarfon, 1283 |
| 7 Caerphilly, 1268 | 11 Harlech, 1283 | |
| 12 Beaumaris, 1295 |
All twelve castles are in the right group, with the card number and date carried across so the timeline can be plotted straight from this table. Caerphilly is correctly placed with the Norman lords: Gilbert de Clare came from a Norman family, even though he built nearly two hundred years after Chepstow. Evidences criterion 1.
Every castle sits at its year on the 10-year scale, the three castles begun in 1283 are stacked rather than drawn on top of each other, and the three groups can be told apart by shape alone. Evidences criterion 2.
(a) The Norman lords started first. Chepstow was begun in 1067, just 1 year after the Normans conquered England in 1066, so they moved into Wales almost straight away.
(b) Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, Llywelyn the Great, began all three: Dolwyddelan in about 1210, Castell y Bere in 1221 and Criccieth in about 1230. That is 20 years from his first to his last, and they are all in Gwynedd, guarding mountain passes and borders.
(c) Three — Conwy, Caernarfon and Harlech were all begun in 1283. Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, the last native Prince of Wales, had been killed in December 1282, so Edward had just won the war. The castles were built to hold on to Gwynedd and stop the Welsh rising again. The cards also say he captured Dolwyddelan in 1283, which fits.
(d) 1295 − 1067 = 228 years between Chepstow and Beaumaris.
Each answer quotes the dates it relies on, and (c) links the pattern on the timeline to the event on the dashed line rather than guessing. Evidences criterion 3.
Screen 1, title: a dark grey background with the title Castles of Wales, 1067–1295 in large white letters across the middle. Underneath, a thin line with all twelve shapes on it, like my paper timeline, so the visitor sees the whole story before they start. Bottom right: a “Start →” button.
Screen 2, key: three rows, each with a big shape and one sentence. Green square — Norman lords, who came after 1066. Red circle — Welsh princes of Gwynedd. Black triangle — King Edward I, who conquered Wales. The shapes are different as well as the colours, so the key still works for someone who is colour-blind or has printed it in black and white.
Screen 3, Harlech. Top left: the black triangle and “King Edward I”. Across the top in the biggest text on the screen: 1283. Under it: HARLECH. Left half: the photo. Right half: the text. Along the bottom: the timeline strip with Harlech’s triangle highlighted, plus “← Caernarfon” and “Beaumaris →” buttons.
| Castle and date | Harlech, begun 1283 |
|---|---|
| My text | Finished in just seven years. In a siege, ships brought food, carried up the 108 steps of the Way from the Sea. (22 words) |
| Picture I would use, and its credit | A photo of the castle from the Harlech page on the Cadw website. Credit on screen: “Photo: Cadw”. Because the timeline goes on a public website, I would ask Cadw first or use a photo I took myself. |
| Alt text for the picture | Harlech Castle’s grey stone towers stand on top of a steep rocky crag, with sand dunes below and the mountains of Eryri behind. |
| How the visitor moves to the next screen | Click the “Beaumaris →” button, or click any shape on the timeline strip to jump straight to that castle. |
Every castle screen would share one layout, the date is the biggest item, the group shape matches the paper timeline, and the text is counted and under the limit. Evidences criterion 4. The credit names the source and recognises that a public website needs permission, and the alt text describes what the picture shows rather than saying “a picture of a castle”. Evidences criterion 5.