For all the latest History curriculum news, please click here.
The history coordinator at Darwen St James is Mrs Thompson.
History Curriculum
Reception class are learning about dinosaurs this week. They have designed and drawn their own fantastic dinosaurs, and could tell Miss Sears and Miss Davidson all about it.
Year One have continued to investigate toys in their history lessons, and have made some Thaumatropesto play with.
Reception class have had lots of fun this week learning all about the chronology of life, from babies to the elderly!
Year 6 have been learning all about the Vikings, and were lucky enough to be able to experience some Viking clothing and armour, from the Lancashire Museums. They discovered just how heavy Viking Chainmail (byrnie) really is!
Year 5 have been learning about the Anglo-Saxons settling in England and had fun making a timeline of events!
Year 1
Year 1 learned all about the Golden Hinde, Sir Francis Drake and pirates this term!
Year 2
In Year 2 this half term we have been learning lots of amazing facts about two famous, inspirational women from the past - Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole. We have learnt all about their lives and discussed similarities and differences between them.
Year 3
In Year 3 this half term we have been looking at the Ancient Egyptians. The children, as have I and Mrs Ainsworth, have thoroughly enjoyed learning all the wonderful facts about pyramids and pharaohs. In one lesson the children learnt about Haward Carter and how he found the most famous tomb-The boy king, Tutankhamun. The children then discovered a tomb in class and became archaeologists to investigate the tomb. The tomb had been sealed for many years and was full of poisonous gas (not really!) and they had to get in look at the artefacts in only 10 seconds. They managed it and went on to sketch the artefacts. Well done children!
The next week they had to investigate who built the pyramids as scripts and film portray it to be slaves. After a serious investigation, team work and clue deciphering-they came to a suppressing conclusion-it was actually in fact farmers who built the pyramids. What a surprise!
Year 4
In year 4 we have been looking at the Legacy of the Ancient Greeks. We started by looking at what school was like in ancient Greece and compared it to how school is for us now - surprisingly there were some things that were still similar but equally there were some very different things! We then looked at the alphabet from ancient Greek times and we found lots of words that they used that we still use now! We finished the topic by looking at the Olympic games, then and now. It made us giggle when we learnt that in ancient Greek times the competitors were always naked!
Year 5
In year 5 we have been looking at the life of a Victorian child. The children spent the day at Helmshore Textile Museum to learn all about mills in the Victorian times. The children have also explored different myths about life in the mills and tried to decipher fact from fiction.
Year 6
Year 6 continued their study of the Ancient Maya this half term, concluding with an investigation into why the Maya civilisation declined so suddenly.
Pre-School
This half term the children have been learning about themselves. Through this the children have developed their understanding of birthdays and we looked at how we celebrated our birthday last year. We listened to the story of Kippers Birthday and all the things he had to celebrate. The children then made a present for Kipper.
Reception
This half term, reception has been learning about timelines through the story Once There were Giants. We have talked about what we were like as babies and how we change as we grow up.
We then ordered the photos from the story to create a timeline from baby to adult.
Year One
This half term the children have been learning about toys from the past and the present. They have talked about how they can tell if a toy is old or new and also discussed the materials that have been used to make toys over time. The photographs show Year 1 sorting images of toys according to different criteria and giving their reasons.
Year 2
In Year 2 we have been learning about a significant event in our British History - The Great Fire of London. We have been using our historical enquiry skills to find out why it happened, why it spread so quickly and how the people of London survived after the fire.
Year 3
In History, Year 3 has been looking at the Stone Age to the Bronze Age. Firstly to understand prehistory, the children used a toilet roll timeline! This was to get the children to understand that prehistory was a long long time ago. From here they moved on to learn about Stone Age people and how they developed over time. One of the lessons the children looked at Stonehenge and had to discuss the four main theories people had about it. They discussed which one they felt was the correct theory.
Year 4
We have been looking at Ancient Greece and how this ancient civilisation lived. The class have enjoyed using their maths skills to make timelines of events and also using their detective skills to investigate if there is any evidence to suggest if any of the Greek myths and legends are true.
Year 5
Year 5 have been learning about the Anglo Saxons. They have looked at why the Anglo Saxons invaded Britain, look at Anglo Saxon settlements, monarchy and religion, namely how Christianity came to Britain.
Year 6
This term Year 6 have been learning about the Vikings. We have thought about stereotypes of the Vikings, and how they are portrayed in our modern society - as killing raiders who pillaged everywhere they went. We then looked at historical evidence which told us a different story, that the Vikings were also settlers, who had farms and housing, who traded with other countries and had a civilised society with a monetary system and craftsmanship. We also created living graphs which showed how close the Vikings came (or didn’t!) to conquering England.
Nursery: Two's Room
We have been looking at Christmas and how we celebrate this. We have created Christmas cards using the interactive board and using different materials. We wrapped some boxes with paper and then decorated them.
Nursery: Preschool
The children have been learning about young and old animals, looking at how they change over time and what they are called as a baby. The children played a listening game to match the sounds of what animals they belong to.
Reception
This half term the children have learnt about Remembrance Day. They have explored the CBBC Remembrance story through literacy, breaking down the story into smaller sections.
The children took part in a 2 minute silence and they have created their own poppies.
Year 1
Year 1 have been learning all about the history of our school. We have looked at primary resources and interviewed a visitor about significant events in the history of DSJ. In the photographs the children are looking at old year books from the school. They noticed changes that have occurred and talked about how the school looked in the past compared to how it looks now.
Year 2
Year 2 have been learning how our local town Darwen looked like 100 years ago to how it looks today, what’s the same and what’s different.
Year 3
In History Year 3 have been looking at the railway revolution in Great Britain. They have learnt about how the first steam locomotive came about and who built the first one. They have also looked at what the impact the railway gave to families, shopkeepers and workers.
Year 4
In history this term we have been learning about what the Romans did for Britain and the reasons for their invasions. We have also learned about Queen Boudicca and her revolt against the invasion.
Year 5
This term in Year 5 we learnt about World War Two, from the point of view of what it would have been like to be a child at this time. We studied a case study of a little boy 'Herbert', who was 'interviewed' in a hot seat about his life. We later learned that Herbert had died in real life, in an air raid attack on his home. We also learned about evacuees, using primary sources of photographs taken at the time to understand more about what it would have been like to leave your home and family, and travel to another part of the country alone.
Year 6
Year 6 have learned about the Ancient Maya this term. We thought about why we study the Maya, and why they are considered an important civilisation to study. We looked at some of the Maya achievements, such as a number system, writing in the form of hieroglyphs, calendars and temples. We also discovered why the Maya Empire grew to be so powerful, and all about what it was like to be rich or poor in that society. We then considered how we know so much about the Maya, looking at primary sources that archaeologists have discovered, and asking our own questions about these artefacts.
Nursery: Preschool
In Pre school the children have been learning about the similarities and differences between farm animals and dinosaurs. Do they look the same, live in the same places and eat the same things. We sorted dinosaurs and the farm animals into where they would live. The children were very surprised to learn that when the dinosaurs were alive there were no people on Earth.
Reception
The children have been exploring and comparing the different clothes we wear during different seasons.
They have been developing their understanding of seasons, sequencing and routines - helping to build understanding of the passing of time and chronology.
The subject lead for History at Darwen St James is Mrs Thompson.
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