Excalibur Primary SchoolWhat it's like to be a historian at Excalibur
"My teacher always gets excited to teach history. It makes me excited to learn all about it."
"I really like history! I love learning all about the past."
"I love it when we do activities where we get to move around the classroom and learn from each other."
"I like being able to tell my parents all about what we have learnt."
EYFS
In Reception, we have been history detectives! After reading the story of, 'Peepo', we talked about what life was like in the past when Alan was a baby. We started our sentences with, "In the past...". We had to investigate a number of different mysterious objects from the past. We had to think about what they might have been used for and we had a go at using them. We also shared two further stories to further deepen our understanding of how life was different in the past.
Year 1
We have been learning all about Bonfire Night and why we celebrate it each year. As part of our learning, we looked at how Bonfire Night is celebrated now and how it was celebrated in the past. We sorted photos and images into past and present and discussed how we had made our decision. We also talked about how we know what Bonfire Night was like in the past - we use sources! These can be photos, pictures or quotes from people who celebrated at that time.
We have been learning all about the history of toys in year 1. During our learning we have explored a variety of different types of toys, including modern toys, toys from when our grandparents were young and toys from the Victorian times. We sorted the different toys into old and new, thinking carefully about what they were made from, what they looked like and how they worked. To finish our topic, we set up our own toy museum for the year 2 children to visit. We made our own exhibits by writing information labels which told the museum visitors whether the toy was old or new, when it was from and how we knew when it was from.
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We have been learning all about Grace Darling in year 1. We started our learning by taking on the role of history detectives to try and work out why Grace Darling is famous and still remembered today. We learnt all about her famous rescue and we thought carefully about why she chose to go out in such poor weather to save the men from the SS Forfarshire. Our learning also involved exploring the different historical sources available to learn all about Grace and her achievements, including why she is pictured alone on some images and with her father on others. To finish our learning, we investigated how sea rescue has improved since Grace Darling's rescue by ordering life boats on a timeline and comparing them.
Year 2
We have absolutely loved learning all about the Great Fires of London and Nantwich in year 2! We couldn't believe that there was a great fire so close to home! We used lots of different sources to find out as much as we could about the Fire of London, including when it was, where and why it started and who by. We talked a lot about how we know about both fires with them happening such a long time ago and we learnt the importance of historical sources to help us find things out about the past.
We ended our learning with a trip to Nantwich Museum to find out all about what life was like for people during the time of the Fire of Nantwich in 1583. We looked at artefacts such as plates, cutlery and toys, as well as trying our hand at using a quill and ink to do some writing. It was a lot trickier than using a pencil!! To really immerse ourselves into what life was like during the fire, we walked around Nantwich and found important places from the fire such as St Mary's Church where people went to keep safe.
We have had an 'out of this world' time learning all about the moon landings in year 2! We have learnt all about the astronauts who took that giant leap for mankind, considering why they chose to risk their lives to go to the moon. We have used different sources of information to learn about what they did on the moon, as well as how they got there and back safely. We also had a debate about whether or not space exploration should continue.
We have taken lots of trips to the seaside in year 2, learning all about seaside holidays in the past and comparing them to those in the present day. We have enjoyed interrogating a number of different historical sources, considering what we can learn about holidays in the past. We have learnt all about what people did on holiday 100 years ago and what seaside resorts were like. We have ordered photos and images of seaside holidays from different time periods on our own timeline, thinking about the clues in the images which tell us what time period it is from. Year 2 were excited to learn about the reasons that people went to the seaside 100 years ago - there were some reasons which were very different to why we go on holiday today.
Year 3
Year 3 have enjoyed travelling back in time all the way to the Stone Age! They investigated whether or not people from the Stone Age were simply hunter gatherers and learnt all about how their lives changed once they began to farm. Taking on the role of archaeologists, they explored Skara Brae and looked for clues as to what the artefacts told them about Stone Age life. Also, they learnt about the different theories to explain the existence of Stone Henge and discussed which theory they thought was the most likely. Their learning moved to the Iron Age and they discovered how life changed and developed during this time period.
