Archived History 2022-2023
Opal Learning Zone
Incredible You – To help promote a smooth transition into the EYFS Unit the staff have created a display called Incredible You. Using the story of ‘Incredible You’, the children were challenged to bring in memories from home providing discussion points for the staff and children. The children were able to reflect on recent memories as well as providing a safe space for them in the classroom. Thank you to all of the parents for providing pictures from home, this ensured our transition was excellent.
Amethyst Learning Zone
What caused the Great Fire of London? – The Amethyst 1 children have been engrossed in the topic and have displayed fantastic recall of key events. Today’s lesson saw us sequence the events of the fire and dig deeper into how many lives were lost and how many days it lasted. The children are now going to write a newspaper report about the devastating incident.
War Week – This month the children celebrated War Week. Initially, we recapped the reason behind the topical week before completing a range of activities. The children worked collaboratively to learn and perform an emotive poem, created poppies and wreaths and also had an opportunity to hot seat a ‘war hero’. As the week progressed the children had many questions which led us to meeting Finn (Our War Expert). We finished the week with a two minutes silence which was observed perfectly.
Sapphire Learning Zone
Changes in living memory – To start off our history topic for Spring term ‘How has childhood changed over time in the NE?’ we visited the Discovery Museum in Newcastle. This got us interested in our upcoming topic where we looked at toys, childhood, schools and jobs in the past.
Black History Month – As part of Black History Month we looked at Bob Marley and Reggae music. We learnt the song Three Little Birds and performed this to the Amethyst Learning Zone. We produced a piece of artwork inspired by Bob Marley’s Caribbean roots.
War Week – As part of War Week the children in Sapphire learnt about rationing in the War. They learnt about what rationing was, what foods were rationed and other initiatives such as ‘Make do and mend’. They then got to create a World War 2 menu from the food that was rationed and available during the war. These included recipes such as eggless sponge and spam hash. To finish the week, the children learned about the blitz and created their own artwork. Three of the children then got to showcase their work in our collective worship and talk about what they had learned.
Ruby Learning Zone
Anglo-Saxons – Our history topic for the spring term looked at the invasion and settling of Anglo-Saxons in Britain. The children enjoyed learning about how they lived in their settlements here and enjoyed planning out what their own Saxon village would look like.
War Week – The Ruby Learning Zone children have been very interested in learning about our country’s history during War Week. The children found out about life in Britain during WW2 and the things that the people who remained in this country made to support the war effort. Children looked at the different things people were asked to do and made posters to encourage people to step forward and do their bit.
Emerald Learning Zone
The Stone Age to Iron Age – We have been looking at cultural changes from the Stone Age to Iron Age including; art, jewellery and food. We have created cave paintings, Stone Age desserts, Iron Age Jewellery and Iron Age bread as well as making our own butter. We have worked so hard and have had a blast learning about this huge period of History and the changes that have shaped the way we live today!
The Romans – For our Roman topics we were looking at what made the Roman Army so powerful. We took to the hall and got into the tortoise formation to test out how successful it would be. We all agreed this was a formidable defence.
War Week – The children responded amazingly well to our Poetry work during War Week. Each child wrote their own poem about the Blitz and then recorded their poems ready to share with parents during our Exhibition. Some parents were moved to tears at the empathy and emotion shown by the children.
Diamond Learning Zone
How have the Ancient Greeks shaped my world? – The children in Diamond have been looking at the Ancient Greeks this half term and finding out about where they fit on the timeline of history. We enjoyed learning about the Olympics, the Battle of Marathon and the Greek Gods and Goddesses that people worshipped.
Who was Alan Turin? – For LGBTQ+ History Month, the children found out who Alan Turing was and why he was famous and known today. The children showed a real interest in this topic and enjoyed learning about the Enigma Code and the work that he carried out to help win WW2! They produced a fantastic piece of work on his life!
The Windrush Generation – For Black History Month the children have been learning all about the Windrush Generation with a particular focus on Claudia Jones. The children produced an excellent biography and as a result of this, Imogen was very inspired and brought in lots of books for us all to have a look at!
Why did the Ancient Egyptians build the pyramids? – In history we have been learning about the Ancient Egyptians and how and why they built pyramids. The children were tasked to create a timeline, understand what society may have been like, explore the methods and adaptations of pyramids and compare the lives of some well-known pharaohs.
