History at Excalibur

" I liked learning about the stone age because it dates back to what we used to do."

"I liked looking from back then and seeing how much we have evolved."

"I loved learning about toys and playing with the old toys from the past."

"I love doing drama in History"

"I like to compare what people did in the past to what we do now"

"I like seeing what is different now"

Pre-School FS1

During the autumn term, pre-school have been exploring their own personal history. Each child brought in a 'well-being box' into school. inside the box, the children chose photos of their family and special events, as well as special objects which mean something to them. They then shared their boxes with their peers, giving details of their family, holidays, days out and favourite objects. It gave the children a fantastic opportunity to recall events from their past.

EYFS - Reception

During the autumn term reception class have been developing their historical thinking and vocabulary. 

In chronology: They have used the language of time when talking about past/present events in their own lives and in the lives of others including people they have learnt about through books. They use a simple timeline to show dates such as when they were born.

In Enquiry: They found out about key historical events and why and how we celebrate today. Events this term have been; Bonfire Night, Remembrance Day, Christmas Day, Diwali. They asked questions, looked at artefacts and used different sources to find answers including books.

Year 1

During the spring term, Year 1 have had lots of fun learning all about toys from the past. They began by thinking about their own toys, including what they were made of and how they worked, before sorting toys into old and new. The class considered how they knew whether toys were old or new, using key words such as worn and old-fashioned to describe older toys. Year 1 learnt all about Victorian toys such as spinning tops and diablos, as well as learning about the types of toys that their grandparents played with. It was interesting to see that some of the types of toys that their grandparents played with, they still play with today. They also enjoyed an exciting trip to Brampton Museum where they got to design their own toys, play with Victorian toys, as well as completing a toy hunt in a replica Victorian street.

Year 2

During the spring term, Year 2 loved learning all about the lunar landing. Our learning began by placing the moon landing on a timeline of events that we have covered in previous topics such as the Great Fire of London and the Gunpowder Plot, before looking at how we know about the historical event, exploring different sources such as newspaper articles and photographs. We learnt about the three astronauts who went to space and why they chose to risk their lives, including the space race between America and Russia. To learn about the events of the moon landing, we ordered photographs and matched them to sentences. We finished our learning with a debate about whether space exploration should continue.

Year 3

During the spring term, Year 3 have enjoyed travelling back in time all the way to the time of the Ancient Egyptians. They learnt when abouts in History the Ancient Egyptians lived and considered the how important the River Nile was to them. Year 3 took on the role of archaeologists, exploring different artefacts to see what they could tell us about Ancient Egyptian life. It all got a bit gruesome when learning about mummification, a lesson which Year 3 will not forget! They learnt that there were three other, major civilisations existing elsewhere in the world at the same time: Indus Valley, Sumer, Shang Dynasty and they considered how they were similar and different. To celebrate their learning, they went on an exciting visit where they got to handle real-life artefacts.

Year 4

During the spring term, Year 4 have learnt all about the next group of people to come to Britain, the Vikings! Their learning started by exploring where they came from and how they reached Britain from their homelands. They were interested to learn about the different ways that Vikings have been portrayed by different people such as the monks and they considered whether their bad reputation was fair or not. Year 4 used archaeological evidence to give them clues to enable them to learn more about the Vikings and how they lived. They also completed a study of place names to learn about Viking settlements. To finish their topic in style, Year 4 enjoyed a visit to Delamere to experience what life was like for the Vikings.

Year 5

During the spring term, Year 5 have been learning all about the Mayans. Their first lesson involved placing the Mayan civilisation on a timeline and learning about the other civilisations which were concurrent with them such as the Romans and the Vikings. They thought about why the Mayan civilisation grew and used a variety of sources such as archaeological remains, artefacts and hieroglyphs to learn more about what life was like during this time. Year 5 enjoyed learning about the different Gods that the Mayans believed in and how they offered them blood through sacrifices. Their learning journey ended with a consideration into all of the reasons why the Mayan Civilisation came to an end so quickly.

Year 6

During the spring term, Year 6 once again took a journey across a number of different time periods, focusing on how historical interpretation can be affected by the images and recounts of historical events, some of which may not be entirely accurate. They also learnt how some images were purposefully altered or changed in order to present a certain viewpoint. Year 6 learnt about the impact of propaganda as a tool for persuasion during the second world war, as well as how censorship meant that people did not always know the full story.