Year 6 Autumn Term

Local History - Autumn 1
 (Birmingham in the Victorian Era)
 

Are you listening? What is 27 plus 45? Come on, faster now. We haven’t got all day. Find out about super strict schools by travelling back in time to a Victorian classroom. Make sure that you’re on your best behaviour though, as punishments are unquestionably terrible. Discover a time when great minds thought new thoughts and ingenious inventors created so many things that we take for granted today: the electric light bulb, the telephone and the first flushing toilet. Let’s forge ahead to research a time when Victoria was Queen and Albert was Prince Consort, and when some people lived in slums while others prospered. Full steam ahead to the Victorian age.

 

Children will learn they have not always had the same rights as they do today. They will understand changes in the rights of the child and how this led to changes in schooling and work for children. At the start of each academic year we create new class charters, which is a set of expectations or promises that children and teachers have agreed on. They are created to help children understand that they have certain rights in the classroom. These rights are important, as they help to keep them safe and happy while they receive their education. Class charters also help children to develop a sense of responsibility, as they have to do their part in keeping the classroom fair for everyone.

 

We will start our lessons by researching about Queen Victoria and understand the impact she made in the Victorian Era. We will work in groups to sort a Victorian timeline, using a TEEP style approach. We will then take an aspect of the timeline to recreate what changes occurred. During the third week of the topic, we will take part in a visit to Black Country Living Museum. 

 

In English, we will be exploring the book, 'Oliver Twist', as well as looking at non-fiction texts-based on Victorians to explore Victorian schooling. We will be writing a non-chronological report about what schooling was like during the Victorian Era. Before we compose our own, we will also have opportunities to orally rehearse, present and review the effectiveness of our information.  

 

By the end of this topic pupils will be able to identify and explain reasons for change and the effects the changes had, have a basic understanding of Victorian times in Birmingham and the significant changes that happened to Birmingham during Victoria’s reign. They will be able to identify the factors which led to the change in the education system in Birmingham in the Victorian era.  

 

In science, we will focus on classifying living things. We will begin the topic carrying out a TEEP style approach where we will classify different animals into groups. We will compare each group and use the donut approach to research one aspect and put it together to present our findings.  

 

 By the end of the science topic, pupils will be able to describe how living things are classified into broad groups according to common observable characteristics and based on similarities and differences, including micro-organisms, plants and animals and give reasons for classifying plants and animals based on specific characteristics.