Learning Exploration Narrative

In January 2021 Key Stage 1 began their Spring expedition. This was a low energy expedition around the guided question, “What secrets do the castle walls tell you?”

Our Learning:

Through our learning of History (case study 1) we developed our understanding of historic people who lived in the past, language associated with the passing of time, understanding the concept of our nation and monarchy and making comparisons between the past and now. We found out how castles changed throughout time and how monarchs lived, using our first text George and the dragon to support our learning.

Through Design and Technology (case study 2) we developed our skills in designing and making a product with a clear purpose. We used clay to recreate artefacts that were similar to those found in the medieval era during archaeological digs. Also, during our DT case study, we made working drawbridges that were attached to replica castles, similar to ones that we researched during the history case study. The main text that we used throughout this case study was Dragon Stew, which gave the children a chance to explore ideas relating to historical conquering and defence mechanisms.

Through our third case study, music, we challenged the children to listen and critique music from different eras, as well as to create their own music using a variety of instruments and their voices. They were all given a chance to collaborate, perform and improve their work based on peer evaluation. The focus text for this case study was The Frog Princess, which led the children to compare the film version to the classical text, considering the cultural aspects of the music in the film.

The Learning targets were:

Case study 1: History

I can observe or handle evidence to ask questions and find answers to questions about the past.

I can ask questions such as, What was it like for people? What happened? How long ago?

I can use artefacts, pictures, stories, online sources and databases to find out about the past.

I can describe historical events and significant people from the past.

I can recognise the reasons why people in the past acted the way they did.

I understand the concept of our nation and monarchy.

Case study 2: Design and Technology

I can design products that have a clear purpose.

I can make products refining the design as work progresses.

I can explore objects to identify likes and dislikes of a design.

I can suggest improvements to existing designs.

I can explore how products have been created

Case study 3: Music

I can make and control long and short sounds, using voice and instruments.

I can imitate changes in pitch.

I can create a sequence of long and short sounds.

I can clap rhythms.

I can create a mixture of different sounds, long and short, loud and quiet, high and low.

I can create short, musical patterns.

I can create short, rhythmic phrases.

I can use symbols to represent composition and use them to help with a performance.

I can recognise changes in timbre, dynamics and pitch.

Hooks / Learning Visits and Environments

To blast off, we hooked the children with a video from fxguru, which captured a dragon flying around the school property and left an egg in the quad, which engaged the children with the expedition immediately. Upon returning to school this led onto discussions around where dragons might live and any stories of dragons that they already knew. We continued to hook the children into this expedition by creating a crew coat of arms and transferring them to their own shields and crowns, which they took on our walk to Peel Hill. The children also made their own immersive environments, by creating banners, bunting and other castle themes decorations such as stained glass windows. They used clay to create detailed dragon eyes and told stories using their creations.

The children were rehooked into our theme after February half term with a visit to the local Conisbrough Castle, where they could see how it was built and take part in workshops involving life in the castle. We held virtual question and answer sessions with an expert from English Heritage as well as a well renowned archeologist who performed a dig at the local Peel Hill site. The history teachers at Trinity Academy also invested their time to create a virtual history lecture for the children. In addition to all of that, the children had the opportunity to complete their own research about Peel Hill at Thorne library. Throughout the expedition, all classes enjoyed reading the short children’s novel A Giant Disaster by Andy S Gray and we were able to meet up with the author virtually for a question and answer session about the process of story writing.

Assessment

Throughout the expedition children were constantly critiquing their own and their peer’s work which deepened their understanding of the three case studies. The design and technology models that the children made during family learning demonstrated their understanding of the features of a castle, taken from their history case study as well as highlighting their skills that they have developed during the design and technology case study, as well as our previous expedition. Their final group performance showcased their learning from the music case study through their selection of using different sounds for effect.

Final Product

The final product was a non-chronological report which the children created, using the information they learnt throughout the expedition. These were published by our local Thorne Newspaper in the May edition, which enabled the children to have an impact on their local community through shared education. In order to ensure the product was professionally created, we used the Trust specialist who made it consistent with other high quality Green Top products. The children’s work is accessible via a QR code.

To celebrate the children completing the expedition, we held a celebration banquet in the school hall, where all of their learning came together to share.