Humanities Update

At Northside, our children enjoy the humanities subjects of history and geography in a wealth of different ways. Their explorations have them travelling from the Stone Age to World War Two, up rivers and across mountains, through Ancient Egypt and Greece, up into space and back down to London, meeting dinosaurs and Victorians along the way - and many other wonderful things too!  In both subjects, our children are encouraged to think for themselves, to enquire about the world we live in today - both the people and the places – and to make links with how people have lived in the past.  Humanities gives our children the opportunity to celebrate the wonderful diversity within our world and to consider what we can do to make the world a better place in the future.

Despite the restrictions of lockdown, the children have enjoyed lots of exciting learning in history and geography, both online and back at school. Year 2 learnt about the Great Fire of London and had a fire-themed day, when the children made costumes or accessories. They wrote newspaper articles and used their mapping skills to redesign/rebuild London after the fire.  The children have also recently learnt about landmarks in London and have drawn a bird’s-eye view map of the Key Stage 1 playground.

In year 4, the children have enjoyed learning about the history and geography of India.  Whilst learning online, they compared the differences between rural and urban India, learning about the village of Chembakolli and creating a comic strip of a day in the life of a child there.  Linked to their science topic, the children also learnt about the plight of the snow leopard and had a Zoom dress-up day as an Indian animal.  In history, the children have been learning about the British Empire and were particularly inspired by the life of Mahatma Gandhi, making links between his beliefs and the world today.  Last Friday, Year 4 launched their new history topic of Ancient Egypt with a dress-up day: we had Pharaohs, Queens, Gods and Mummies parading around the classroom, dancing like Egyptians!

The children in Year 3 have been learning all about the Romans.  They investigated why the Romans invaded Britain and what they brought with them. They discovered what it was like to be in the Roman Army and what life would have been like at Hadrian’s Wall.  The children also researched what the different types of Roman houses were like and then made their own 3D model – they were amazing!  They also explored who Boudicca was and why she rose up against the Roman Army.

For Geography in Year 1, the children have been learning the four countries within the UK and the seven continents of the world, using songs to help them remember and learning how to read maps.  They have also explored the continent of Africa and learnt about the country of Ghana, looking at the weather and the seasons and comparing them to the UK.  In history, the children have been looking at the history of toys, comparing them to the toys we play with today. Sounds like fun!

Year 6 having been walking with dinosaurs this half-term! They have explored the Triassic period and looked at the key features of the time. The children investigated the discovery of Sophie the Stegosaurus (who can be found in the Natural History Museum now) and wrote newspaper articles about her.  They have also written information pages about the Corythosaurus.

Meanwhile, Year 5 have been taking advantage of all that the virtual world has to offer. They took a ‘trip’ to New York as part of their North America topic, looking at the Statue of Liberty and learning about how she was a gift from France.  They also found some Ninja Turtles peeking up from the sewers! Next they visited Greece, stopping off at lots of locations mentioned in their terrific text, as well as visiting the temples of the Gods. As they were learning about the Olympics, they went for a quick tour around the archaeological site of Olympia too, which hosted the original Olympic Games.

Despite all the wonderful opportunities offered up to us virtually, humanities is all about getting out and seeing the world around us.  We are hoping that we will be able to organise trips out to museums and other historical landmarks and some fieldwork for geography in the very near future. Watch this space!