History 

"We are historians..."

                                            

       Above: Hannah More, a English religious writer, philanthropist, poet and playwright                 associated  with and buried in Wrington village.

 

                                                                    

Intent

 At Wrington School, our curriculum is designed to inspire children and ignite their curiosity   of learning about the past. Priority is given to  developing specific historical skills to ensure   knowledge is learnt, built  upon and remembered. We will equip pupils with the ability to ask   questions about the past, understand different points of view, to think   critically, analysise evidence and develop informed judgements.   Children will learn about mistakes made by  societies in the past and   how  lessons   can be learnt from such actions and events. Our   curriculum is designed to be highly engaging, varied and based on the   interests of our children whilst meeting the needs of all regardless of background, culture   and ability.

                                      

Implementation

 History is delivered in a subject specific way; however, thematic and cross- curricular links are made when appropriate so children can make connections between all key aspects of their learning. Our long term   planning develops the historical skills and concepts of Historical Interpretations; Historical   Investigations; Chronological Understanding; Knowledge and Understanding of Events,   People and Changes in the Past; Presenting, Organising and Communicating as required in   the National Curriculum.  We use the Lighthouse Schools Partnership history scheme of work to inform our History teaching and as a starting point. Progression is planned carefully so that all pupils can be   successful as historians by the end of year 6.     

                                                                                                                                   

 Through a series of carefully planned sequence of lessons, children will acquire knowledge   and subject specific vocabulary. Prior learning is built upon in each class and opportunities   for revision of facts and historical understanding are further developed. We warmly   welcome many visitors to the school so children can actively   engage first hand in their learning both inside and outside the   classroom. Where possible, we also use the local community   and locality to further enhance our history curriculum ensuring at all   times we embrace British values, the UN’s Global Goals and   our school values.

       Impact

      

The impact of this high quality teaching and learning at Wrington will be seen through:

• pupils being able to share their knowledge, skills and enthusiasm through their pupil voice;
• pupils highly engaging in their history learning and asking questions to find  out more; 
• pupils taking their learning home, researching work independently, talking with parents, visiting sites of interest and sharing their further enjoyment of the subject;
• pupils’ work showing a range of topics covered in a variety of ways. (Cross-curricular links will be clear and subject specific vocabulary used. Work will be clearly differentiated as appropriate);
• the school environment reflecting the rich history curriculum through displays, photographs and resources.
• pupils reflecting on lessons learnt from history helping them to make informed decisions in the future.                        

 

       Black History Month

   The children have been learning individual stories about some remarkable people who             changed the world in their own way despite coming across some obstacles along the way. 

                                                 

   In Reception the children were read the true story of tv personality and Floella       Benjamin (DBE) and explored her journey to England from Trinidad as part of the   Windrush generation. The children learnt about some of Floella's early struggles and adjusting to life in England.  

                                                                                 

As part of Black History Month, Year 5 have been studying the amazing musician Aretha Franklin. We considered what the title of her song ‘Respect’ meant to us. We also read the book, ‘Little People, Big Dreams’ and found out all about her incredible life and her fantastic achievements. Did you know…?

She learnt to play the piano just by listening to musicians visiting her house.

She joined gospel choir at the church where her father was a minister.

Aretha’s father took her on tour – people cried with joy when she sang

A record company offered her a contract

Aretha’s songs climbed the charts. One of her most popular songs was called ‘Respect’.

The words became an anthem for African/American women, demanding equal respect.

One of her friends was Martin Luther King Junior – when he died, she sang a song in his honour called ‘Precious Lord’.

She started writing and producing her own songs across a range of genres, recording hundreds of great hits.

After thirty years, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, she was the first woman in history to be on the list.

Her greatest honour was singing at the inauguration of the first African/American President of the United States.

The little girl who asked for equality earned the R-E-S-P-E-C-T of millions!

                  

  

Remembrance week

Following two weeks of work in English and history the children came together to remember those who have been affected by conflict. Each class learnt about an aspect of remembrance such as looking at war memorials and statues to war poetry and the symbolism of the poppy. What does it mean to remember? 

                                    

                                             

Each class made a poppy wreath and presented it after a two minutes silence on the 11th November- Armistice day. 

                                                         

Year 2 visit to SS Great Britain and the Clifton suspension bridge

               Year 2 went to see the SS Great Britain to find out more about Brunel and his  legacy. After looking at various primary sources, including many of his designs, we travelled back in time to find out how the ship was built. We had a go at using rivets which were used to build the hull of the ship. We then saw a painting of launch day and recreated the scene for ourselves. Before coming back to school we walked across Brunel's suspension bridge and saw his memorial. Sadly Brunel died before the bridge was completed in 1864.

 

                                    

 

                                    

                                                                                                           

Year 3 visit to Bristol museum

     Year Three spent the day at Bristol Museum deducing information about Ancient Egypt and the Stone Age to Iron Age through two workshops in which they handled artefacts and discussed evidence. They also had the opportunity to explore the extensive range of exhibits in the gallery.  It was a great opportunity to consolidate and extend their knowledge further through an enriching experience.                          

                                       

                     

    Year 1 village walk

                 Year 1 have been finding out about the history of the village. With the help of a local historian they found out that Wrington used to have a train station, a fire station and a few famous local residents. How does our school compare today with the one in victorian times? How is it the same? How is it different? 

 

 The Platinum Jubilee

       The children of Wrington have been celebrating the Platinum Jubilee in style. After a royal bake off each class looked in detail into a different decade of Queen Elizabeth's reign. All children and parents were given the opportunity to walk through the decades with our special jubilee trail to see how Britain had changed from 1953 to 2022. The children enjoyed seeing the similiarities between each decade, spotting world events they had learnt about and which toys were popular, some of which are still familiar to us even today.     

                           

                                   

      

 

We had members of the community to talk to us about their memories of their own coronation day and each class learnt an iconic song from their decade to perform to our street party at the end of the week of celebrations.     

 

                                                             

The coronation of King Charles III

The school had a week full of celebrations. The centre piece was the presentation of learning given by each class about the historical objects linked to the ceremony.           

•  Year  1 St Edward’s Crown and the Imperial State Crown
•  Year 2  The Coronation Throne
•   Year 3  The Sovereign’s Sceptre with Cross
•   Year 4  The Sovereign’s Orb
•   Year 5  The Coronation spoon and anointing

         After the coronation the children had a chance to watch the key parts of the service               and the  video was stopped to point out and explain the objects discussed above within              the ceremony.                      

British values

      We have been learning all about democracy leading up to our school council elections.              We  learnt about Emily Davison, the suffragette movement and their fight to get the                vote  for everyone.     

                                            

T'was the Night Before Christmas (EYFS)

       In Reception the children explored how life was similar and different in Victorian times              using pictures from the story T'was the Night Before Christmas as a stimulus.              

Historical role play (Brunel)  Year 2

  Henry Wakefield, a time traveller from 1864 and a friend of Brunel, came to school to tell us all about Brunel’s life and his greatest achievements. He told us that even as a small child Brunel was interested in now things worked and explored using his dad’s tools. Marc Brunel sent his son to France to a boarding school to learn how to be an engineer. Brunel’s first big project was building a tunnel under the River Thames, then creating the Great Western Railway from London to Bristol before using the same idea to create the first ship powered by steam – The SS Great Britain. The last project Brunel worked on was the designing of the Clifton Suspension Bridge. Brunel won the competition for the best design but sadly died before it was completed. His greatest legacy is that all of these achievements remain with us today.

                  

                      

Ancient Egypt Year 3

      After learning about what the Sphinx symbolised  a child in Year 3 suggested they made their own version out of clay.