Christ the King RC Primary School, A Voluntary Academy
Statement of Intent History
At Christ the King R.C Primary, we aim to deliver a high quality history education which will give pupils a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world. We want to promote the key skills of active enquiry and interpretation. Children will be encouraged to form and ask their own lines of enquiry in historical events and processes. Through their study of History in school, children should be curious about the past, understand the complexity of people’s lives and the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups as well as be aware of the challenges of their time.
Whole School Progression Document 2022-23
SPRING 1 KNOWLEDGE ORGANISERS
OUR HISTORY CURRICULUM
Year 4 Summer 1: Ancient Greece
This half term our topic was Ancient Greece. Throughout the topic, each child developed their understanding of chronology and learned how our knowledge of the past is constructed from a range of sources. They were encouraged to raise their own questions of enquiry and to create informed responses.
Year 1
Autumn 1 The Gunpowder Plot
This half term, with Mrs. Allen, Year 1 studied 'The Gunpowder Plot'. During the unit the children recognised the distinction between past and present. They identified some similarities and differences between ways of life at different times. They used common words and phrases relating to the passing of time such as before, after, yesterday, past, last year, a long time ago.
Year 2
Autumn 1 - The Great Fire of London
During the Autumn term, Year 2 learned about the Great Fire of London. Here is a list of some of the things that we covered:
- Know what city the fire started in.
- Know what started the fire.
- Understand why the fire spread so quickly.
- Understand what an eyewitness account is and why they are useful.
- Explain why the fire was difficult to put out.
- Understand the changes to London that happened after the fire.
We also looked at some very special artefacts from the great fire!
At the end of our topic, we learnt about what happened to London after the Great fire. We then wrote some questions that we would like to ask King Charles after the Great fire.
These are some of our questions that we had:
Why did you not pull the houses down sooner?
What are you going to do now?
Where are we all going to live?
When are you going to rebuild London?
The people of London were obviously very angry as at least 65,000 people were homeless and had lost all of their belongings and many people were having to live outside of London in tents.
Below are two videos from when we acted out the parts of King Charles and the angry people of London!
Year 2 Spring One - Lancashire Cotton Mills
In History, we looked at the cotton mills. We will be comparing pictures of photographs of people or events in the past (eyewitness accounts, photos, artefacts), Identifying similarities and differences between different ways of life in different time periods, looking at Lancashire during the 18th and 19th century surrounding the events from the times of the cotton mills.
We were really lucky and visited Helmshore textile museum and mill. We had a really, really good day and learnt lots of new facts all about working in Lancashire cotton mills.
To go alongside our topic we have been learning to Clog dance!
In year two, we had a full class set of Clogs so we could all learn to clog dance at the same time... Some of us even dressed up for the occasion!
Year 3 - Spring 1: The Stone Age
Whilst studying the Stone Age, we were thinking, in particular, about the way humans lived. We considered what life was like for people in the Palaeolithic Stone Age, how they got their food and how this changed throughout the Mesolithic and finally in the Neolithic period. We used our museum loan boxes to develop our skills as Historians and search for clues as to what life was like in the Stone Age.
Year 4 - Autumn 2: The VIKINGS
What were the Vikings really like? Were they raiders or settlers?? Our opinion of the Vikings changed throughout the unit as we studied more sources and considered the argument that they were both. Early evidence suggested that the Vikings were barbaric warriors who rampaged monasteries and slaughtered anyone who got in their way. However, a more modern perspective teaches us that the Vikings were also famers and traders who settled in Great Britain and lived peacefully amongst their families. Take a look at our wonderful work from this half-term.
Year 4
Spring 1: Ancient Egypt
This half term our topic was Ancient Egyptians. Throughout the topic, each child developed their understanding of chronology and learned how our knowledge of the past is constructed from a range of sources. They were encouraged to raise their own questions of enquiry and to create informed responses.
Year 5
Autumn 1: The Spanish Armada.
Within this unit, the children first explored the context of the famous sea battle. We then looked at the significant political and religious events of the period and the reigning monarchs- King Philip II and Queen Elizabeth I. We also looked at the voyages of Sir Francis Drake and the chronology of the battle. The children created a timeline, investigated a range of sources, wrote diary entries from the perspectives of the key people of the battle and discussed the lasting impact of Drake's victory.
Spring 1: Mayans
For our spring History unit, we looked at the fascinating culture and world of the Mayan Civilisation. We explored the location of the Maya, its religious practises and gods and how they left a record of their lives. We examined Mayan artefacts and learned how to read, write and count using their ancient methods. Finally, we looked at the food the Mayans ate and made corn tortillas.
Summer 1: The Pendle Witches
For our History topic in the Summer Term, we looked at a period of local history which continues to have an impact on the present day - The Prendle Witch Trials. In this unit, we looked at the origins of the trial and made links to previous learning in the Autumn Term. We went on to explore the trials, sift through the evidence using drama and logical thinking. Finally, we explored the outcomes of the trial and our connections to the women involved. The continuing impact of the trials was made more personal when we found out that we had direct ancestors within school to two of the women who were falsely convicted of witchcraft.
Year 6
Autumn 2: World War 2
As part of this topic we explored and investigated a number of artefacts from this period of history and created a timeline on the build up of events to the war.
History Trip
TOP SECRET
The children thoroughly enjoyed their trip to the Lancashire War Museum on Monday, where they took part in various activities. They acted as air reconnaissance staff by studying a selection of aerial photographs of the Danish coast, to work out the possibility of the sighting of the Bismarck ship. Also, they were interviewed to see if they would have made good spies during the war. Finally, they were given a lesson in the use of Morse Code and top secret information for Operation Overload - the Battle of Normandy.
Here are a selection of photographs.
During our topic this half term, we have asked the question "What was the impact of certain aspects of the war on children and their families?" To answer this we listened to the Declaration of War by Neville Chamberlain in September 1939 and wondered how that would affect an average family. Through discussion and research, we worked out that Dad would probably have gone off to war, Mum might have had to get a job to help with the war but also to bring more money into the home, and that finally children would either have been evacuated or would have had to stay in the towns and cities and risk being bombed. To connect with our DT topic we also studied the impact rationing may have had on a family and especially children - with the rationing of sweets! Finally, we discussed whether, during the war, Christmas should have still been celebrated. It was an unanimous - yes it should; with reasons from bringing cheer to families and soldiers, to the hope of new beginnings with the birth of Jesus .
The children also studied The Battle of Britain and made a paper model of a Spitfire plane which would have been used to defend the United Kingdom.
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