Archived History 2021-2022
Opal Learning Zone
How to sign like a pirate? – It has been a busy week as we begin our Pirate topic. The children have identified pirates of the past and key features about them. Eli identified that pirates had pirates that would perch on their shoulder. Following this, we decided to find out how we can use Makaton to sign parrot. Here Eli is demonstrating how to do it.
Remembrance Day – This week the children took part in a two-minute silence for Remembrance Day. We used vegetables to print our own poppies which we then took to the Remembrance stone at the rear of the school. All the children showed great respect as they observed the silence perfectly.
Amethyst Learning Zone
Who is Neil Armstrong? – Last half-term he had a deep-dive into the eventful life of Neil Armstrong. The children thoroughly enjoyed discovering interesting facts about his life, and particularly thrived when we used the green screen to recreate the first landing on the moon. To celebrate our progression of work we decided to showcase our History books for a different learning Zone. The children spoke in depth about their studies allowing them to show pride in their learning.
War Week – During War Week we decided to learn and perform a poem for our fallen soldiers. The children from the Opal and Amethyst Learning Zone’s teamed up to perform this fantastic poem. Following this we completed a two minute silence and repeated our powerful poem again.
Black History Week – This week we have celebrated Black History Week utilising cross curricular links to ensure a deep dive into the life of Marcus Rashford. The children were amazed to find out that Marcus was a famous footballer and also how much he has endeavoured to help children to avoid being hungry.
Our Learning Zone decided to create biographies for the life of Marcus Rashford, which led us to find out he received an MBE off the Queen. Alfie was astonished by this and asked if we could make our own medals. Below is a picture of our display in the main hall showing off our writing and the medals we created. Staff and pupils were moved by the work of Marcus and we hope he understands how grateful we all are to have positive role models that we can aspire to be.
Sapphire Learning Zone
Intrepid Explorers – This half term, our History topic has been ‘Why are Intrepid Explorers remembered today?’ We learnt all about the amazing astronaut Neil Armstrong and the amazing things he accomplished. To begin our topic off we created a physical timeline using steps as years. We marked out the current year, our birth years, Miss Hunter-Purvis’ birth year and then the year Neil Armstrong was born. That seemed like a long time ago! We produced some amazing work including an excellent newspaper report.
Castles – In History we have investigated the topic of Castles, and why there are so many in the North East. We looked closely at our own castle in Stanhope and learnt about the main features of a castle and what they are used for. The children designed their own 3D castles using different resources from around the Learning Zone. We enjoyed researching castles in the north east and sharing our real-life experiences of visiting them.
Black History Week – During Black History week, we looked at the Notting Hill Carnival. We learnt all about the founder, Claudia Jones and collected and recorded facts about her. We also create some masks to represent what we would like to wear to the Carnival.
Ruby Learning Zone
How have railways impacted the UK? – In history this term we were studying the history of the railways and their impact on the UK. The children learned a chronology of the development of rail travel, completing timelines to show the order of events. For one task, the children split into groups and each researched a notable locomotion from history. From this, they created fantastic individual non-chronological reports sharing why their engine was important.
Why was Alfred so Great? – This involved looking at the early Anglo-Saxon, Viking and Norman kings of England, including chronology work to order them by when they reigned.
War Week – This term also included War Week, in which we looked at the Home Front during WW2 and how people in the UK lived while the war was going on. We made some carrot cookies using a war time recipe after we learned about rationing, they were a hit!
Emerald Learning Zone
Who was Edward the Confessor? – In the Emerald Learning Zone we are learning about influential monarchs. The children have been learning about the life of Edward the Confessor and have been creating their own version of the Bayeux Tapestry based on the key events of his life.
Bronze Age Pots – When looking at inventions between the Stone Age and Iron Age the children made their own Bronze Age Pots. They turned out fantastic using a traditional pinching method.
A timeline of inventions – In History we are learning about inventions and tools from the Stone Age to Iron Age. Today we created a timeline of inventions which dated from 130,000 BCE to modern day.
Roman Day – In the Emerald Learning zone we had a brilliant day immersing ourselves in all things Roman. The children baked their own loaf of ‘Roman’ bread and enjoyed it with olive oil, olives and grapes. We then spent time making Roman Swords, Mosaics and leaf crowns. It was a great end to our Roman topic.
