History

History at Firthmoor Primary School

Do you love History?  Listed below are some websites you and your child can use to help support their learning.

www.activehistory.co.uk

www.kidspast.com

www.bbc.co.uk/history/forkids

www.history.co.uk/primary/resource/primary-topic-websites

www.natgeokids.com/uk/category/discover/history

www.resourcesforhistory.com/historywebsites (Romans and Celts)

www.historyforkids.net

www.primaryhomwork help.co.uk

www.ducksters.com/history

The website below provide links to online games or apps that can be downloaded and used to support History learning.

www.busythings.co.uk/families/subjects/history

www.commonsensemedia.org/lists/games-that-teach-history

At Firthmoor Primary School, History is taught following objectives from the National Curriculum framework and is covered each term by looking at a new and exciting topic!  History can be taught in a block or weekly lessons.  Children are encouraged to learn through research, using books, the Internet and looking at artefacts from the past.

A fun way of learning about History is through inviting visitors into school and going on visits to places of historical interest. Classes have enjoyed activities at locations such as Hadrian’s Wall, Jorvick and Whitby Abbey.  A group of girls even had the opportunity to listen to the author Kate Pankhurst speak on the topic of ‘Fantastically Great Women who made History’.

The children have access to a plentiful selection of History books from across the eras, which are all displayed in the corridor for them to browse at their leisure.

Toys Past and Present

Autumn 2019

The children in Year 1 have learnt all about toys and how they have changed within their living memory. They discussed how toys today are made, what they look like and the materials they are built from. We found out what kind of toys our parents and grandparents played with (thank you for filling in the questionnaires we sent home) and compared them to see if there were any similarities or differences with more modern toys. The children loved exploring older toys and were much better at using a Jacobs Ladder than the teachers!

The children can now use and name some toys from the past and say why they look the way they do e.g. they were hand painted, plastic wasn’t invented then, they didn’t have moving parts etc. The children have also been introduced to how lifestyles have changed and we can see that through who played with toys in the past. They can discuss that boys were only allowed to play with ‘boy’ toys and girl with ‘girl’ toys. That Sundays the children went to church and were only allowed to read the Bible or play with Noah’s Ark. Well done Classes Year 1!

Local History Study – Visit to Head of Steam Railway Museum

December 2019

Mrs Morrow’s and Mrs Blagg’s classes visited the Head of Steam Railway Museum in Darlington as part of their History Topic.  They were amazed when they saw the original Locomotion No.1 which is almost 200 years old!  Everyone completed a trail around the museum looking at original artefacts to find out about the history of the railways in Darlington.  They found out about the different jobs on the train and completed a fact sheet about George Stephenson.

Weaving and Dyeing the Anglo-Saxon Way!

December 2019

Have you ever wondered how your clothes become their lovely colours? Children in Mrs Walker’s class have been learning about the Anglo-Saxons; we have been comparing the clothes they wore then with those we wear today! We have learned that all of their garments were made using natural materials such as wool and linen and that they made use of natural dyes to make them more colourful. They used things like: red cabbage, turmeric, spinach, blackberries and beetroot.

During our history lesson we had a go at dyeing pieces of linen using these foods.

We have also learned how to weave as this is how yarns were used to create large pieces of material which were then used to make their clothes!

The History of Pantomime

December 2019

Our Year 6 children spent the day at Darlington Hippodrome Theatre learning all about the history of pantomime. They participated in workshops where they learned about the history of our local theatre, which has just had major renovations, and discovered when and where the first pantomimes were created. They investigated similarities and differences between pantomimes past and present, and found out that throughout the years, characters have always been flamboyant, humorous and that audience participation is an essential part of a performance! This year’s pantomime was Jack and the Beanstalk starring the famous Shirley Ballas from Strictly Come Dancing! After watching this production, the children had the opportunity to meet her and other actors who starred in the performance…oh no you didn’t…OH YES WE DID!!