Year 6

Our transdisciplinary theme this term is ‘Where We Are In Time And Place` and the central idea that we have been exploring is: ‘Past societies can influence how we live.`

As part of this term’s provocation, the children took part in three different workshops. The first workshop was ‘Victorian Life’ - the children travelled back in time to unscramble events from the Victorian era. Another workshop was ‘Victorian games,’ where the children had the chance to explore and make different games that Victorians would have played with. Finally, the last workshop was a drama workshop where the children performed Oliver Twist. They thoroughly enjoyed all three workshops and were excited for the term’s learning.

Once the children had been introduced to this term’s topic, they started the term by discovering many ideas about ‘The creation of civilisations’. The children were inquirers into the British Empire and how and why it was formed.

The children looked at a world map of all the places that were part of the British Empire and then went on to research the events that led the Empire to grow and then finally end. The children were also introduced to their artist of the term ‘William Morris’ and the media that he works with. The children compiled a research page on William Morris and a comparison of his work and other artists’.

To begin their second line of inquiry, ‘How leaders guide societies’ the children became historians and demonstrated their knowledge and understanding by constructing a diary entry from Queen Victoria’s perspective. In their diary entry, the children really demonstrated their knowledge of their inquiry and new vocabulary they had learnt along the way.

The children then went on to build links within their learning and wrote a non-chronological report answering the question ‘How has Victorian Britain had a major influence on world history?

For our final line of inquiry, the children investigated: ‘How decisions transform lives’. The children became Charity workers and designed their own campaign for the charity Barnardos.

Throughout this, they looked into how Queen Victoria was a patron for the charity. The children then created a logo as well as a poem as a way to advertise help for the impoverished in the Victorian era.