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Ellwood Community Primary School

History

The aim of history at Ellwood Primary School is to help children understand Britain's past and that of the world. Children will be encouraged to ask questions, think critically and develop their own perspective and judgement. 
 
Through the history curriculum, the children will develop an understanding of the chronology of the world studying periods of history from the Stone Age through to a theme in British history after 1066 and aspects of local history. During their time at Ellwood, children will have the opportunity to learn about significant individuals who have had an impact on national and international history. 
On Wednesday 19th September Beech and Chestnut Class went on a history trip to Forest of Dean Railway. We found out about steam trains and the railway in the Forest of Dean. We had a tour around the museum, the platform and the workshop and had a ride on a train around the Forest of Dean.
Fantastic time had by all!
The children in Oak class have enjoyed comparing and contrasting old and new toys. The children recognised that older toys are made out of wood and metal and newer toys are made out of plastic. We also talked about how many of our toys need to be plugged into the electric to charge them, but older toys didn`t need to be charged. Some of the older toys we played with needed to be wound up using a handle. We had fun playing with the older toys. Thank you to the Dean Heritage Centre!
Dean Heritage Centre 
 
On Tuesday 26th September 2023 years 1, 2 and 3 had a fantastic trip to a local attraction to learn about local history and changes over time. The pupils experienced what life was like as a Victorian school child in the classroom and in a cottage. They enjoyed exploring the galleries and learning about how life in the Forest of Dean has changed over time. 
In history we have been finding out about what our school was like in the past. We have started by discussing and researching what our school is like now so that we can compare it to school in the Victorian Era.
Year 4,5 and 6 trip to the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford
 
On Thursday 17th November 2022, Year 4,5 and 6 all had the incredible opportunity to go to the Ashmolean Museum. We formed into two groups of 4,5 and 6 and had the chance to take part in a workshop all about the Shang Dynasty- our new topic. This ancient civilisation were founded in China and we learnt about their culture through stories, artefacts and amazing art. Did you know that the writing we might see in the present can be traced back to the dynasties? Amazing oracle bones show us the ancient writing they used. 
 
We learnt a song that children in China would sing and had a go at joining in as well as moving around the museum to see lots of different exhibits including looking at the beautiful and intricate silk designs of the clothes people in China would wear. 
 
Luckily for us, the museum also had some artefacts that we could handle. We enjoyed looking closely at objects to determine what they could have been made out of, used for and who could have used them. 
 
In the other half of the day, we were able to look around the museum which included looking at the exhibits on Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece. We were amazed with the Ancient Egyptian section as we had just studied this time period. It was amazing to see what we could spot including hieroglyphics and even some mummies! 
 
The children in Key Stage Two represented Ellwood brilliantly. They were respectful and so engaged in what we were able to learn from our wonderful workshop host. 
Goodrich Castle
 
Years 1, 2 and 3 had a brilliant trip to Goodrich castle to deepen their knowledge and understanding of castles and learn about local history. We were really impressed with their behaviour and enthusiasm and they demonstrated lots of our school values throughout the day. 
Chestnut and Beech Class are learning about the local history
 
Both classes have been very busy learning about our local history. The children have visited the 'tump' next to the school where we discussed the tump is made from the waste out of mine. The children then made 'cave paintings' with the mud and dirt we collected. The children also visited the Dean Heritage Centre where they looked round an old miners cottage, pulled a hod and made an old Victorian toy.
 
Miss Hek and Mrs Aston visited Mark at Little Drybrook mine, who showed them around. The children watched videos of the visit to see what it looks like in a mine and to see someone working in a mine.
 
At the beginning of the topic the children wrote letters to Mr Ball to find out what it was like growing up in Ellwood. Mr Ball has very kindly replied to the children in a letter and created a display of old photos of what Ellwood school used to look like. 
Chestnut class started their new topic on the local area by looking at some objects used in the mine.
 
The children had some great ideas about what the objects were used for.
 
The Roman Empire
Who were the Romans and when did they rule?
 
In Willow Class (Years 5 and 6), we began our topic by exploring our prior knowledge.  We wondered how and when the Romans slotted into our history.
 
We talked about the periods we have previously studied, and we predicted whether the Roman period might have been before or after these periods.
 
We looked at sections of a broken timeline of world history from the Stone Age right up until the modern day, and we agreed that the completed timeline would be far too long for our classroom so we took it outside! 
We discussed the dates and recapped on the significance of BC dates and AD dates.  Then we used our mathematical knowledge of numbers to chronologically order the periods and important events in world history.  It was tricky, but we worked as a team and we finally completed the timeline so that we could see the significant events and eras in the history of our world.  Well done, Willow Class!
 
Back in the classroom, we used smaller, British timelines to identify the Romans' importance in British history.  We worked with a partner and our discussion and questioning was excellent.  Having found out when the Romans were here, we were ready to dive into our topic and discover how the Romans lived; how their empire grew (including the significance of Julius Caesar); how they initially failed to conquer Britain; the impact they had on our country and how their rule eventually came to an end. What super historians we are!
The Great War
Willow and Sycamore classes are studying World War One, The Great War.  In Willow class, the children have created some fantastic topic book covers using a colourwash background and silhouettes to create a battlefield scene. You can see some examples below.
They have been learning about the events leading up to the start of the war and what it was like living in the trenches and have started to create sketch book diaries based on their research.
Willow Class have been learning what it would be like to discover and investigate sherds of pottery found in the Forest of Dean. They also learnt about Roman life through the medium of dance.
Willow and Sycamore classes have been learning about Ancient Civilisations. They have studied Ancient Egypt, finding out how and when they lived. They also learned about the process of mummification and who built the pyramids.
 
They carried out their own research on the Shang Dynasty, producing some super projects and homework tasks.
 
Finally, they looked at Ancient Greece. Year 6 learned about the Greek theatre and plays written in that time, acting them out and writing their own playscripts.