Diamond Learning Zone
Maya Civilisation – The children in Diamond have been learning about Maya Civilization this half term. The children discovered a range of foods grown by the Mayas and when and how they would grow these crops. The children also used research to find out about wild plants and animals that the Mayas would hunt and use for their meals. To finish off the topic, the children recreated four Maya recipes including: Waj (tortillas), Ul or atol (corn-meal gruel), Guacamole and K’utbi p’ak (a type of salsa). The children enjoyed tasting the foods (maybe not the corn-meal gruel!) However, the children quoted “Wow, that’s actually really nice!” for the rest!
Ancient Greeks – This term in History we have been focusing on the ancient Greeks. The children have learnt a lot in this topic such as: how we can use primary and secondary sources to learn more about them, what types of government Athens and Sparta had and finding out what religion they followed. The children really enjoyed playing the Gods and Goddesses game to learn more about them!
Ancient Egyptians – The Diamond Learning Zone have been learning about the Egyptians and what life was life in ancient Egypt. The children really enjoyed finding out about Tutankhamun and how he was found. The children used their knowledge to write a newspaper report about this including quotes from Howard Carter.
Archived History 2020-2021
Amethyst Learning Zone
Sapphire Learning Zone
Ruby Learning Zone
Emerald Learning Zone
Crime and Punishment: Anglo-Saxon style – In history this half term, we are looking at Crime and Punishment from the Roman period to modern day. This week the focus was on Anglo-Saxon punishment. We set up a law court in class with a jury and punishment recommendations from the Anglo-Saxon period and modern-day period. Children put their arguments forward for their selected punishment depending on their given period of time and our jury had to decide which punishment would befall the ‘criminal’. Thankfully we all agreed that the Anglo-Saxon punishments were very harsh given the crimes. Excellent debates and decisions were made in the Emerald Learning Zone this week.
Diamond Learning Zone
September 2020- February 2021
Class 1
WW2 Evacuation and Rationing – The children really enjoyed finding out about evacuation and rationing during WW2. We thought about what we would have packed into an evacuation suitcase and found out which foods were rationed and why.
Why are castles significant in the North East? – In History, the children have been trying to answer the question, ‘Why are castles significant in the North East?’ They have been exploring castles using topic related vocabulary and have used interactive maps to name and locate some of the most well-known castles in the UK and the North East. We have investigated when and why castles were built and how they have changed over time.
Black History Month – Class 1 have also been doing lots of work around Black History Month this week. The children wrote a fact-file about Nicola Adams.
Class 2
What caused the Great Fire of London? – Over the last few weeks, in History, the children have been trying to answer the question, ‘What caused the Great Fire of London?’ They have been sorting images, finding about life and the fire service in 1666, writing newspaper reports, redesigning the city and even interviewing the King himself! The children have become very inquisitive Historians!
Class 3
Mary Seacole – Class 3 have been doing lots of work around Black History Month this week. The children all wrote a card to thank Mary Seacole for all of the work she had done to help the lives of others.
Class 4
Remembrance Day – We celebrated Remembrance Day by placing a poppy alongside others from the school. This cross can be seen from the playground and is a good reminder to think of those who have sacrificed to keep us safe.
How did the Roman Empire begin? – We started our Roman topic this week by locating where the Roman Empire started. Children successful used an Atlas to, first locate Italy and then find Rome. We listened to two stories which told of how the Empire started and children had to decide which was a Legend and which was the truth. Children had a fantastic debate about which story was the legend and finally came to the correct conclusion. They then had time to write up their own recounts of each story and create some fantastic illustrations to go with their writing.
Class 5
War Week – This half term we celebrated War Week. Each class across the school focused on a specific area. Class 5 looked at the devastation of the Holocaust and wrote a diary entry in the style of Anne Frank. Each class took part in an online assembly and presented their work on Teams to the rest of the school. The children were very proud of their work and really enjoyed listening to what other classes had been getting up to. As well as this, Class 5 lay poppies on the school field in the shape of a cross and took part in a 2-minute silence for Remembrance Day.
The Ancient Egyptians – Class 5 are studying Ancient Egypt in History in Term 1. We are comparing Ancient Egypt to a modern day comparison as well as looking at Pharos, pyramids, farming and the importance of the River Nile. As the term goes on we will thinking about why the pyramids were built and who they were built for as well as looking at the Ancient Egyptian writing known as hieroglyphics.
