Brompton Westbrook Primary School

History

At Brompton Westbrook we are lucky to be located in an area that is overflowing with historical evidence. The Great Lines is a couple of minutes walk away, and from this location we can see the river Medway, Rochester Caste and Cathedral and evidence of how the Medway Towns developed over time into a busy and bustling urban area.

Our intent at Brompton-Westbrook Primary School is to ignite children’s curiosity about the past and historical events across the world. Our curriculum is designed to develop all children’s understanding of their place in the world; to promote curiosity and fascination – to become an active learner with a passion for history. Furthermore, we aim to develop a knowledge of chronology within which children can organise their understanding of the past.

The history National Curriculum states:

A high-quality history education will help pupils gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world. It should inspire pupils’ curiosity to know more about the past. Teaching should equip pupils to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments, and develop perspective and judgement. History helps pupils to understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups, as well as their own
identity and the challenges of their time.

Children at Brompton Westbrook are taught to think as ‘historians’ to understand how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world. They learn how to make links and connections within and across periods of history and to understand the concepts of causation, change and significance. Pupils are encouraged to think like historians and develop their skills including historical enquiry. There is a strong emphasis on developing children’s other skills such as understanding of chronology, interpretations of evidence, changes within a time and across time periods and cause and consequence.

Children are taught disciplinary skills to work as ‘historians’ to interpret a range of sources to learn about that past and to understand that there are differing interpretations of the past, enabling them to appreciate historical bias. Subject specific vocabulary will be taught to children to help them evaluate sources and talk about their findings.

Learning focusses on using disciplinary skills to focus on key areas of substantive knowledge about the time periods they learn about:

Dates and key events
Life as a child (games, education, peer groups, place in society)
Houses, homes and buildings (rich and poor, towns, villages etc, construction materials)
Food and drink (inc medicine, production)
Rulers, Kings and Queens and famous people
Stories, culture and legacy (literature, music, art, dance and famous people / creatives)
Beliefs (eg religions and societal norms)

Our Ambition – what do we want to achieve?

To develop disciplinary progression across all key stages and an understanding of how to investigate the passing of time, with measurable outcomes.

For all children to know what it means to be an historian – immersed in and inspired by history – with transferable skills and a sound progression of substantive knowledge and sequenced understanding of key concepts

For all children to take responsibility and make the best of life choices learning from the past; making memorable learning experiences; helping children to understand their identity personally, locally, nationally and globally

For all children and young people to think critically, question and challenge sources, opinions and information.

ENGLISH HERITAGE REMOTE LEARNING RESOURCES

English Heritage have produced some great resources for parents to try at home.

History is an important subject to learn, but it can be hard to know where to start. English Heritage have gathered advice, hints and tips from teachers, education experts and historians to support your teaching of the past.

You can find an overview here: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/teaching-resources/resource-library/

You can find a Guide to Home Learning here: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/teaching-resources/home-learning/

Information about historical collections here: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/teaching-resources/curators-collections/

Information about black lives in Britain here: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/teaching-resources/-learn-black-lives-in-britain/

The story of 1066 here: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/teaching-resources/story-of-1066/

Resources about Operation Dynamo (Dunkirk) here: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/teaching-resources/learn-operation-dynamo/

The story of the Solstice and its links to Stonehenge here: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/teaching-resources/celebrating-solstice-at-stonehenge/

OTHER IDEAS FOR HISTORY ACTIVITIES

1. Take a museum tour. Many of the museums around the world are offering virtual tours and online activities. Make it a family visit!

http://mcn.edu/a-guide-to-virtual-museum-resources/

2. Discover 'Takeover Day'. Find out about Takeover Day which is when museums, galleries, historic homes, archives and heritage sites invite young people to take over jobs normally done by adults.

https://kidsinmuseums.org.uk/what-we-do/takeover-day/

3. Create a time capsule. Put objects into a time capsule that are relevant to Coronavirus e.g. an empty toilet tube, a rainbow and even an interview with your family. Here are some questions you might ask:

What is some recent information that you can share about what is happening with the pandemic?
How do you feel right now?
How has this affected your work or school?
What is something positive that has come from this experience for you?
What are you doing to pass the time?
What do you miss most right now?
What is the first thing you'd like to do when this is all over?
What lessons has this experience taught you?

4. Complete an online spring trail through the museums –you can opt for under 5’s or 5-11’s.

https://kidsinmuseums.org.uk/what-we-do/spring-museum-trail/

5. Complete a history Lego challenge every Tuesday via Hastings Museum’s Facebook page or come up with your own idea!

https://www.facebook.com/hastingsmuseum/

6.Research a famous disease in the past . You could find out about The Plague or Smallpox. Here is a link to a video about Edward Jenner who discovered a vaccine for smallpox.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/clips/zfy3cdm

7. Keep a diary. Look at this link about Anne Frank and her diary. You could start your own diary about your experiences of the Coronavirus.

http://www.primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/war/annefrank.html

8. Find out about your family history by making a family tree.

9. Find out how has life changed in the last 100 years? Speak to your parents, grandparents, neighbours and elderly friends and ask them what the ‘Covid Lockdown’ would have been like if it had happened when they were little.

What would they have done to pass the time? What foods would they have eaten? What games or toys did they have? What wasn’t invented in their childhood?

10. Design a football strip with National Football Museum. Answer tricky quiz questions, spot the subtle differences in kits, decipher the history of the football shirt and make your own origami jerseys with the National Football Museum website.

VIRTUAL TOUR

Here is a link to a wonderful animation of how London may have looked in 1666, prior to the Great Fire

https://www.faena.com/aleph/articles/would-you-like-to-fly-over-london-before-the-great-fire-of-1666/

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USEFUL HISTORY WEBSITES

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zkqmhyc (KS1 history)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zcw76sg (KS2 history)

https://kidsinmuseums.org.uk/ (Encouraging children into museums, including virtually. Weekly tips and activities for history fans)

https://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/museum-london/permanent-galleries (Online galleries)

https://smarthistory.org/ (History of art)

https://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/collections/collections-online (London Transport Museum)

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/ (Natural History museum –lots of ‘try at home’ activities)