As part of their Ancient Egypt topic, year 3 tried their hand at tomb raiding! They took on the role of archaeologists in Howard Carter's team and crawled through the 'tomb' to find out what artefacts were hidden inside. Each archaeologist had to observe the artefacts and then feedback to their team about what they had found. It gave them a first-hand experience of the role of an archaeologist and they were able to appreciate how much knowledge and information can be gained from the artefacts found inside a pharoah's tomb.
Year 4
In Year 4, after learning about the Romans in Year 3, we looked at the next people to live in Britain - the Saxons! We learnt all about where they came from and what made they come to Britain. To help learn more about Anglo-Saxon life, we looked at the role of archaeology and investigated what the grave at Sutton Hoo told us and we considered who it may have belonged to using the artefacts discovered as clues. One of the main changes for life in Britain during the Anglo-Saxon rule was the change to Christianity and we learnt all about the impact this had on their daily life. One of the most interesting lessons was learning all about Anglo-Saxon justice. We learnt all about the different punishments that were used and considered how effective they were. To conclude our learning, we debated whether or not the Anglo-Saxon period should be viewed as the dark ages, coming up with reasons for both sides of the argument.
As part of Black History Month, we also had a visitor who spoke to us about different important people in History.
In Year 4, we have been learning about The Victorians. We have been on a journey through Victorian life, learning about what the main changes were which took place during the Victorian era, what life was like for children and poor people and how travel and transport developed culminating in a reflection about whether the Victorian Era was a 'golden age' or whether it should be known as a 'dark age'. To celebrate their learning, Year 4 took part in an exciting and engaging Victorian workshop where they gained a first-hand experience into what Victorian life was like.
Year 5
In Year 5, we have been learning all about the Second World War. To begin our learning, we learnt all about the events that led up to the start of the war to help us answer the question, "Why did Britain go to war in 1939?". Our learning enabled us to learn all about the impact of World War 2 on British people, including evacuation, rationing and how people protected themselves during the Blitz. We were interested to learn all about how local areas such as Crewe were targeted during air raids and why this might have been. We learnt about the use of propaganda and how this was used by the government to keep people's spirits up and gain support.
In Year 5, we have been learning all about the Mayan civilisation. Why did the Mayan empire grow to be so powerful? What was life like at the height of the Mayan civilisation? How can we possibly know what it was like there 1000 years ago? Year 5 can tell you! They completed a variety of different learning tasks to find out the answers to all of those questions, ending their topic by investigating the different reasons why the Mayan empire ended so quickly.
Year 5 have taken a trip to Ancient Greece where they have learnt all about what life was like there 2500 years ago and considered how we can learn about things that happened so long ago. We took on the role of history detectives to explore what can be learnt about everyday life in Ancient Athens from pottery evidence that remains. We learnt about why Athens was able to be so strong during the 5th and 6th century BC, followed by a comparison of Athens and Sparta. One of the most exciting activities was a market place activity where we took on the role of different Athenians visiting the agora. During the activity, we had to introduce ourselves to fellow Athenians to learn all about the different kinds of people who visited the agora and why.
Year 6
In Year 6. we have taken a journey through a number of different historical periods exploring the theme of 'Black and British'. We looked at the first black people in Britain during the Roman times and we learnt that there was then a period of absence until the Tudor times when black people settled in Britain with some holding positions of responsibility. We looked at a number of historical sources to find out more about the positions that they held. We learnt all about the slave trade and the huge suffering that black people experienced during their lives as slaves. Our journey took us to the world wars and we learnt that black people had a role in both wars but that, due to discriminatory views, their roles were restricted. We learnt about the impact of the arrival of SS Windrush in 1948 and then considered how life has changed for black people over recent years since introduction of laws to prevent discrimination of black people.